Application that analyzes radiography evolves and identifies diseases other than covid-19

In covid-19 pandemic times, finding tools to more quickly identify this and other diseases has challenged researchers around the world. For it was in this scenario that the Marie application appeared . Developed by researchers from the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP) of USP and Supera Parque de Inovação e Tecnologia, it is able to identify covid-19 by means of a simple radiography. The Marie is in testing and is already showing positive results, says the bioinformatician Paula Cristina dos Santos, one of the responsible for the application. The project has just received the Honorable Mention in the Senior Researcher category of the Mercosul Science and Technology Award , edition 2020.

With the studies, using the new system, the team of researchers has identified several demarcations beyond the pulmonary region, which, guarantees Paula, “is interesting for the evolution of these algorithms and even to better understand the pathologies, whether covid-19 , tuberculosis, H1N1, diseases that are also detected by the platform ”. The application, which used to read only a radiograph of the lung, now allows doctors to describe signs or symptoms, being “extremely important, because it will internally account for the weight of each of the symptoms”, anticipates the researcher.

The tests take place in Itapeva, Minas Gerais, a city with just over 8,600 inhabitants, for approximately two months. The technology was well received by health professionals in the city because they understood that it was “a complement and a way for them to rely on observations”, points out Paula, remembering that the novelty has an even greater significance for the recent graduates who started activities in the middle of the pandemic. Being able to count on “a support, a platform that indicates the areas of change, is very important”, he evaluates.