What is artificial intelligence or AI? According to Wikipedia, AI is intelligence demonstrated by machines, unlike the natural intelligence displayed by humans and animals, which involves consciousness and emotionality.
AI has transformed several sectors, and healthcare is no exception. AI can create better experiences for both patients and healthcare providers. AI can support everything from early diagnosis to robotic surgeries.
Recently, a healthcare company used AI for advocacy. It tried to understand why people were hesitant to use the COVID vaccine. They then used insights from the study and created a multidisciplinary task force focused on vaccine access and outreach.
More than ever, now the healthcare system needs better and efficient technologies. A sedentary lifestyle, stress, and other environmental factors are making people unhealthy. Existing healthcare systems with traditional equipment will be unable to handle new patients. According to a McKinsey report, one in four people in Europe and North America will be over 65, five years from now. People are prone to lifestyle-related diseases like Diabetes, Hypertension, Cardiovascular diseases, and other ailments. Existing healthcare systems will have to leverage smarter technologies to tackle the inflow of patients. Existing healthcare systems have to use innovative technologies to manage the growing demand.
AI enables healthcare providers to do more with less and offers a variety of benefits:
Clinical Research
Did you know it takes 12 years for a drug to make it to a patient from a research lab? This is a fact from the California Biomedical Research Association. Most of the investments in the healthcare sector are on drug discovery and research. According to this study, the average cost of bringing a new drug into the market is a whopping $1.3 billion.
Whether it’s a new antibiotic, analgesic, or even alternative device like THC vape starter kits, AI can help clinicians with critical data. It can analyze data using several permutations and combinations of how a drug molecule interacts with the human body. Also, it’s really important to microdose mushrooms capsules as it helps in improving focus and reducing anxiety. AI does the job for researchers and analysts at a considerable lesser time. It helps them save time that is otherwise spent on online libraries and complex software.
Quicker Diagnosis
Cancer diagnosis involves tissue extraction called a biopsy that is painful and invasive. According to this PwC report, one in two healthy women gets misdiagnosed with cancer. This process is time-consuming, invasive, and above all, tiring because of the long wait. The same report states that mammograms using AI is 30 times faster and produce 99% accuracy.
Another AI entrant in the market is the wearable gadget. There is a trend of people using wearables for general wellness and handling emergencies. Patients can track vitals using devices like watches or armbands that they can wear at all times. Wearable heart monitors also help clinicians with remote monitoring.
Clinical Treatment
AI is a boon for surgeons who handle complex surgeries daily. Precision is critical, and AI helps these surgeons through robotic surgery. Algorithms collect data from surgeons who perform complex operations and feed that data to robots. These AI-powered robots can perform incisions that are even only a submillimeter. AI-enabled robotic surgery comes in handy during sensitive procedures like eye surgery.
Medical Training and Learning
This is one of the highlights of using AI in healthcare. With AI, aspiring medical professionals can use simulations to learn more about the human body. They don’t have to rely on text-heavy books or imagination to understand the human body. Additionally, AI can scan through large databases and present problem scenarios for students to learn and prepare for real-life situations. With 5G opening up new possibilities, AI will help students take interactive and immersive learning with them anywhere using their phones.
Overall, the benefits of AI are not restricted to conventional medical procedures. It can improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. AI will play a significant role in enhancing healthcare delivery for the physically challenged. One example is the healthcare wearable that helps the visually impaired navigate their surroundings. Another example is the AI-enabled hearing aid that comes with natural language processing capabilities and gesture recognition. This allows hard-of-hearing people to perceive the entire environment around them.
Governments and private enterprises worldwide are seeing the benefit of investing in AI technologies. A report states that countries like the United Kingdom, China, Israel, Finland, Germany, and the United States have already made AI-enabled healthcare a priority. It goes on to add that venture capital (VC) funding for the top 50 firms in healthcare-related AI has reached an enormous $8.5 billion.
It might be too early to speculate that AI might almost take off half of the responsibilities, but technology and research prove that it might be off to a bright start. First, AI will automate repetitive tasks. Then it will aid clinicians in delivering remote care. Later, it might be a robot making clinical decisions in an emergency room.
Be the first to comment