Google announced that it is funding 15 AI-powered projects, including digital health initiatives to improve provider experience and patient access to care, via its commitment to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Each project received $3 million in technical assistance, cash support and Google Cloud credits. A handful of projects received Google.org Fellowships, where a team of Google employees works with an organization pro bono full time for up to six months.
Of the 15 AI projects funded, the following eight digital health endeavors were awarded funding:
RAD-AID provides low-source hospitals with an AI-enabled platform that helps triage patients, primarily regarding respiratory disease and breast cancer. The platform also helps interpret X-rays and scans and provide test results.
Wuqu’ Kawoq and safe+natal are collaborating to develop a machine learning-enabled tool kit to help midwives in rural areas of Guatemala detect neonatal complications in real-time, such as poor fetal growth and fetal stress during delivery. The tool kit will consist of an ultrasound and blood pressure monitor connected to one’s smartphone.
MATCH (Music Attuned Technology – Care via eHealth) is a project built out of the University of Melbourne and CSIRO that combines music and wearable sensor technology to decrease agitation in patients with dementia. Google’s grant will help the team develop the sensor technology and AI-enabled adaptive music system.
Makerere AI Lab will develop a 3D-printed adapter that processes images using AI and is compatible with a phone or microscope. The goal is to help providers in Uganda diagnose patients with illnesses, such as tuberculosis, malaria and cancer in low- and middle-income countries where lab technicians are scarce.
IDinsight with Reach Digital Health developed a natural language-enabled question-answering service for expectant mothers in South Africa, which provides answers to inquiries and vital health information.
Causal Foundry seeks to