“Doctors who partner with (AI) artificial intelligence as a decision-making aid will see their healing powers expand more than they have in the past 100 years” (Men’s Health, p. 42, May 2018).
Intelligent Medicine
Mr. Greg Corrado, Ph.D. was making a TedMed presentation about artificial intelligence this past year when he stunned his audience of medical professionals. Well, Dr. Corrado should know the field well since he is a principal scientist at Google AI and an expert in machine learning. He went on to explain that to tackle the storm of intense medical data available for medical evaluators today a practitioner needs to condense the “data beast” so that appropriate information can be funneled into focused patient care.
The future is coming. The future is down the road. The future is here. Microsoft, Apple, IBM and many other tech-savvy corporations are creating algorithms for medical facilities. An algorithm is a structured formula for solving a problem. So, when a doctor, hospital, medical records department, medication ordering program or medical supply procurement agency needs to determine the best solution for diagnosing a problem they turn to a robotic algorithm system to capture the solution.
Personal Medicine
Personal medicine has become more personal. Your medical treatment can be decided by a complex set of numbers calculated by a fined-tuned robot analyzing specific personal data about your past, current and future health. Your medical provider even knows the odds of whether you will keep your next appointment. Rachel Sturtz (Men’s Health, May 2018) relates a variety of “assistive” robots working to keep us healthy.
- Sensely – this avatar checks symptoms and pulls data for your doctor to review
- Woebot – this “chatbot” created by Alison Darcy, Ph.D., monitors your mood
- AiCure – recognizes your face, verifies medication and checks for administration
- SemanticScholar – a search-based engine for relevant medical information
- ARTAS Robotic – transplants hair faster than a human
- HeartFlow – diagnosing heart disease with 3D map of the heart
- Butterfly iQ – a pocket-sized ultrasound scanner with unlimited possibilities
- Watson for Oncology – a plethora of resources for cancer treatment plans
- Lumo Run (Lumo Lift) – personal biomechanic feedback
- PatientsLikeMe – a FREE patient network to gain insight from people with similar medical conditions
- ColgateConnect E1 – toothbrush using 3D technology for healthier teeth
- Noom – custom nutrition/exercise courses – CDC-RECOGNIZED FOR THE PREVENTION OF DIABETES
Intelligent Health
Cloud-based, yes, cloud-based technology is being used to view, monitor, assess, analyze, scan, interpret, review, research, plan, learn, devise and track almost every aspect of your medical life. This detailed analysis is reducing unnecessary, invasive medical procedures, eliminating or reducing health care costs, increasing medical diagnosis accuracy, decrease pharmaceutical waste, increasing the proficiency of medical product tracking, assisting medical providers in assembling a library of current and timely medical information, and most importantly, improving the quality of health care for all of us.
As in all things tech, it’s important not to become entangled in the business part of healthcare. The use of technology must be tempered with the personal care of medicine. Development of an effective care plan still balances between the medical provider and the patient; with a fair exchange of information. Hopefully, humans still talk to humans. This personal conversation isn’t a debate or gabfest, it’s an informed exchange between concerned people trying to intelligently discuss sometimes difficult health-related questions. AI (artificial intelligence) is used to assist this exchange and achieve the best healthcare decision.
Rachel Sturtz (Men’s Health, May 2018) states, “artificial intelligence is medicine’s future.” I would reframe that statement and say that intelligent assistance for personal healthcare is the future.
The DocBot will see you now
