Artificial intelligence (AI) provides actionable solutions to common problems in various industries. It is especially useful in the world of healthcare, as AI is helping to solve a number of roadblocks that the industry has been facing for decades.
AI is furthering the goal of more accurately diagnosing patients, providing treatment options with higher success rates and performing surgeries with a smaller margin of error. Here are some of the most revolutionary artificial intelligence applications in healthcare.
Streamlining Communication for Patients With Neurological Disorders
AI has advanced to a point where it is possible for people to communicate through computers without using a keyboard or a mouse. This is especially helpful for patients suffering from neurological disorders, as brain disorders or trauma can hamper a patient’s ability to talk, move or interact normally.
The limited mobility that many patients face has prompted developers to create brain-computer interfaces (BCI) that leverage AI technology to help individuals perform the functions they lack or lost due to physical trauma. A BCI relies on artificial intelligence to decode a person’s neural activity. Then, this neural activity is replicated with AI, allowing the person to communicate the same way as they would with a tablet or a phone. This technology can improve quality of life for patients with ALS, strokes and spinal cord injuries and helps ensure that doctors and nurses can communicate with all their patients.
Diagnosing Illnesses in CT Scans With Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence technology can detect acute neurological events from a CT image in only 1.2 seconds. It would take a radiologist minutes to hours to do the same thing, so AI can conduct this task approximately 150 times faster than a radiologist could.
The machines connected to the CT scanner are trained with software that uses a 3D convolutional neural network that contains information from a clinical radiology dataset of over 37,000 head CT exams. The information from the scan can later be used to swiftly develop a treatment route for the patient that will treat their illness with a higher success rate.
AI Apps Allow for Improved Surgical Accuracy
One of the most advanced AI tools in the healthcare world consists of robots that assist with surgery using data from pre-op medical records. The technology is capable of reducing a patient’s hospital stay by 21%, and the surgery is minimally invasive.
AI allows these robots to compile data from past operations to create new surgical techniques. One study of 379 orthopedic patients discovered that a surgical procedure assisted by an AI robot resulted in five times fewer complications compared to surgeries that did not use robots.
In one case, a robot was used on an eye surgery for the first time, while the advanced Da Vinci robot can perform some of the most complex procedures with unparalleled control. There’s also Heartlander, a miniature robot that helps with heart surgery by performing a small incision on the chest for mapping and therapy purposes. In these cases, AI technology is helping surgeons perform operations as quickly and accurately as possible.
AI is Advancing the Immunotherapy Field
Immunotherapy is an exciting field in medicine which treats cancer with the body’s own immune system. However, the problem with immunotherapy is that oncologists don’t have a perfect treatment route for every patient since every cancer case is unique and everyone’s immune system is different.
Fortunately, AI devices equipped with machine learning algorithms could tackle this problem. These algorithms can quickly synthesize highly complex datasets, then use this data to suggest therapies tailored to a patient’s unique genetic makeup.
For instance, checkpoint inhibitors are designed to block proteins made by some immune cells. The technology can ensure that a person’s immune system is honed to the adverse effect caused by a cancerous tumor, helping to eliminate it over time.
These therapies are still relatively new, and not many patients have tried this type of immunotherapy. As such, it’s necessary to integrate data across one or multiple institutions to gauge how effective this technology is at helping cancer patients.
The Future of Artificial Intelligence Applications in Healthcare
The healthcare industry has already made great strides thanks to artificial intelligence, which is being leveraged in radiology, oncology, neurology and surgery to aid patients with complex illnesses. While the technology still has a long way to go, AI apps are showing plenty of promise in helping healthcare companies provide better treatment.
Our team at 7T can develop cutting-edge mobile applications designed for the healthcare industry. We specialize in custom mobile app development and artificial intelligence technology, as well as other innovative forms of technology. These include augmented reality, virtual reality, predictive analytics, blockchain and natural language processing.
7T is headquartered in Dallas, but we also serve clients in Austin, Houston, and beyond. If you’re ready to discuss your project, we invite you to contact us today.
