GE Healthcare Has 1st X-ray AI to Help Assess Endotracheal Tube Placement in COVID

 GE Healthcare today announced a new artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to help clinicians assess Endotracheal Tube (ETT) placements, a necessary and important step when ventilating critically ill COVID-19 patients. The AI solution is one of five included in GE Healthcare’s Critical Care Suite 2.0², an industry-first collection of AI algorithms embedded on a mobile x-ray device for automated measurements, case prioritization and quality control.

Research shows that up to 25 percent^3,4,5,6,7 of patients intubated outside of the operating room have misplaced ETTs on chest x-rays, which can lead to severe complications for patients, including hyperinflation, pneumothorax, cardiac arrest and death. Moreover, as COVID-19 cases climb, with more than 50 million confirmed worldwide⁸, anywhere from 5-15 percent require intensive care surveillance and intubation for ventilatory support⁹.

Up to 45% of ICU patients, including severe COVID-19 cases, receive ETT intubation for ventilation^10,11,12. While proper ETT placement can be difficult, Critical Care Suite 2.0 uses AI to automatically detect ETTs in chest x-ray images and provides an accurate and automated measurement of ETT positioning to clinicians within seconds of image acquisition, right on the monitor of the x-ray system. In 94% of cases the ET Tube tip-to-Carina distance calculation is accurate to within 1.0 cm¹³. With these measurements, clinicians can determine if the ETT is placed correctly or if additional attention is required for proper placement. The AI generated measurements – along with an image overlay – are then made accessible in a picture archiving and communication systems (PACS).

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/ge-healthcare-announces-first-x-ray-ai-to-help-assess-endotracheal-tube-placement-for-covid-19-patients/