X-rays may be able to help doctors to determine whether a patient has COVID-19, according to a report in NLTimes.

Medical technology firms Thirona and Delft Imaging have developed new 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.

Read more from NLTimes.

Featured image: Chest x-ray of suspected COVID-19 patient showing changes in the lung (with chest tube). Image © Mohamed Abdelrazek, Dreamstime (ID 177641186).