• Skip to main content

DistilINFO LifeSciences

Weekly round up from Life Sciences Industry.

  • Publications
    • Home
    • DistilINFO HealthPlan
    • DistilINFO HospitalIT
    • DistilINFO IT
    • DistilINFO Retail
    • DistilINFO POPHealth
    • DistilINFO Ageing
    • DistilINFO Life Sciences
    • DistilINFO GovHealth
    • DistilINFO EHS
    • DistilINFO HealthIndia
    • Subscribe
    • Submit Article
    • Advertise
    • Newsletters

Life-saving potential of AI demonstrated in new healthcare research

Share:

May 21, 2019

Artificial intelligence is slowly but surely starting to change the way a whole range of industries operate. Healthcare researchers are now uncovering its potential to save lives and cut health costs as well.

Two promising new ventures involving AI were announced in May, one that could improve the detection of breast cancer in women and another that could reduce the number of unnecessary tests that doctors run on patients complaining of chest pains.

The first study makes use of AI’s deep learning techniques – basically, an ability to absorb a whole wealth of past information, learn from it it and draw its own conclusions for future patients – to better read mammograms that check for breast density.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School found that using deep learning “substantially improved risk discrimination” compared to traditional models used by radiologists to evaluate mammograms.

Want to publish your own articles on DistilINFO Publications?

Send us an email, we will get in touch with you.

“There’s much more information in a mammogram than just the four categories of breast density,” says Adam Yala, the study’s lead author and a PHD candidate at MIT. “By using the deep learning model, we learn subtle cues that are indicative of future cancer.”

An added benefit – the AI model knows no colour. In other words, it works equally “across diverse races, ages and family histories,” says Regina Barzilay, an AI expert and professor at MIT who collaborated on the study. That could cut down on the number of misdiagnoses often suffered by minorities in the United States, particularly African American women.

“Until now, African-American women were at a distinct disadvantage in having accurate risk assessment of future breast cancer. Our AI model has changed that,” says Regina Barzilay, an AI expert and professor at MIT who collaborated on the study.

A second study released this month uses AI in a different way: To avoid unnecessary testing for diseases and cut down on health costs.

Researchers in Europe found that artificial intelligence can be a far better predictor of whether patients who complain of chest pain really need to go through costly and time-consuming examinations of their heart and blood vessels.

“AI has the potential to save costs and staff time by identifying patients with chest pain who do not have significant coronary artery disease and therefore do not need expensive cardiac imaging,” says the study’s author, Marco Mazzanti of the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.

One glaring example cited by researchers: whether to use a CTA scan to check for blocked blood vessels. Cardiologists recommended the scan for 83% of patients with chest pains while the AI model, dubbed ARTICA, suggested it for just 10%. Despite recommending fewer tests overall, researchers found that ARTICA made the right call 97% of the time.

Still, Mazzanti seemed to acknowledge the world might not be ready for a machine to take full control of the decisions-making process just yet, calling it a “second set of eyes” rather than a replacement for doctors.

“As doctors we order a lot of tests which cost a lot of money and waste time. ARTICA is like a second set of eyes to make sure we follow recommendations,” says Mazzanti. – dpa

Date: May 21, 2019

Source: The Star Online

Coffee with DistilINFO's Morning Updates...

Sign up for DistilINFO e-Newsletters.

Just a little bit more about you...
PROCEED
Choose Lists
BACK

Related Stories

  • 3M and Eko Launches 3M Littmann® Core Digital Stethoscope for Clinicians3M and Eko Launches 3M Littmann® Core Digital Stethoscope for Clinicians
  • OSF HealthCare Interfaces CancerIQ Into Epic EHR To Expand Genetics To Primary CareOSF HealthCare Interfaces CancerIQ Into Epic EHR To Expand Genetics To Primary Care
  • Traditions Health Expands Presence in Arizona; Acquires Pathways HospiceTraditions Health Expands Presence in Arizona; Acquires Pathways Hospice
  • COVID-19 Pandemic Further Exposes Systemic Racism…COVID-19 Pandemic Further Exposes Systemic Racism…
  • Foamix Pharm And Menlo Therapeutics To Merge – Quick FactsFoamix Pharm And Menlo Therapeutics To Merge – Quick Facts
  • Bright Health Lands $635M to Expand Medicare Advantage Plans to More MarketsBright Health Lands $635M to Expand Medicare Advantage Plans to More Markets
  • Amedisys Completes Acquisition of Asana HospiceAmedisys Completes Acquisition of Asana Hospice
  • Emergent BioSolutions to buy Adapt Pharma for $735mEmergent BioSolutions to buy Adapt Pharma for $735m

Trending This Week

  • EHR Vendor Cerner Eyes Developing a $1 Billion Data Business
  • Astonishing Growth in Global Pharmaceutical Market Which is Growing Exponentially with the Major Key Players in the Market Within the Forecast Period 2020-2027
  • Healthcare E-Commerce Market Demand, Insights and Forecast up to 2024
  • Starting the Year Dropping Cash – Two Companies Scooped Up This Week
  • Acquisitions of Biotech Startups Increased in 2020, With No Signs of Slowing Down
  • CareDx Agrees to Acquire Transchart and Expands EMR Connectivity to Over 90 Centersacquisition Will Build on CareDx’s Digital Capabilities and Continue Deepening the Moat with Transplant Centers

About Us

DistilINFO is media company that publishes Industry news, views and Interviews. We distil the information for you – saving time and keeping you up to date on your interest areas.

More About Us

Follow Us


Useful Links

  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Feedback

All Publications

  • DistilINFO HealthPlan Advisory
  • DistilINFO HospitalIT Advisory
  • DistilINFO IT Advisory
  • DistilINFO Retail Advisory
  • DistilINFO POPHealth Advisory
  • DistilINFO Ageing Advisory
  • DistilINFO Life Sciences Advisory
  • DistilINFO GovHealth Advisory
  • DistilINFO EHS Advisory
  • DistilINFO HealthIndia Advisory

© DistilINFO Publications