Lucknow, May 28 (IANS): The King George's Medical University (KGMU) will soon set up a big data centre to profile prevalent diseases in Lucknow and neighbouring cities by analysing their health records.
The centre will be set up in collaboration with the University of Manitoba (UoM), Winnipeg, Canada, with the aim of profiling infectious diseases and neurological and physical diseases in the city and surrounding region.
It will not only enhance patient care and research capabilities at KGMU, but also serve as an early warning system for the government.
During a recent visit to the University of Manitoba (UoM), KGMU Vice Chancellor Lt. Gen. Prof. Bipin Puri finalised the project.
The data centre will be modeled as UoM's Centre of Health Innovation (CHI), which records various clinical data and genomic information, including diagnoses, demographics, risks, laboratory tests and family relationships.
According to the KGMU spokesman, in Canada, Puri saw how the CHI centre of UoM enables doctors and the government to monitor the prevalence, changes, and severity of diseases in Manitoba.
Following this, he discussed how UoM can provide assistance in establishing a similar data centre at KGMU.
KGMU see approximately 5,000 patients daily from Lucknow and nearby areas. These patients represent a wide range of conditions, including casualties, infectious diseases, metabolic issues, gastroenterological, neurological, craniological, and other mental and physical conditions.
"Despite generating a vast amount of data records, the data has not been stored for analysis until now. The establishment of this data centre will enable the analysis of this data, providing valuable insights into the prevalence, changes, and severity of diseases," said VC.
Puri informed that to establish the centre, an expert team from Manitoba University would soon visit and train KGMU faculty members and students in data analysis.
"All other facilities, such as computer central networks between departments, are already available in KGMU, so there are no other hindrances," said the VC.
Puri told reporters that they would also expand data analysis to other cities in the state if the first phase is successful.
In the second phase, KGMU will collaborate with technical universities like IIT Kanpur and AKTU to utilise the analysed data for machine learning and the development of artificial intelligence.
"This data can be used to develop apps and software that can analyse the health issues a patient is dealing with, including probable diseases and future risks," he added.