Tokyo, Japan –  January 27, 2025, the Faculty of Public Health at Mahidol University and LPIXEL Inc. announced the launch of a demonstration project for artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted mobile tuberculosis (TB) screening in Bangkok. Project operation is scheduled to commence in March 2025 in cooperation with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), following a research agreement signed between Mahidol University and LPIXEL in September 2024.

TB is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Chest X-ray plays a crucial role in detecting pulmonary TB. In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the “End TB Strategy,”1 and recommends the use of AI for TB screening and triage to achieve a world free of TB.

This demonstration project targets 19 districts in Bangkok. Using a mobile X-ray bus equipped with AI software2, the likelihood of TB is inferred by AI immediately on-site. If an X-ray is suspicious for TB, the assigned radiologist is notified instantly via the internet and can then promptly review the X-ray and inform the TB clinic of any positive results. Rapid screening in this way encourages individuals with potential TB-positive results to visit their local district TB clinics for confirmation of diagnosis sooner than usual. This AI-assisted process is therefore expected to result in earlier treatment.

We aim to contribute to the early detection and diagnosis of TB in Thailand and work toward overcoming TB, which remains one of the most significant challenges in public health.

This project is being carried out with support from the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).3

1 https://www.who.int/teams/global-tuberculosis-programme/the-end-tb-strategy
2 This refers to “EIRL Chest TB,” which has the function of classifying chest X-ray images into four levels of “None, Low, Mid, High” based on the likelihood that they are tuberculosis cases, based on AI inference. Currently, this product has not been approved as a medical device in Thailand.
3 JETRO 4th Asia Digital Transformation (ADX) project selection announcement (in Japanese): https://www.jetro.go.jp/news/announcement/2023/52933042979ca942.html