Vijayawada: World-renowned nephrologists and healthcare researchers were amazed after seeing the remarkable results produced by an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based kidney disease screening model developed by an Indian nephrologist.
Top medical professionals, including those from the World Health Organisation (WHO), who attended the World Congress of Nephrology (WCN) held in New Delhi, found HelloKidney.ai to be a promising AI solution designed to address the increasing burden of kidney diseases across the globe. The platform has proven effective in delivering standard care to millions of kidney patients who would otherwise face the risk of kidney failure.
A noted nephrologist, Dr Chinta Rama Krishna of Guntur, presented groundbreaking research at the World Congress of Nephrology in New Delhi. This was the first time India hosted the World Congress of Nephrology, which brought together around 8,000 kidney specialists and researchers from 180 countries to discuss and share the latest advancements in kidney disease research.
In his presentation, Dr Ramakrishna said that Andhra Pradesh is currently facing a challenging situation with a rising incidence of kidney disease, which is not only linked to diabetes and hypertension but also to some other external factors affecting younger people.
“HelloKidney.ai has been developed as an innovative digital AI solution aimed at significantly improving the lives of patients in the community. With support from the National Health Mission (NHM) and AP health department, we conducted a pilot project by deploying our digital AI tool in rural and urban primary care centres. This initiative focused on the early detection and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) to prevent kidney failure,” said Dr Ramakrishna.
He stated that about four million people in Andhra Pradesh are living with undiagnosed CKD. He also mentioned that the HelloKidney.ai project was conducted over four months in rural PHCs of Uddhanam and A Konduru, as well as urban PHCs in Guntur and Mangalagiri in 2024.
“We have screened about 2,070 participants identified from the NCD registry, 845 patients from urban and 1,225 patients from rural areas using the AI tool. This AI tool, integrated with point-of-care testing, takes less than 10 minutes to identify CKD and hence can be scaled up across the population in the communities,” observed Dr Ramakrishna.
The AI screening produced stunning results, as it revealed that a staggering 98.6% of patients were unaware that they had CKD prior to screening. The AI tool not only detected CKD but also suggested treatment to patients in PHCs. Dr Ramakrishna presented the project details alongside other eminent kidney researchers, Adeera Levin from Canada and Thomas Blackman from Britain.
AI to screen kidney diseases
The pilot project carried out through Hellokidney.ai indicated that 60% of patients with diabetes have kidney disease, with 26% of those experiencing advanced stages. These patients are at a higher risk of progressing to kidney failure, which increases healthcare costs, the need for dialysis, and premature death.
