Artificial intelligence-  The new  lifesaver in the medical field

The role of an accurate diagnosis is critical, for the proper treatment of any disease. The doctors usually collect data from the patient during the appointment and consider the symptoms together with other variables from blood tests and biopsies to deduce and conclude to get an accurate diagnosis of the disease.

Here, for the deduction doctor’s experience and mental state could play a vital role the minute variation of which could topple proper deduction. This is where AI steps in for the assistance of humankind. Artificial Intelligence software in the medical field is a set of complex algorithms which receives the data from an input console usually entered by medical practitioners during the patient appointment and processes the same to get an accurate diagnosis of the disease.

Recently, an AI program- Watson, captured the headline as it surpassed 1000 doctors in a case study for cancer patients in the diagnosis of what type of cancer they have and whether the cells are dormant or malign. Watson’s diagnosis was estimated to be 4 times more accurate than the experienced Oncologists who volunteered for the study. A study has revealed that close to 50 % of the work done by medical practitioners can be carried out by AI software. This could potentially free up the time of the medical personals to interact more with the patient and emotionally support them.

AI programs get better with more exposure to real-life situations. They really learn and self adapt just like human intelligence but with a steeper learning curve. A 2019 article on an AI-driven computer that “studied” more than 90,000 EKG recordings said that the machine was able to learn to recognize patterns, make rules, and apply them accurately to future EKG readings. The machine quickly was able to recognize and classify 10 types of irregular heart rhythms. After seven months, the computer algorithm was as good, and in some cases better than, experts in making an accurate diagnosis.

Further future developments in AI could also prescribe medications based on the diagnosis of diseases.