IIITH To develop early oral cancer screening tool

The institute aims to use oral cancer screening tool to flag abnormal oral lesions before they progress into advanced stages of cancer.

The International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad is working on an automated solution that requires just a smartphone as an early oral cancer screening tool. It aims to use this to flag abnormal oral lesions before they progress into advanced stages of cancer. The project is a collaborative effort with Grace Cancer Foundation and BioCon Foundation, which evolved after the Grace Foundation noticed during its rural cancer screening camps that most patients were diagnosed at an advanced stage.  

As per a report published in Telangana Today, Foundation CEO and Director Chinnababu Sunkavalli said its efforts for early screening and detection of cancers via its mobile camps were impeded by sporadic availability of highly skilled medical professionals such as oncologists who can visually examine oral cavities or interpret x-ray test results instantaneously.  

The foundation then approached IIIT-Hyderabad, after which the two brainstormed to arrive at a method where an AI-based algorithm could flag oral cavity images, taken by simple phone cameras, as malignant or benign.  

“A project like this needed funding, so iHub-Data stepped in to help us develop a solution for oral cancer screening,” said Dr Vinod PK, who is leading the cancer initiative at IIITH’s iHub-Data, which is putting together large-scale datasets, with one of the first initiatives centred around image-based early screening and diagnosis of cancer.  

The first phase of the project, which involves collection of data by the Grace Foundation, has been simplified with development of an app with the assistance of Product Labs. “The mobile app has now been tested and will be used for the first time for oral cancer screening,” said Dr Vinod. 

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