Artificial Intelligence and your Health

How in tune are you with your body? Are you someone whose pulse is noticeable higher after climbing a flight of stairs? Do your legs and feet swell at night? Are these normal responses? Or are there underlying medical reasons such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes? With the continual development of artificial intelligence (AI) and personal data measurements, it is becoming possible to detect certain illnesses in the early stages, and therefore, improve the chances of effective treatment and full recovery.

The increasing larger (and more reliable) performance of sophisticated computer chips coupled with trouble-free, wireless data transmission means that patients and doctors have the opportunity to share volumes of current information with little effort and at low cost. Artificial intelligence is also making it possible for these systems to correctly record problems and learn more from each new analysis. Major players in the AI industry, such as Microsoft, Google, and Apple are aggressively developing software and application specifically with the medical and healthcare fields in mind. With these advances, medical professionals and researchers see three clear areas of benefit: monitoring, diagnostics, and speeding up the research and development (R&D) phase.

Monitoring

One of the most common cardiac monitoring devices is already used by millions worldwide—in the form of a FitBit, Apple watches or any other portable heart monitoring gadget. The daily information collected can help identify a pattern or other characteristics that may provide some indication of an illness. For example, a skipped heartbeat when reviewed alongside other irregular measurements (pulse, body temperature, sweating, etc.) actually may alert a physician to supplemental information that does not show up during an office visit. Highly sensitive versions of these devices have the potential to record inconsistencies that humans might miss. Collecting this kind of significant data about someone’s heart in real-time will hopefully change the way doctors work.

Diagnostics

It is said “to err is human,” and this is also true in the medical field, but some mistakes can have serious consequences. Doctors generally only find what they are looking for. However, computers with sensitive measuring capabilities can help doctors identify factors that the naked eye might miss. In radiology, this type of AI can be extremely instrumental in assisting doctors by immediately recognizing dangerous problems (for example, tumors or chronic inflammation) in other areas of the body. These AI programs are meant to assist human professionals and not replace them. The idea behind this thinking is that doctors can be freed from having to perform tedious, repetitive tasks, leaving them with more time to concentrate on more important issues.

Research and Development

The worldwide race to find a cure for cancer presents an incredible opportunity for AI in healthcare. For example, in the case of R& D for potentially life-saving, new drugs and treatment options. In clinical trials, computers have the power to perform countless virtual experiments in an effort to find better options and successful drug combinations. In turn, global pharmaceutical companies can work faster with the researcher to develop – and eventually, release – safer and more effective treatment therapies.

The future of AI shows how when artificial and natural intelligence is linked, better results may be achieved than with AI alone. AI promises to have far-reaching effects on the development of better medications, time-efficient processing of experimental drug findings or daily, user-friendly monitoring of bodily functions. Big data and medicine are on the right track to making people more aware of our medical conditions and even healthier in the long run.

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