Biocon Foundation with IISc lead expert for phase 1 of the project the AI-Center of Excellence

Biocon Foundation and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have taken up the AI-Centre of Excellence in Oral Cancer Projects. It is a multicentric study involving collaboration with 28 consortium partners, with IISc as the nodal centre. Biocon Foundation is the lead expert for phase 1 of the project.
The project aims to develop an algorithm for an oral cancer screening tool – Aarogya Aarohan. This project emphasizes the role of AI in healthcare. The goal is to create an AI-assisted mobile phone-based white light imaging system to classify oral lesions as high-risk or low-risk for oral cancer. The expected outcomes include the development of an open-source, class B certified oral cancer screening tool with acceptable sensitivity and specificity for potential deployment in Health and Wellness Centres. It aims to empower healthcare workers to deliver quality care and develop compressed models that run on low-cost smartphones, enabling scalable point-of-care screening in low-resource settings, even in places with low connectivity, while being multimodal in tertiary care centres.
Biocon Foundation has been running its flagship oral cancer screening programme for almost a decade now. The programme – Oral Cancer Control Programme (OCCP) – focuses on early detection of oral cancer for the underserved communities. Since its inception, the program has covered over 85,000 individuals across India of which 13% have been identified as being positive for oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs).
At the recently concluded fifth edition of the Oral Cancer Task Force (OCTF) Conference commemorating the World Head & Neck Cancer Day focused on ‘Artificial Intelligence in Oral Cancer.
The conference brought together clinicians and scientists to discuss progress in oral cancer screening for early detection. Opinion leaders such as Dr GK Rath, Member, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board; Dr Vijay Chandru, Strand Life Sciences; Dr Praveen Birur, Vice Principal – KLESIDS & Lead – Oral Cancer Programme Biocon Foundation; Dr K Govind Babu, Medical Oncologist, HCG Cancer Centre; Prof Rajesh Sundaresan, Principal Investigator – AI-CoE, Prof. Debnath Pal, Principal Investigator – MIDAS project, and Dr Anupama Shetty, Mission Director, Biocon Foundation, graced the conference and added significant value through their collective expertise and insights. Dr Kumar Prabhash, medical oncologist, Tata Memorial Hospital and Dr Moni Abraham Kuriakose, co-founder, MD & CEO, Karkinos Healthcare also attended the conference virtually.
Dr Anupama Shetty, mission director, Biocon Foundation, said, “The annual Oral Cancer Task Force conference is a powerful platform for united action. This year, we were honoured to host the 5th edition of the OCTF Conference at the Indian Institute of Science, cantered around the theme ‘Artificial Intelligence in Oral Cancer’.
Prof. Debnath Pal, Computational Biologist, Indian Institute of Science, and one of the lead investigators in the AI in Oral Cancer initiative said, “AI can catalyze an enabling ecosystem for addressing different challenges in healthcare and medicine when pursued systematically starting from good quality data, creative algorithms and well-designed trials.”
Prof. Rajesh Sundaresan, Dean, Division of EECS, IISc said, “It is highly appropriate that the AI-CoE effort is working towards enabling healthcare professionals tackle one of the most common diseases of public concern in India. Our efforts, we hope, will help bring down the burden by leveraging technology. The two-day event fostered greater collaboration across disciplines and strengthened the AI-CoE initiative.”
Dr GK Rath, Member, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board said, “Integration of technology has always led to great advances in the medical field. AI is a tool which we need to deploy to our advantage. In view of high burden of oral cancer.”
Source: Pharmabiz