Olga Sharapova, a Moscow City Duma deputy and chief physician of the Vinogradov Clinical Hospital, believes that the use of modern technologies helps to increase the efficiency of diagnostics throughout the country and thereby brings the end of the epidemic closer. She reported this to the Moscow City News Agency.
“The CT calculator, which has recently been used by specialists, allows predicting the severity of pneumonia caused by COVID-19. If the calculator suggests a mild form of pneumonia, the doctor has the option to refuse computed tomography. In other cases, doctors decide whether to carry out CT diagnostics or require immediate hospitalization,”Sharapova said.
She noted that Russian doctors more than 10 thousand times used a CT calculator created in Moscow to remotely determine the degree of lung damage in coronavirus pneumonia.
“Among the users there are more than 7 thousand doctors from St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Krasnodar, Khabarovsk and other cities. The system helps to predict the extent of the patient's lung damage based on the data of blood tests, oxygen saturation, and the general clinical picture of patients. The doctor enters this information into the CT calculator, which gives an estimated result. If the calculator suggests a mild form of pneumonia, you can refuse to perform computed tomography, and if the calculator has an alarming result, then you should immediately hospitalize the patient, carry out a CT scan or X-ray and begin intensive treatment. This is how help is received by those who need it as a matter of priority,”the parliamentarian added.
She also noted that the CT calculator is integrated into the Moscow UMIAS system, but access to it is open not only for Moscow doctors, but also for doctors from other regions.
“According to experts, the new service will become an additional tool for operational support where the capacity of computed tomography is limited. Moreover, the system is set up for self-learning - as new data accumulates, the CT calculator will be constantly improved. Thanks to the use of the calculator, the CT scan will primarily bring those patients who need it. They will receive help as soon as possible, which will save their health and lives,”Sharapova concluded.