AI is poised to bring about major changes in the way we approach healthcare, but it won't happen soon. In addition to an aging population, underfunded hospitals and overworked staff are steadily reducing the scope and quality of health care provided each day.
Too many people have experienced delays, mistakes, and cancellations while trying to get proper treatment, but suddenly a white knight appears on the horizon.
Artificial intelligence has emerged as a powerful and effective way to address many of the problems plaguing medical professionals.
As author Eric Topol explains in his book, Deep Medicine: Can Artificial Intelligence Make Medicine Rehuman? “The greatest opportunity presented by AI is not to reduce errors or workload, or even cure cancer. It is the opportunity to reclaim precious time. Honored connection and trust.”
Wearables fuel data explosion
This new paper on ✨Med-Gemini✨ research by @GoogleResearch and @GoogleDeepMind uses the multimodal and long context capabilities of Gemini 1.5 to present state-of-the-art results on a wide range of 2D and 3D medical imaging and medical imaging. shows you how to get it. Genomic risk score task. … https://t.co/XHPl5z46YK pic.twitter.com/Oa7aDCNheXMay 7, 2024
The technology industry is not slow to capitalize on the demand for these new tools, and some surprising new entrants have entered the scene. US giant Apple is reportedly developing a new AI-powered health coach and mood tracker codenamed Quartz.
The product provides users with custom workout routines based on Apple Watch data, similar to recent products from Google and Fitbit that use the Gemini model to deliver personalized health tips and programs. There is.
But these chat applications are just the tip of the medical iceberg. The growing category of devices known as the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is increasingly equipped with advanced AI to provide advanced remote and local monitoring to enhance patient care. One important aspect of this is predictive analytics. Predictive analytics integrates cameras and sensors with intelligent software to detect early signs of potentially life-threatening patient problems.
And a team at Swansea University recently demonstrated a system that can provide test results for problems such as cardiovascular disorders, joint problems and Alzheimer's disease in two minutes, using only a fingertip sample. Although this research is still in its early stages, it shows the potential for AI and machine learning to dramatically speed up the delivery of critical diagnoses to hospitals and doctors.
Similarly, researchers are approaching the potential use of smart contact lenses to monitor blood sugar levels as a means of tracking and treating diabetes. The effort was originally launched a decade ago by Google and Novartis, but a research paper published last month from South Korea's Yonsei University demonstrates the technology's real progress in animal and human trials. I did.
The growing value of patient data
Data is at the heart of this brave new world. Specifically, patient data from “electronic medical records.” It's no surprise, then, that Palantir, the famous American spy technology company, won last year's controversial $411 million, five-year contract to handle patient records for Britain's National Health Service. As we cautiously step into this new era of AI, data, especially patient data, will become an invaluable commodity.
One powerful demonstration of how important machine learning is to our future health and well-being came from this week's news. Med GeminiGoogle and Microsoft's joint medical AI model set achieved 91.1% accuracy in performing scans of complex patient health data.
This includes “needle in a haystack” searches to find subtle and rare medical conditions and symptoms that may be missed by the human eye. The system also performed well in medical assessments using chatbots, asking the right questions and making the correct diagnosis. The research team expressed cautious optimism about the results, particularly regarding their “potential to significantly reduce cognitive load and improve clinician performance.”
The future of health is AI
Efforts to incorporate AI into global health systems are still in their early stages. But there are signs that we are on the cusp of something important when it comes to AI-powered prognosis, preventive medicine, and treatment.
But most observers stress that what is actually needed is not just to overturn the entire system, but to give medical professionals the tools to improve outcomes.
Michaela van der Schaar, Director of the Center for Medical AI at the University of Cambridge, explains: ”