A artificial intelligence in healthcare is an area of computer science that seeks to create machines and systems capable of performing tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as recognizing patterns, learning, reasoning and making decisions, applied to the healthcare context.
Dealing with complex, sensitive and vital problems for humanity is the challenge of applying AI in healthcare, one of the most promising and challenging areas of technology.
Improving the quality, efficiency and accessibility of healthcare services, as well as increasing knowledge and innovation in the medical field, are the benefits of artificial intelligence in healthcare, which can be defined as the use of AI techniques and tools.
Several purposes can be achieved with the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare, such as:
Table of contents
Diagnosis with artificial intelligence
AI can help healthcare professionals identify and classify diseases, based on clinical data, imaging exams, laboratory analyzes and others.
AI can also suggest diagnostic hypotheses, reduce errors and increase the accuracy and speed of diagnosis.
Treatment:
Considering individual characteristics, scientific evidence and patient preferences, AI can help define the best treatment plan for each patient.
AI can also monitor the patient's progress, adjust treatment depending on the response and warn of possible complications or adverse effects.
Prevention:
Through the analysis of risk factors, early detection of warning signs and guidance on healthy habits, AI can contribute to the prevention of diseases, as well as encouraging patient adherence to preventive treatment, through reminders , feedbacks and stimuli.
AI can also encourage patient adherence to preventive treatment, through reminders, feedback and incentives.
Research: AI can accelerate and improve medical research by collecting, processing and analyzing large volumes of data from diverse sources such as electronic medical records, genomic databases, clinical trials and scientific publications.
AI can also generate new hypotheses, discover new patterns and correlations, and create new models and algorithms.
The revolution in diagnosing and treating diseases through artificial intelligence in healthcare
We have some examples of how artificial intelligence is transforming the way we diagnose and treat diseases:
– IBM's Watson is an AI system that can analyze clinical data and medical literature to provide diagnosis and treatment recommendations for various types of cancer, such as leukemia, melanoma and breast cancer.
Watson can also identify genetic mutations relevant to cancer and suggest specific targeted therapies for each patient.
- O DeepMind, from Google, is an AI company that developed a neural network capable of detecting more than 50 eye diseases, based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) images.
The system can also prioritize the most urgent cases and route them to the appropriate specialists.
- O Ada, from Ada Health, is an AI app that functions as a personal health assistant that can assess a user's symptoms, provide information about possible medical conditions, and advise on the best care options.
Ada can also track a user's health history and integrate with other healthcare services, such as telemedicine and pharmacies.
– Eko, from Eko Devices, is an AI device that can amplify and analyze heart and lung sounds using a smart stethoscope connected to a smartphone.
The device can detect abnormalities such as heart murmurs, atrial fibrillation and heart failure and provide a detailed report to the doctor.
Artificial intelligence in healthcare has the potential to improve people's quality of life and life expectancy, as well as reduce costs and inequalities in access to healthcare.
However, artificial intelligence in healthcare also brings challenges and risks, such as ethical, legal, social and technical issues, which must be considered and regulated.
Artificial intelligence in healthcare must be used in a responsible, transparent and humane way, always respecting the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice.
Reference: LOBO, Luiz Carlos. Artificial intelligence and medicine. Brazilian Journal of Medical Education, v. 41, p. 185-193, 2017.
