NIRAMAI COVID Screening Solution Receives Funding From CDC Group The software offers an automated screening solution that can help control the community spread of COVID-19 - enhancing India's preparedness to combat a third wave of the virus
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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Deeptech health startup NIRAMAI Health Analytix, known for its innovative AI and thermal-imaging-based breast cancer screening test, on Tuesday announced receipt of research funding from CDC-UK for its new thermal screening solution.
NIRAMAI is an investee of Pi Ventures, a fund backed by CDC Group (CDC, the UK's development finance institution and impact investor). NIRAMAI FeverTest is a smart software that enables screening for COVID-19 symptoms in public places, using computer vision and AI to analyze and monitor crowd compliance to COVID-19 guidelines. Analyzing infrared and visual cameras across multiple hospitals, corporate offices, and public places, the software offers an automated screening solution that can help control the community spread of COVID-19 - enhancing India's preparedness to combat a third wave of the virus.
NIRAMAI launched its FeverTest screening product last year to help identify likely infected people at entrances of workplaces, hospitals, educational institutions, residential communities, and public places. These measures help to screen for symptoms of fever and respiratory illness before visitors enter public places, helping to control the spread of the virus.
"As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage nations, one of the key and persistent challenges that countries face has been tracking and controlling rapid community spread of the virus. NIRAMAI FeverTest is a technology that will amplify the efforts to save lives, preserve public safety and reduce the economic impact of the pandemic in India. NIRAMAI's innovative solutions will complement the national response to combating COVID-19 and we are pleased that the technology can support India in meeting the challenge head-on, bolstering the country's steps toward bringing the pandemic under control," said Srini Nagarajan, managing director, South Asia, CDC Group.
NIRAMAI FeverTest has useful features to help control the spread of COVID-19, including features that recognize and detect non-compliance to mask-wearing guidelines. The solution is being used by corporate sites of Morgan Stanley, Kotak Bank, and multiple corporate parks of RMZ across India. FeverTest is also deployed in two major railway stations of Bengaluru in partnership with South Western Railways, enabling railway protection force personnel to seamlessly scan thousands of commuters for compliance to COVID-19 protective measures, the platform shared.
"Niramai continues to help fight COVID using technology. The financial support from CDC has enabled us to successfully pilot our AI-enabled COVID screening product at IT tech parks, schools, and some hospitals across Indian cities. Women can now avail NIRAMAI breast health screening in the comfort of their homes. We have also made a significant contribution to XraySetu, the WhatsApp chatbot for Chest Xray analysis, which was developed in collaboration with ARTPARK and the Indian Institute of Science. XraySetu is a free AI-based service to rural doctors that helps screen chest X-rays," added Dr. Geetha Manjunath, founder, and chief executive officer, NIRAMAI.
NIRAMAI's solution has led to 21 patent grants in the US, India, Singapore, China, Canada, and their novel algorithms have also been peer-reviewed in international scientific conferences.
