Landing Med, a medical technology company based in Wuhan, China, dispatched three self-developed cervical cancer screening devices along with 5,000 sets of supporting consumable items to Pakistan. 

With these AI-powered devices, 10,000 Pakistani women will receive free cervical cancer screening and early diagnosis of tumors, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Friday.

This is the first batch of devices under the China-Pakistan AI Cervical Cancer Screening Program. In the future, more will be provided to Pakistan. Landing Med will also establish a Cloud Diagnostic Research Center for Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital to provide nationwide cervical cancer screening in Pakistan.

Compared with artificial diagnosis, AI screening excels in speed and accuracy. Even an experienced pathologist can only examine up to 100 cell slides a day. 

In addition, some pathological cells that do not show obvious changes in the early stage may be missed when being observed through the microscope. 

The AI-powered screening device, on the other hand, can automatically find traces of cancer cells in digitized images within minutes based on decades of manually accumulated diagnosis data and algorithm models.

According to Sun Xiaorong, founder and President of Landing Med, as Pakistan has a huge population, there is a large number of women who need cervical cancer screening. In this regard, efficient testing methods are required to enhance coverage.

To benefit women in remote areas with scarce medical resources, the company has developed a 5G+AI cloud diagnosis platform where experts from over ten countries can hold consultations on reports uploaded to the cloud platform, which saves patients the trouble of repeatedly visiting the hospital for sample collection and report analysis.

The China-Pakistan AI Cervical Cancer Screening Program started in 2019 on the ninth meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Joint Cooperation Committee when two think tanks of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences signed an MoU with Pakistan’s Ministry of Health to jointly provide AI cervical cancer screening services in Gwadar Port and other cities in Pakistan. 

Landing Med signed an agreement with its Pakistani partner in November 2021 to execute the program.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP