The electrical engineering student Lena Kopp and her supervising Prof. Dr. Alexander Jesser from the Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences have succeeded in developing software for poorer developing countries that, as special X-ray software, can distinguish a viral lung infection due to SARS-CoV-2 from bacterial pneumonia. In cases where mouth-nose swab methods or other imaging methods – for example, computer tomography (CT) – are not available, the testing and diagnosis of Covid-19 patients could be carried out with the X-ray software in order to be able to treat them as adequately and quickly as possible. Both developers of the software are confident that this could be the method of choice for such countries because even with images taken with simple X-ray equipment and subsequent evaluation with programs that work on a standard PC, so-called binary images can be generated. These can then be captured using an algorithm and a special mathematical operation, followed by an analysis of edges and boundaries as well as surface and symmetry views of the areas of the lung affected by SARS-CoV-2. Prof. Jesser explains that the clinical picture of a bacterial infection also looks different with the help of X-ray images. Bacterial infections can be recognised by the fact that in the majority of cases only one wing of the lung is altered, whereas in viral Covid-19 disease both lungs show the same milky glass-like change. It will therefore also be possible in the future to distinguish bacterial from viral pneumonia, even with methods like this one. Despite everything, „a qualified physician can never be replaced by an X-ray machine and the associated technology,“ explains radiologist Dr. Konrad Appelt from the University Hospital of Basel, who also welcomes the young student’s X-ray software development.
