SGPGIMS Wins ‘Most Innovative’ Award for AI-Based TB Detection Technology

Director expresses pride over landmark achievement

Lucknow: In a significant recognition of indigenous medical innovation, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) and Dectrocel Healthcare have been conferred the “Most Innovative” award at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 held in New Delhi on February 20.

The award recognizes their collaborative development and clinical validation of an AI-powered lung screening solution, DexExpert—an advanced chest X-ray application designed for early detection of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). The innovation is being hailed as a breakthrough for rural and resource-constrained regions where access to specialist radiologists remains limited.

A Technological Boost to India’s Healthcare Ecosystem

The SGPGIMS-Dectrocel partnership represents a model of academia-startup collaboration aimed at solving one of India’s most pressing public health challenges—timely and accurate TB diagnosis. By leveraging artificial intelligence, the DexExpert application can analyze chest X-ray images and assist in detecting pulmonary TB with remarkable precision.

The clinical validation study, led by Dr. Alok Nath, Head of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at SGPGIMS, in collaboration with Dr. Archana Gupta, Head of Radiology, demonstrated a 95% diagnostic accuracy rate when compared with the gold standard sputum GeneXpert test.

The findings were published in Scientific Reports, a peer-reviewed journal under the Nature portfolio, further strengthening the credibility of the innovation.

A Clinically Validated AI Model

The validation study was conducted by SGPGIMS’s Department of Pulmonary Medicine with strong interdisciplinary collaboration. Co-authors included Dr. Alok Nath, Dr. Zia Hashim and Dr. Prashant from Pulmonary Medicine; Dr. Zafar Neyaz from Radiodiagnosis; Dr. Richa Mishra from Microbiology; and technology partners Dr. Ankit Shukla, Dr. Soumya Shukla, and Nikhil Mishra.

Dr. Ankit Shukla, associated with Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and Founder of Dectrocel, along with co-founder Dr. Soumya Shukla and IIT Kanpur alumnus Nikhil Mishra, played a key role in designing a high-accuracy, low-bandwidth AI diagnostic tool.

SGPGIMS provided robust clinical infrastructure and a policy-compliant data framework, enabling the startup team to refine and validate the model under real-world clinical conditions.

Bridging the Urban-Rural Healthcare Divide

For administrators and health policymakers, the SGPGIMS-Dectrocel model presents a scalable path toward universal health coverage. The AI application is already active across 25 centers in six Indian states—Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh—where specialist radiology services are often unavailable.

By processing both digital and non-digital (JPEG) X-ray images, the technology eliminates the need for expensive PACS infrastructure, making it particularly suitable for district hospitals and primary health centers operating under financial constraints.

The system allows frontline healthcare workers to rapidly triage respiratory cases, ensuring that suspected TB patients are identified early and referred appropriately. This significantly reduces diagnostic burdens at tertiary care centers like SGPGIMS and accelerates treatment initiation in rural areas.

Institutional Pride and National Relevance

Expressing his happiness over the achievement, SGPGIMS Director Padma Professor R.K. Dhiman said, “This award validates SGPGIMS’s commitment to promoting indigenous innovations that do not remain confined to laboratories but reach the last mile of Indian healthcare delivery.”

The recognition at a national AI summit underscores the growing importance of artificial intelligence in strengthening India’s digital public health infrastructure. Experts believe such validated AI models can play a transformative role in national TB elimination programs, particularly in high-burden states.

What the Future Holds

Dectrocel Healthcare is now focusing on expanding its AI framework to include CT and MRI modules, which would broaden its diagnostic capabilities beyond chest X-rays. The expansion aims to support comprehensive radiological assistance across multiple specialties while maintaining affordability and accessibility.

As India intensifies its fight against tuberculosis and other respiratory illnesses, the SGPGIMS-Dectrocel collaboration stands out as a pioneering example of how technology, clinical excellence, and policy support can converge to create meaningful impact.

The “Most Innovative” award at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 not only celebrates a technological milestone but also signals a larger shift in Indian healthcare—where AI-driven solutions are increasingly becoming central to equitable, efficient, and scalable medical care.