Enterprise imaging vendor Novarad has launched a free artificial intelligence (AI)-based software tool to aid in the diagnosis of COVID-19 on CT scans.
Provided in partnership with Intel and via Microsoft's Azure cloud computing service, COVID-19 AI Diagnostic Assistant utilizes DICOM routing, encryption, an AI processing engine, and reporting capabilities to help in detecting COVID-19 on CT, according to Novarad.
To download COVID-19 AI Diagnostic Assistant, hospitals must first download the company's COVID AI edge client software to a hospital computer or virtual machine. The software will then print out instructions for how to connect the software to a CT scanner or PACS, the firm said.
Once acquired, CT studies are then anonymized and routed to the AI engine on Azure for analysis. A secure, 3,000-bit encrypted optical access code is then sent to the associated onsite printer, and a report containing the probability of COVID-19 is then created, Novarad said. The printed code can then be scanned and viewed from a mobile device or PC, and then printed or downloaded as a PDF, according to the firm.
Novarad noted that the COVID AI client is built on its CryptoChart software.
![Images show the pectoralis muscles of a healthy male individual who never smoked (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; body mass index [BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], 28.4; number of cigarette pack-years, 0; forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], 97.6% predicted; FEV1: forced vital capacity [FVC] ratio, 0.71; pectoralis muscle area [PMA], 59.4 cm2; pectoralis muscle volume [PMV], 764 cm3) and a male individual with a smoking history and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; BMI, 27.5; number of cigarette pack-years, 43.2, FEV1, 48% predicted; FEV1:FVC, 0.56; PMA, 35 cm2; PMV, 480.8 cm3) from the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (i.e., CanCOLD) study. The CT image is shown in the axial plane. The PMV is automatically extracted using the developed deep learning model and overlayed onto the lungs for visual clarity.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/03/genkin.25LqljVF0y.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&crop=focalpoint&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
