The technology is already implemented in 20 hospitals in China. A full statement from the Chinese  technology giant explains the system:

Huawei and the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) have strengthened their alliance to implement a diagnostic method for COVID-19 testing using technology.

With the system developed by the Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Huawei, precise quantitative results are automatically generated to carry the diagnosis of COVID-19, this process considerably improves the efficiency of the diagnosis.

Eric Liu, CEO of Huawei Honduras explained how the process works: “A tomography (radiologic technique for obtaining clear X-ray images of deep internal structures by focusing on a specific plane within the body) is taken and its image is uploaded to a cloud, and in less than two seconds we can know if the patient suffers from pneumonia due to the coronavirus or not.”

The diagnosis is made through a remote system to identify COVID-19 pneumonia, which uses software from Huawei that works through a cloud, uploading a CT image of the possible patient to it using a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System). The system performs the diagnosis immediately giving the results in 2 or 3 seconds, according to experts.

The PACS is a system of archiving and communication of medical images that are transmitted to viewing stations through a computer network, with a yielded diagnosis of 96% certainty. This system is part of the Smart City Development and Governance Standpoints Paper that was developed by Huawei and has been available to the public since 2019 in order to help build and improve the global competitiveness of cities in the process of digitalization and smart transformation.

The system “can help doctors distinguish the early, advanced and severe stages of the disease, thereby increasing the effectiveness of early detection and prevention,” said Bai Xiang, a professor at the aforementioned university, quoted by the journal Ciencia y Technology.

This technology has already been implemented in more than 20 hospitals in China, the epicenter of the disease, and in some Latin American countries such as Mexico.