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In Sub-Saharan Africa, diagnostic imaging infrastructure is expanding; however, the number of radiologists available to interpret the results remains low. Reviewed international guideline recommends between 100–120 radiologists per million people, roughly one radiologist for every 10,000 people. Developed nations like Germany and the United States have enough radiologists to meet this baseline, but countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have fewer than one radiologist per 300,000 to 500,000 people.
With a population of more than 230 million, Nigeria has fewer than 700 consultant radiologists, meaning one specialist could potentially serve more than 300,000 people. Meanwhile, many of those specialists and imaging facilities are concentrated in major cities. So even when a patient gets access to an X-ray, there is no guarantee that a radiologist is available to read it quickly. This is the gap Nexus AI is trying to close.
The South African company has built an AI-powered medical imaging tool that analyses chest X-rays and flags possible abnormalities in about 45 seconds. More importantly, it is designed to work in places where some of the infrastructure typically required for AI, such as reliable Internet and electricity, may not exist. Nexus AI’s story goes back to 2013, when the co-founders Gerhard Ferreira and Andries Vorster began working on primary healthcare across Africa.
Ferreira is a medical doctor who previously owned a large hospital group in South Africa, while Vorster is an electronic engineer who specialised in clinical and medical engineering.