Artificial Intelligence Transforming the Healthcare Industry

Robert Woolliams

June 12, 2017

3 Min Read

by Jyotsna Pattabiraman

Technology has a major role to play in every industry today including healthcare. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one such technology which seems to be spreading its reach to all aspects of healthcare. A new Worldwide Semiannual Cognitive/Artificial Intelligence Systems Spending Guide has estimated that the spends on AI technologies will increase from $8 billion in 2016 to $47 billion in 2020. With this kind of investment, the healthcare industry seems to be betting big on cognitive and AI systems. Be it virtual assistants, intelligent automation, or cognitive computing, AI is definitely set to make a big impact on various aspects of healthcare, some of them being operations, patient-centric care, and precision medicine.

Although there is still a long way to go before AI replaces doctors completely, it will definitely make way for a more efficient and reliable assessment of patients. Currently, AI is already under use in areas like mining medical data, diagnosing medical images, studying genomics-based data for personalized medicine, and improving the lives of the disabled.

We, at Grow Fit, are powered by Artificial Intelligence to help our 300,000 users make their health a daily habit. We are also leveraging AI to match users with the correct nutritionist.

Precise and timely diagnosis

Rare and dangerous diseases can be prevented and treated, and sometimes cured completely, with timely diagnosis. At times, it is difficult to examine images and samples and come to a reliable decision only with human skills and experience. This is where AI comes in. It can help in analysing millions of samples and come up with useful patterns. This is one area where many institutions and firms are investing to deliver effective healthcare solutions.

Minimally invasive surgeries

AI has paved way for minimally invasive surgeries today with systems to monitor procedures and conditions in a better way. It is also possible to diagnose any condition in a better way. Robotic surgeries are becoming the norm of the day and physicians are not required to be present in the operating room during any surgery. Barriers such as travel stress and delay in medical help are also removed what with the patient being able to go to the nearest hospital or clinic for the surgery. Physicians can also choose to be in the same room during the surgery but operate only the robotic devices. This leaves lesser room for scarring and enables quicker recovery.

Predictive analysis

AI will soon become the preferred tool to predict patient health with high accuracy. It will power predictive models and provide healthcare organizations with insights into future needs, costs, disease burden, and risks. These predictions can be made across multiple target groups, taking into account health- and non-health-related information to determine an individual's likely course. All this will be possible in a completely transparent way, with reasoning behind such assertions thus augmenting human skill and knowledge. AI will thus make its way into day-to-day healthcare decision-making.

In conclusion

The impact of technology is definitely increasing and here to stay: be it smaller innovations like bandages and braces, or larger technologies such as MRI, artificial organs, and robotic prosthetic limbs. The fact that such innovations can and are helping in better diagnosis, surgical procedures, and improved patient care cannot be ignored. Technological innovations are also transforming the way treatment and therapies are delivered. AI is set to take the future of healthcare by storm and remove any barriers to effective healthcare delivery.

Jyotsna is the founder and CEO of Grow Fit (Healthzone Organic Foods Pvt Ltd), a mobile health companion that uses artificial intelligence to help over 300 million Indians achieve peak wellness. With Grow Fit, Jyotsna is striving to provide data-driven health strategies tailored to India. Besides physical health, Grow Fit also encompasses mental health through a separate app called Grow Self.

This article is republished from this source

Feature image credit: Pexels

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