Oral Cancer Prevention: Pune Doctors Use AI Tool to Detect Lesions in Asymptomatic Patients
Pune, 5th May 2026: Laxman* (name changed), a 57-year-old driver, recently underwent an oral health screening campaign conducted at his company. A smartphone camera equipped with Mukhia Plus points towards his mouth, and a yellow box appears on the screen hinting at a pre-cancerous lesion. Laxman is depressed but deep down his heart he knew one day this would happen since he has been chewing tobacco for the past four decades. He is not alone. Of the 230 employees who were screened in a special campaign, almost half, 105, showed oral potentially malignant disorder (PMD), underscoring the importance of early detection in such vulnerable groups.
Pune based Dr. Amruta Rao, Oral Cancer Screening Expert said “Designed for point-of–care use, Mukhia Plus leverages artificial intelligence to analyse oral images in real time, supporting clinicians in identifying suspicious lesions with greater consistency and speed. Its portability and ease of use make it especially suitable for large scale outreach programmes where access to specialized diagnostic infrastructure may be limited and difficult to reach.”
The Mukhia Plus, an Artificial Intelligence enabled screening tool developed by Pune based Edgescan AI, is a Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) licensed AI tool available in India for screening of oral lesions, showing high sensitivity of 96.2% and an overall accuracy of 89.7% which is validated by a registered study under Clinical Trials Registry in India (CTRI).
The screening campaign, in collaboration with Nirmaan Sanstha and Edgescan AI as their technology partners was held in February, 2026 at Pimpri site in Pune. Ganesh Tarde, project coordinator, Nirmaan Sanstha said, “Nirmaan successfully organized a two-day Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative at the Tata Motors Training Division Hostel in collaboration with Tata Motors. The aim through this Driver Dignity Program is to provide comprehensive health and social security support to 230 drivers and on this day, they were provided with support on medical services which included Hemogram, HbA1C, Lipid Profile, Serum Creatinine, Thyroid (TSH), Blood Pressure check, Vision screening with prescription support, Oral Cancer screening and Tuberculosis screening. Along with health services, drivers received awareness and assistance for enrolment in Welfare Schemes including Post Office Accidental Insurance and Aditya Birla Insurance and Ayushman Bharat. The initiative received wonderful support and positive response from the drivers, highlighting the importance of such collaborative efforts for their health, safety, and social security.”
Explaining how the app works, Dr. Prachee Hendre-Mhetras, Oral Cancer Screening Expert, Edgescan AI said, “Mukhia Plus complements clinical expertise and enables a structured and standardized approach to oral health screening. It can detect up to 60 different types of cancerous, pre-cancerous and non-cancerous lesions. The tool can be used by any healthcare worker who can be easily trained to use the app. The healthcare workers photograph up to nine regions inside the mouth, and the system processes the images in real time. A sophisticated algorithm then identifies abnormal areas, classifies potential lesions, and provides a triage recommendation—whether the patient should be referred for further investigation or not. The technology is built on a dataset of over 50,000 annotated images collected from 18 diverse clinical settings across India.”
Dr. Amruta Rao, Oral Cancer Screening Expert, Edgescan AI said, “In these 100 patients we found pre-cancerous lesions such as leukoplakia, tobacco pouch keratosis and oral submucous fibrosis. All of them had a history of tobacco consumption, some for over 40 years. The employees, all men, were aged between 23 to 60 years of age. Many of these patients were asymptomatic and so they were shocked to know the findings. We could identify lesions in their pre-malignant stage and so no biopsy was needed. If ignored, in many cases, these lesions could have turned cancerous. The best part about the tool is that hundreds were screened with the help of two smartphones and two dentists within two days.”
Oral cancer remains one of India’s most pressing public health challenges. Long before cancer develops, many patients exhibit early warning signs—oral potentially malignant disorders (PMDs) such as leukoplakia, erythroplakia, and oral submucous fibrosis. Detecting these lesions early can make the difference between a manageable condition and a life-threatening disease, which is what Mukhia Plus is equipped to do.
The initiative demonstrated how AI-powered tools like Mukhia Plus can significantly enhance the reach and effectiveness of public health interventions. Organizers noted that the impact of the camp was tremendous—not only in identifying early signs of disease but also in empowering beneficiaries through targeted counselling, awareness, and access to essential services, paving the way for timely care and improved health outcomes.
Dr. Prachee Hendre-Mhetras, Oral Cancer Screening Expert, Edgescan AI said, “AI tools like Mukhia Plus are not designed to replace clinicians, but to support them— bringing consistency, scalability, and an extra layer of vigilance to screening programmes. In a country as vast and diverse as India, where access to specialized care can be uneven, such tools could empower frontline health workers and expand the reach of early detection efforts.”
