There is no doubt that AI is the future of the healthcare industry. AI promises to be a useful boon to the healthcare industry in many ways. It offers multiple benefits to both its providers and patients. This is one of the reasons why lots of providers are starting to rely on artificial intelligence to facilitate and streamline day to day clinical decision making.
The healthcare industry proves to be a versatile field with endless opportunities for the implementation of AI solutions. Artificial intelligence can be used to assist with the interpretation of investigations, making a diagnosis, and performing risk assessments. The utilization of technology in these instances enables the deployment of effective and efficient interventions that allow healthcare providers to provide better care to their patients.
The provision of healthcare has never been more challenging than now given the increased patient expectations and reliance on evidence based medicine which is constantly evolving. It is an arduous task to keep up-to-date with massive volumes of research that is constantly being updated. Learning algorithms that are being used by AI tend to become more precise with large volumes of data. AI provides clinicians with the perfect solution to gaining unprecedented insights into various areas of medicine: diagnostics, management, and prognostication as well as patient risk assessment.
In this article, we will review a few of the areas in the healthcare industry that are ripe for change.
Brain-computer interfaces
A stroke patient who is able to communicate a few days after their stroke ? This was /unheard of prior to now. AI backed BCI have made this possible. Previously these patients would be enrolled in speech rehab which can take up to a few months before any progress can be noted. However with BCI , these patients are able to communicate with others within a few days after their neurological injury by using smart devices. Using this technology has been life changing for these patients and enabled provision of better care due to better communication.
The revolutionary effects of technology when paired with the human mind can be witnessed with the brain computer interfaces.
Use of AI for Diagnostic purposes
AI promises to bring about some major changes in the industry within the next few years. Certain conditions require invasive procedures to be carried out for a diagnosis to be made. For an instance, a patient with a suspicious lump requires a biopsy of the lesion to be taken to determine whether it is cancerous or not. Invasive procedures are associated with multiple risks including infection, pain and the possibility of obtaining a non-diagnostic sample. Non-invasive imaging modalities like MRI, CT imaging or X-rays if combined with AI could possibly lead to virtual biopsies being performed in the future. Virtual biopsies would enable progress in the field of radiomics and also allow clinicians to provide better care to patients without the need for invasive procedures.
Improved access to healthcare in regional and remote areas
Lack of clinicians and health care providers is a major issue in regional and remote areas. Due to this, there are limitations in provision of healthcare in these areas. Patients in rural areas have to travel long distances to seek specialist medical advice or treatment. This is an area of healthcare where implementation of AI could revolutionize patient outcomes. Medical imaging is one such field of medicine where AI is already assisting with clinical decision making. With the use of AI powered imaging tools that have skills that are comparable to humans, the need for radiologists on site will reduce significantly in these low resource areas. There are a few factors that algorithm developers need to keep in account when developing these software solutions: variability within the human anatomy and physiology. The data that is used to develop these AI solutions needs to incorporate the diversity of diseases and presentations according to ethnicities and environmental factors. AI based software’s that are only based on a single geographical population and ethnicity are bound to fail.
Healthcare decisions based on wearable personal devices?
Who would have thought that our personal devices would help clinicians make decisions about our health? In this era, nearly everyone has access to a smart device and a smart watch. These wearable devices now have the ability to monitor our step counts and measure our heartbeat around the clock. Not only can consumers utilize this information to improve their fitness levels, but this health related data can also be used to make important clinical decisions.
Analysis of this data along with patient-provided history provides a clinician with unique perspective into the individual’s health. Artificial intelligence is bound to play a vital role in extracting valuable insights from large volumes of this health-related data that is being collected around the clock.
Clinical care is usually episodic and the information that is obtained by healthcare providers is therefore not always complete. Utilization of information that is obtained continuously will provide clinicians with invaluable insight into a person’s wellbeing and enable them to make better medical decisions. For an instance, palpitations are a common reason for patients to see their physician. However in most instances, the palpitations have resolved at the time of presentation and are not reproducible during that episode of care. Utilization of AI to capture such data at the time of the event and transmit it to the patient’s treating physician would be invaluable for further management.
AI developers will need to keep data security and safety in mind when developing these solutions as consumers are unlikely to use this technology if they have concerns about data breach.
It is no doubt that the marriage of the human mind with AI is bound to bring about some miracles. These are a few of the many applications where AI will have positive impacts on the healthcare industry. It is exciting times for both AI developers and healthcare providers as the industry is evolving rapidly and providing solutions that enable better healthcare. These changes will have positive impacts on the health of community. If you are looking to integrate AI solutions within your enterprise, your search ends here. Our experienced team at Futuristech will be able to bring your idea to reality.