TANUH

Oral cancer is a leading health challenge in India, with over 140,000 new cases diagnosed annually. The high incidence can be attributed to the widespread use of tobacco products, especially smokeless tobacco, areca nut, betel quid, and alcohol.

Almost 80,000 individuals succumb to the disease every year in India, mainly due to limited access to specialists, thus resulting in delayed diagnosis. Early detection of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) can dramatically reduce mortality and improve quality of life.

Problem Statement

India accounts for approximately one-third of all global oral cancer cases.

India accounts for approximately one-third of all global oral cancer cases

140,000+

New cases diagnosed annually in India

High incidence due to socio-cultural use of tobacco, areca nut, betel quid and alcohol.

80%

Cancers diagnosed at advanced stages, despite being detectable earlier

Poor access to specialists, esp in low-resource settings

80,000

Individuals succumb to the disease every year

An Indian Problem

Standard of Care & Gap

Oral visual examination is an established method of screening to detect OPMDs or oral cancer. As per national guidelines for cancer screening, low-skilled frontline health workers are tasked with performing the oral visual examination.

Challenges

Low screening coverage <2%
Frontline Health Workers (FHWs) are overburdened
FHWs have low sensitivity compared with remote diagnosis by specialists; varied sensitivity despite training

Low screening coverage <2%
Frontline Health Workers (FHWs) are overburdened
FHWs have low sensitivity compared with remote diagnosis by specialists; varied sensitivity despite training

Low screening coverage <2%
Frontline Health Workers (FHWs) are overburdened
FHWs have low sensitivity compared with remote diagnosis by specialists; varied sensitivity despite training

Gap

Limited Access to Specialist-level diagnosis at scale at primary care

Our Solution

Point-of-care
Al-enabled
Mobile phone-based tool
Task Shifting: specialist-level screening in the hands of Frontline Health workers (FHWs)

Point-of-care
Al-enabled
Mobile phone-based tool
Task Shifting: specialist-level screening in the hands of Frontline Health workers (FHWs)

Point-of-care
Al-enabled
Mobile phone-based tool
Task Shifting: specialist-level screening in the hands of Frontline Health workers (FHWs)

Our Solution

To address this, the IISc, along with its collaborators, a multidisciplinary team, has developed Aarogya Aarohan, an AI-powered mobile application that empowers frontline healthcare workers to screen for OPMD and oral cancers. This innovative solution bridges gaps in specialist access and enhances early detection in low-resource settings.

AI-enabled Aarogya Aarohan Mobile Application

Deployment in 6 Districts Across 4 States & 9 Tertiary Care Centres

Team & Collaborators

IISc TEAM

Principal Investigator

Rajesh Sundaresan

Professor
Electrical Communication Engineering, IISc

Dean
Division of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Sciences, IISc

Personal website

Co-Principal Investigator

Prabhdeep Kaur

Chair and Professor
Isaac Centre for Public Health, IISc

Personal website

Debnath Pal

Professor
Computational and Data Sciences & Computational and Systems Biology, IISc

Personal website

Team

Lakshmi Krishnan

Sr. Program Manager

Leena Chavaan

Program Manager
Electrical Communication Engineering, IISc

Vaijesh Menkudale

Sr. Public Health Specialist

Dhamodharan Ramasamy

Sr. Public Health Specialist

Nadia Claire Mascarenhas E Dias

Sr. Public Health Specialist

Malavika Pradeep

Senior Technical Staff Member

Tejashree S

PhD Scholar
Electrical Communication Engineering, IISc

Ushanaa Kuri

Sr. Research Scientist (Engg)

Ninkush Aggarwal

Sr. Public Health Coordinator

Medhana Mohan Mangaonker

Clinical Specialist

Bhargabi Paul Majumder

Jr. Public Health Specialist

Aabha Singh

Jr. Public Health Specialist

Arunkumar M

Field Supervisor

Minoshka Maria Sancha Teles

Field Supervisor

Chandan Kumar

Field Supervisor

Kumarasamy Rajendheren Sanmadi

Design Researcher

Savitesh Kushwaha

Jr. Statistician

Divya M S

Administrative Coordinator

KLE TEAM

Praveen Birur

Shubha G

Keerthi G

Harshita Thakur

Sumsum Sunny

AIIMS TEAM

Deepika Mishra

ICMR-NIE TEAM

P Ganeshkumar

Funding Sources

Partners & Collaborators

Updates & Announcements

IISc has received the Best Education Institute Exhibit of the Year at the India Mobile Congress 2025 for its AI-based oral cancer screening tool Aarogya Aarohan. Developed by IISc’s AI Centre of Excellence, TANUH, in collaboration with ARTPARK and Triveous, Aarogya Aarohan is a mobile phone–based, AI-powered, point-of-care tool that supports early detection of oral potentially malignant disorders and oral cancers.

Designed to be mobile-first, offline-first, and edge-deployed, the tool enables frontline health workers to capture and analyze oral images in real time, even in low-resource settings. It provides instant lesion classification to support timely referral and treatment, addressing a critical gap in early oral cancer detection in India.