IISc’s TANUH Uses Artificial Intelligence to Strengthen Healthcare in India

The Translational AI for Networked Universal Healthcare (TANUH), an AI Centre of Excellence at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is developing artificial intelligence-based solutions to improve healthcare delivery across India. Led by Professor Phaneendra K Yalavarthy, the non-profit initiative focuses on the early detection, prevention and management of non-communicable diseases, which account for approximately 70 per cent of India’s disease burden.

TANUH develops tools primarily for frontline healthcare workers, including nurses and ASHA workers, rather than relying exclusively on doctors and hospitals. Its applications are designed to function in community settings through multilingual, voice-based and intuitive interfaces.

One major initiative is Aarogya Aarohan, an AI-powered oral cancer screening tool that analyses images of oral lesions captured through mobile phones. The platform has screened more than 70,000 patients, helping identify potentially precancerous conditions. TANUH is also developing an adaptive questionnaire to assess breast cancer risk and identify women who may require mammography. The tool reportedly achieves around 83 per cent accuracy compared with mammography.

Other projects include retinal imaging technology to identify individuals who may need further testing for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver disease and kidney disease. The centre is also developing tools for the early prediction of gestational diabetes and voice-based screening for mental health conditions.

Building India-Specific AI Infrastructure for Healthcare

TANUH is developing IndiNeuroFM, an India-specific foundation model designed to support neurological healthcare. In collaboration with IISc’s Centre for Brain Research, it aims to identify findings such as skull fractures and possible brain bleeds in CT scans, assisting doctors in settings where specialist radiologists are scarce. The project has collected data from more than 20,000 patients.

The initiative is also building two important platforms. BODH, or Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Healthcare, enables researchers and companies to evaluate AI models using Indian healthcare datasets. SAMVIT provides infrastructure to deploy, monitor and scale AI-based screening programmes across different health systems.

By developing locally relevant tools and reusable digital infrastructure, TANUH aims to address gaps in medical resources, improve early diagnosis and make healthcare AI more accessible across India.