Emerging AI & ML in Health-Tech | by Srishty Ruhela

Well, wasn’t he right? Doctors are God. A person trusts a doctor and the healthcare system for his life. Nowadays every other person is suffering from a severe disease but every disease is not untreatable now. When we say India is a developing country, we mean it. The healthcare system has developed in decades worldwide. There is a saying that the one who has health, has hope and the one who has hope, has everything. Well, technology is the new ray of hope for mankind. And, if I talk about technology the first thing that comes to my mind is AI & ML.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) & ML (Machine learning) has been a big buzz among today’s generation and why shouldn’t it be? Some of us use applications of AI daily and we don’t even know about it. The greatest example we have in front of us are virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa. But if we observe the ground level, there may be some basic questions which one might not be able to answer if asked, such as “What is AI & ML?”, “How do they work?”, “Is AI an algorithm to predict things in the future?” and so on. You will find the accurate definition of these on google. So, if I talk about AI, in simple terms AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. ML (Machine learning) and AI are very similar. ML is a type of AI and it uses the data set to analyze the pattern and predict the future values as output. The most common and famous example of ML is the recommendation system used in various areas.

However, technology (IT), banking and business sectors are not the only fields being impacted by AI and ML. The healthcare sector has also seen exponential growth in the past couple of years in the field of AI and a large number of patients are getting benefitted from this technology. The healthcare sector is not anymore what it used to be years ago. This 21st century is all set with its well-established and experimented idea of AI and its associated applications to transform the world and the word “health’. It will bring a wave of change in lifestyles and will create enormous health and wealth. Machine Learning being a subset of Artificial Intelligence plays a pivotal role in health-related realms. The application of ML is very beneficial in the development of new medical procedures and handling records and data. New York-based Computer Scientist, Sebastian Thrum said that “As the machines have made human muscles a thousand times stronger, in the same way, machines will make the human brain thousand times more powerful”. Fatima Paruk, CMO of Chicago-based Allscripts said in 2017 that, “AI is the future of healthcare”, which seems to be proven right. Well, some believe that the application and algorithms of AI & ML will improve the administrative process, some say that it will transform the many aspects of patient care and surgery. Let’s have a look at the application usage of AI and ML in the healthcare sector and how it is causing no less of a revolution.

Applications:

There are numerous applications of AI & ML which are being used in the healthcare sector for the betterment of people but a few main applications which have brought significant changes in this sector are as follows:

• AI-assisted Radiology and Pathology:

Tools of AI are expected to enhance the quality of automation and datasets which is likely to improve the quality of life of billions of people around the world. A highly trained radiologist takes time to detect problems that could easily be done by machines and Deep Learning algorithms to interpret the imaging data. It can identify the spots on skins, lesions, and bleeding using 3D radiological images. It will help meticulously in tumor contouring, navigation, and surgery planning.

• Physical Robots for Surgery Assistance:

“Surgical Robots” is a term which might sound fascinating to you but it is no more a fantasy and actually now a reality. Surgical Robots provide their assistance to human surgeons in many ways. By causing less pain with optimal wound and stitch geometry, they have enhanced surgeons’ ability to see and navigate the procedure. They help in creating very precise and accurate invasive incisions.

• Drug Discovery with the AI & ML Techniques:

The big brands in the pharma industry, such as Sanofi, Genentech, Pfizer, etc., have claimed the usefulness of AI and ML solving the hellishly difficult drug discovery. They are using an AI system from GNS Healthcare in Massachusetts, Cambridge to fuel its research in cancer-related technology and to power its search for immuno-oncology drugs.

• Future Precision Medicine & Preventive Healthcare:

Going beyond the modeling of disease and prediction of treatment is a technique of the AI system. This could be one of the most impactful benefits of AI/ML in healthcare. The goal here is extremely complex and demanding — finding precise treatment options for an individual based on his or her personal medical history, lifestyle choices, genetic data, and continuously changing pathological tests. Precision Medicine is an emerging approach for prevention and disease treatment as claimed by the US National Library of Medicine.

Conclusion:

The application of AI & ML in the healthcare sector is increasing day by day. From AI-assisted surgery to administrative tasks, this sector has developed. 75% of healthcare enterprises are planning to execute AI strategy and ML algorithms withing two years from now. The future holds great opportunities for this sector. AI will play a crucial role in comprehending how a drug is performing in real-time and how patients are responding in a behavioral sense. AI will be alarmingly applied at a high rate to imaging diagnostics. We know that every coin has two sides. If AI & ML is beneficial, then it is harmful too. It can cause lot of harm to our data privacy and legal frameworks and these obstacles continue to be a challenge for implementation. Indeed, it is true that AI & ML algorithms have a bright future in improving the health and well-being of billions of people. Once Elon Musk said, “AI doesn’t need to destroy humanity. AI has goals and aims but humans just happen to be in the way at the wrong time. So, it needs to be done what is to be done then AI will destroy humanity over time.” Again, evil is inherent in good but the point is that, it is hidden until the very core exploitation brought it out. AI can be beneficial but it can be harmful as well. So, the question we need to ask ourselves is that “Are we ready for AI?”. As for the pressing question- how much time will AI implementation take? Well, the answer to these questions is held by the future, scientists and technology. Whatever happens, whenever it happens, but it is for sure that the healthcare sector will take a big turn in development and it will be of huge help to mankind as well.