Before healthtech resources were channeled towards fighting off the pandemic, digital innovation was already being used for tackling life-threatening illnesses including cancer. The past few months has seen breakthroughs in the Middle East, which include technology to freeze tumours for destroying them, and various tools for early detection.

Researchers in the Emirates have also come up with algorithms to watch out for early signs of breast cancer, a condition which plagues a significant number of women in the Arab world. Even though smart tech isn't anywhere close to replacing real doctors, AI tech will now be assisting radiologists in Qatar to provide better treatment for cancer, using a sharper vision.

The mechanism developed in the UK has finally arrived on Qatari shores and is designed to scan mammography reports, for spotting tumours in breasts. Even though it simply assists professionals, the system called Mia or Mammography Intelligent Assessment has been trained for high accuracy, using more than a million images.

Empowered by this database, the machine learning tool comes up with insights, which help practitioners take informed decisions about calling patients for more tests. Mia reduces the chances of human error, since it can be as good as any experienced radiologist, or even better thanks to computer vision.

Before being deployed in a country where breast cancer is the most widespread form of the illness, the independent mammogram reader had already proved its capabilities in the UK and Europe. The solution is currently being used or tested at 15 clinics in the UK, and is also a measure to save time as well as costs.

Since it can be used by a single person, and ends the need for doctors to go through each report individually, Mia also allows medical professionals to give more time to each patient for personalised care.

Before the arrival of this sophisticated product in the Middle East, the region had witnessed robots stepping in as caregivers in Bahrain, and even carrying out surgeries in the Emirates.