Case Study

Ethiopia – TB Screening in Pastoralist Communities with OneStopTB Clinic

Mobile Clinic in Ethiopia

Ethiopia introduced OneStopTB vans equipped with EasyDr stationary digital X-ray and CAD4TB to improve access to highly sensitive TB screening with digital X-rays in settings with a limited workforce to read radiologic examinations.

Mobile OneStopTB vans

Four OneStopTB vans equipped with EasyDR digital X-ray and CAD4TB were deployed.

Deployment in pastoralist communities

Four vans provided TB screening services in pastoralist and remote settings.

AI-supported screening

Chest X-rays were analyzed using CAD4TB to identify individuals suggestive of TB.

Confirmatory testing

Individuals identified by CAD4TB underwent GeneXpert testing and clinical evaluation.

Result

The preliminary performance from July to December 2021 showed that:

5 ,435 people
were reached
3 ,749 people
were screened using CAD4TB
1 ,016 people
were identified as suggestive of TB by CAD4TB and underwent GeneXpert test.
  • 167 (16.4%) were confirmed with TB, of which 119 (11.7%) were Bac+ and 46 (4.5%) were clinically diagnosed.
Mobile Clinic in Ethiopia
Expanded deployment performance

In the past 18 months (2022 to 2023), the performance of the AI-mounted vans showed that the TB screening number increased significantly,

19 ,000+ people
were screened for TB
8 ,981 people
were screened using CAD4TB
4 ,810 people
were tested by GeneXpert
84 3 cases
were positive
  • When symptom screening and GeneXpert were used, the chance of detecting MTB-positive cases was 4%, increasing to 9% with the introduction of AI/CAD.
  • Combining symptom screening, AI/CAD, and GeneXpert further increased the detection rate to 18%.
Conclusion
  • Introducing AI improves screening quality and saves resources to find more TB cases in the communities.
  • This evidence raises interest in Ethiopia to expand the use of AI at more health facilities.
  • Key strategies are strengthening national capacity, generating more local evidence, and increasing partnership and engagement.

REFERENCE: Datiko, D. G. (2023, November 15-18). Introduction of AI-mounted digital X-rays in pastoralist TB programming: experience from Ethiopia [Conference session]. The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2023, Paris, France.