AI in Healthcare: How Technology is Saving Thousands of Lives

AI in healthcare: The key to wellness?

Artificial intelligence, while becoming increasingly accessible to everyday people, is still viewed with some controversy. Some fear that robots will push humans out of daily activities. Others urge us to take advantage of the opportunities provided by innovation and use technological capacity for good purposes, specifically by applying AI in medicine.

This capability is already available. We can track our heart rate or sleep quality on smart devices with the help of wellness apps.

Smart Apple Watches encourage daily movement, helping to maintain an active lifestyle [1]. This is personalized medicine that anyone can use [2].

However, medical professionals themselves are increasingly relying on the services provided by artificial intelligence, and in the future, AI could be fully integrated into medical practices.

A new AI-based method can accurately predict if and when heart patients might die from sudden cardiac arrest.

The creators of the algorithm state that applying this practice in medicine would significantly improve the survival chances of patients with heart disease. And there may be more analogous AI methods on the way.

An important discovery in diagnosing heart disease

Natalia Trayanova, a professor at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and co-director of the Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation, explains that an algorithm created by her team, powered by AI capabilities, can help identify early on who is at risk for severe health complications due to cardiovascular diseases [3].

To develop the algorithm, researchers utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from previous patients and other clinical data.

Individual patient data was also taken into account, such as race, medication use, previous medical interventions, age, weight, and height.

Dan Popescu, one of the study's co-authors, states that the systematized information reveals a comprehensive picture of the patient's health that doctors previously could not obtain quickly. This visualization was essential for creating a further treatment plan for the individual.

By applying the algorithm created by artificial intelligence, patients with heart disease are provided with an individual projection of when they could potentially die from heart conditions over the next 10 years.

Initial tests have already shown that the predictions are more accurate than those provided by doctors, which could fundamentally change treatment processes. For example, an accurate arrhythmia diagnosis determines a person's chances of survival.

Earlier diagnoses could help save thousands of lives every year. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death: about 17.9 million people worldwide die annually from various cardiovascular disorders [4].

Various AI in healthcare examples demonstrate that these discoveries benefit more than just cardiovascular patients. In the field of radiology, for instance, the evaluation of mammography results has become significantly more accurate.

When diagnosing lung cancer, an AI algorithm was even trained to predict lung cancer risk up to three years in advance, based solely on computed tomography (CT) readings collected by radiologists [5].

Progress in incorporating artificial intelligence into medicine is also noticeable in pathology and gastroenterology.

Furthermore, there is a noticeable financial benefit to applying these technologies: semi-automated or fully automated human health screenings are, in many cases, cheaper than a visit to a specialist.

AI in healthcare pros and cons: Implementation challenges

A survey of 75 European healthcare professionals revealed that, in the opinion of medical experts, AI solutions will be fully implemented in healthcare systems within five to ten years [6].

However, such integration could take even longer. While artificial intelligence used for treatment can reduce medical costs, the healthcare system must undergo a transformation that would require billions of dollars.

Although some hospitals already use systems based on artificial intelligence or the latest technologies to facilitate the diagnosis of human diseases or the treatment procedures themselves, restructuring a medical facility to meet the most modern standards of AI capabilities requires massive financial resources.

The cost of a suite of the latest devices, computer systems, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality can range from $20,000 to $1,000,000 [7]. Few medical facilities can allocate such resources.

It is believed that medical professionals in the United States will be the first to fully develop AI capabilities in medicine. Nine out of ten healthcare executives in the country already advocate for the inclusion of artificial intelligence in medicine [8].

Additionally, 68% of US medical professionals are convinced that artificial intelligence will eventually be highly effective in diagnosing patient illnesses, and 47% believe that such diagnostics will cause a true revolution in the near future.