Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly present in our lives and is being applied in numerous fields of research and development, thus contributing to the transformation of our daily habits, such as social relationships, nutrition, transportation, and healthcare.
In recent years, AI has been playing an increasingly decisive role in the biomedical field.
Thanks to its high capacity for data analysis and interpretation, it already represents a crucial support tool for medical personnel in detecting biomarkers, classifying and preventing specific pathologies, and even creating three-dimensional organic models.
In medicine, AI and Deep Learning (DL) are widely used tools that allow for the management and analysis of enormous amounts of data, provide functional relationships between them, and recognize specific patterns.
In particular, their ability to offer image diagnoses is innovative, such as DL for radiomics in oncology, which identifies unique characteristics of the pathology otherwise invisible to the human eye. Another technique, multiple instance learning, facilitates the learning of numerous images, determining their specific type of membership. Last but not least, the ability to maximize the effectiveness of therapy over time through spatiotemporal models.
Another innovation in the medical field, which is hoped to see the light soon, is called the "Digital Twin".
The project developed by the French company Dassault Systèmes aims to improve medical assistance through the simulation of human organs, particularly with two projects: the living heart and the living brain.
While the first intends to provide support in cardiovascular treatments to make them increasingly precise and safe, in the second case, the project is designed for epileptic individuals who require surgery.
Where there is no possibility of pharmacological treatment, the aim is to offer the most accurate predictive picture possible in case the patient needs to be operated on.
The French giant also has a testing hub that currently has more than 50 projects in the study and implementation phase, including: a toy ball designed for autistic children, a biomimetic implant for corneal replacement, the reproduction of individual patients' aneurysms in 3D printing, which allows doctors to intervene in a more targeted manner, and the Iaso project for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes.
However, there are many organizations implementing AI in their research fields, such as Harvard University Hospital, which uses AI to diagnose potentially deadly blood diseases at an early stage. Microscopes are used to scan and identify harmful bacteria with 95% accuracy. Harvard is also developing Buoy Health, a chatbot capable of listening to the patient, their symptoms, and guiding them through a treatment plan.
The applications of AI in the medical field are numerous and constantly growing.
Currently, one of the problems with these technologies is related to regulatory implications and limitations, relating to medical responsibility and the need for companies to make the codes of the algorithms public.
Despite the long road ahead, the benefits of AI applied to medicine are enormous and could have positive global ramifications.
What will be the future of AI and medicine? Would you like to be a part of it, perhaps with your own idea? Don't hesitate to contact us!
