AI is being implemented in many sectors, especially in healthcare. With the proliferation of electronic health records, exchange of health information, treatment data, information obtained in wearables and sensors, apps, … a range of possibilities has been opened. In this way, the analysis of a large amount of data is managed in a more effective way to provide suggestions and improve lifestyle.
AI is applied in many areas, from the discovery of new drugs to the interpretation of radiological images, the automation of repetitive tasks, speeding up the interpretation of data, and analyzing the genome of a patient. Also to help understand the subtypes and the progression of a disease favoring a better treatment of it.
With the use of electronic records, an opportunity has been created to identify gaps and be able to fill them, such as the fact that a patient does not attend his annual visit with his doctor or has not refilled important medications for his health. Likewise, monitoring patient care is committed to improving their health, but it is also a good opportunity to reduce costs.
Artificial intelligence and its application in the field of health. A little history.
Artificial intelligence was “created” in 1956. However, it was not until the 1970s that such technology was applied in the health sector. The first use that AI was given in medicine was as a result of the creation of a system aimed at detecting infectious diseases in the blood, which was able to communicate with the user, prescribing the most appropriate treatments in attention to symptoms. and circumstances of the patient -Mycin-.
It is surprising that if artificial intelligence was already being talked about in the 70s, it was not until a few decades ago that this technology has brought about a true revolution in medical practice. The question, in fact, is very easy to solve and that there are different types of artificial intelligence that can be applied in the field of health, and only a few are identified by the general public as AI.
In this sense, any task that a computer can perform equal to, or better than, a human being must be considered as artificial intelligence. In the health sector, its role for years had been relegated to the design of algorithms that served as the basis for data collection and subsequent treatment.
Benefits of Artificial Intelligence in the health sector
- Artificial Intelligence manages to facilitate the diagnosis of some diseases such as cardiovascular ailments, diabetes or macular degeneration.
- There are apps or machines that have shown great effectiveness against diseases such as cancer.
- In terms of new drug development, AI helps narrow the search to speed discovery.
- Thanks to algorithms, new candidate molecules have been searched to treat a specific disease.
And AI allows:
- Deep learning, so it helps to find the best options to create a chemical compound.
- Generate artificial neural networks to reconstruct complete DNA sequences from high-throughput sequencing data.
- Improve detection and diagnosis of pathologies.
- Reduce the number of medical errors.
- Make possible the advancement of health areas such as Epidemiology or Public Health.
- Artificial Intelligence is a basic tool, today, for the advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. It benefits both professionals and patients. If you want to know more about AI, this eBook is ideal for you!
