Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Chest x-ray of a patient presenting with pneumonia. The x-ray shows alveolar infiltrate in the middle lobe of the right lung.
Chest x-ray of a patient presenting with pneumonia. The x-ray shows alveolar infiltrate in the middle lobe of the right lung - Credit: stockdevil_666 / DepositPhotos - License: DepositPhotos
Health
x-ray
Covid-19
Delft Imaging
Thirona
CT scan
CT scanner
SARS-CoV-2
Coronavirus
Sunday, 12 April 2020 - 12:23
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

X-rays can now diagnose Covid-19 thanks to Dutch software developers

X-rays can potentially be used to help doctors to determine whether or not a patient has the Covid-19 disease, with two Dutch companies taking the lead on using the technology to make diagnoses, the ANP reports. Medical technology firms Thirona and Delft Imaging have developed a new piece of software to analyze pulmonary x-rays for visible tissue damage on human lungs, ranking the damage on a scale between zero and 100.

The ranking is then used to determine whether a Covid-19 infection has caused the damage. At present, the only proven method for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that emerged in 2019, is by using standard laboratory testing, and CT scans can also be used to estimate whether lung damage was likely caused by Covid-19.

However, in more isolated regions and poorer countries, lab tests and CT scanning equipment tend to be considerably scarcer than x-ray equipment, according to ANP, which can be found in most medical facilities across the world. The software is also a derivative of the very same x-ray software already used worldwide to detect tuberculosis.

The new technique could provide a useful tool for regions battling the Covid-19 disease. "Many of the measures we have implemented in Europe and the United States are difficult to copy in Africa," the developers told ANP. "In many countries, an X-ray analysis is used as a standard [first assessment] before other tests take place."

The software designed by Thirona and Delft Imaging is free for any medical facility to use, the companies told ANP.

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Police release suspects held in Tefaf jewellery heist
  • Farmers threaten to protest at Dutch airports; Police claim "attempted manslaughter" in earlier violence
  • Primary schools were short 9,100 teachers last year
  • Manchester United agree to pay up to €17 million for Feyenoord defender Malacia
  • Council of State reinstates jihadist's Dutch nationality in her children's interest
  • Woman raped in broad daylight on Leiden street; Suspect in custody

Top stories

  • Police release suspects held in Tefaf jewellery heist
  • Farmers threaten to protest at Dutch airports; Police claim "attempted manslaughter" in earlier violence
  • Dutch Caribbean braces for tropical storm Bonnie with curfew, closed schools
  • Farmers protests increasingly radical, police say; Coalition party demands debate
  • Angry farmers break through police barricade at Minister's house
  • Necklace worth €27 million snatched in Tefaf Maastricht art fair robbery: Report

© 2012-2022, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content