1. Healthcare costs are rising due to aging populations and increasing costs, making the current system unsustainable.
2. New technologies like robotics, AI, and automation have the potential to help address these challenges by assisting and augmenting healthcare professionals.
3. Future hospitals are predicted to use more automated systems, connected devices, surgical robots, and AI to improve patient care and outcomes while reducing costs.
This document discusses new technologies in health information technology including InstyMeds prescription medication dispensers, brain-computer interfaces (BCI), and IBM's Watson supercomputer. It summarizes a study where a woman with quadriplegia was able to control a robotic arm using a BCI implanted in her brain. The document argues that BCI technology could revolutionize healthcare by allowing paralyzed individuals to regain mobility. However, it also notes potential dangers if the technology was misused or malfunctioned. It concludes by outlining a new model for implementing health IT that focuses on compatibility, consumer education, cost reduction, and national expansion.
This document discusses emerging technologies in healthcare and telemedicine. It describes how mobile devices and apps are changing healthcare delivery through telemedicine, allowing remote diagnoses and access to specialists. It outlines several technologies including robotic doctors, digital diagnostic tools, and IBM's Watson supercomputer. The document also discusses future technologies like ingestible sensors, smart contact lenses with glucose monitors, and nanomedicine approaches using "ninja polymers". Overall, the document illustrates how mobile devices and new digital health technologies are revolutionizing healthcare and increasing access to services and specialists.
This document provides information on several medical imaging topics and technologies:
- It highlights abstracts from the ECR 2014 conference focusing on adaptive diagnostics and how they can solve clinical challenges. Abstracts discuss the latest 3T MRI experience, a new metal artifact reduction algorithm, and lung subtraction versus dual energy CT.
- It also provides information on Toshiba's new products and technologies including the next generation Aquilion ONE CT scanner, planning for hybrid labs, dual energy CT applications, and dose reduction techniques for interventional procedures.
- Additional sections profile customer sites and applications of Toshiba ultrasound, CT, and MRI systems.
The document summarizes and provides commentary on the "Hospital Room 2020" concept developed by NXT Health. It notes several positive aspects of the concept, including that it incorporates emerging trends in healthcare like introducing technology and rebuilding community. However, it also outlines some risks and improvements that could make the concept more practical and cost-effective to implement, such as reducing unnecessary complexity and surfaces that can harbor bacteria. It concludes that while the concept presents a positive vision, many of its suggested improvements can already be achieved today with minimal costs.
NHS Rotherham partnered with a communications company, ø, to introduce mobile working for community health workers. ø shadowed nurses and other workers to understand challenges with the laptops and digital records system. They found that many workers struggled with the technology and training. ø worked with NHS Rotherham to improve network coverage, provide focused training sessions, and ensure workers were comfortable with the technology. These efforts led to improved use of digital records and workers spending more time with patients. NHS Rotherham and ø aim to continue their partnership to further expand mobile working capabilities.
This document discusses new technologies in health information technology including InstyMeds prescription medication dispensers, brain-computer interfaces (BCI), and IBM's Watson supercomputer. It summarizes a study where a woman with quadriplegia was able to control a robotic arm using a BCI implanted in her brain. The document argues that BCI technology could revolutionize healthcare by allowing paralyzed individuals to regain mobility. However, it also notes potential dangers if the technology was misused or malfunctioned. It concludes by outlining a new model for implementing health IT that focuses on compatibility, consumer education, cost reduction, and national expansion.
This document discusses emerging technologies in healthcare and telemedicine. It describes how mobile devices and apps are changing healthcare delivery through telemedicine, allowing remote diagnoses and access to specialists. It outlines several technologies including robotic doctors, digital diagnostic tools, and IBM's Watson supercomputer. The document also discusses future technologies like ingestible sensors, smart contact lenses with glucose monitors, and nanomedicine approaches using "ninja polymers". Overall, the document illustrates how mobile devices and new digital health technologies are revolutionizing healthcare and increasing access to services and specialists.
This document provides information on several medical imaging topics and technologies:
- It highlights abstracts from the ECR 2014 conference focusing on adaptive diagnostics and how they can solve clinical challenges. Abstracts discuss the latest 3T MRI experience, a new metal artifact reduction algorithm, and lung subtraction versus dual energy CT.
- It also provides information on Toshiba's new products and technologies including the next generation Aquilion ONE CT scanner, planning for hybrid labs, dual energy CT applications, and dose reduction techniques for interventional procedures.
- Additional sections profile customer sites and applications of Toshiba ultrasound, CT, and MRI systems.
The document summarizes and provides commentary on the "Hospital Room 2020" concept developed by NXT Health. It notes several positive aspects of the concept, including that it incorporates emerging trends in healthcare like introducing technology and rebuilding community. However, it also outlines some risks and improvements that could make the concept more practical and cost-effective to implement, such as reducing unnecessary complexity and surfaces that can harbor bacteria. It concludes that while the concept presents a positive vision, many of its suggested improvements can already be achieved today with minimal costs.
NHS Rotherham partnered with a communications company, ø, to introduce mobile working for community health workers. ø shadowed nurses and other workers to understand challenges with the laptops and digital records system. They found that many workers struggled with the technology and training. ø worked with NHS Rotherham to improve network coverage, provide focused training sessions, and ensure workers were comfortable with the technology. These efforts led to improved use of digital records and workers spending more time with patients. NHS Rotherham and ø aim to continue their partnership to further expand mobile working capabilities.
Design and implementation of instructional 3D Web-based interactive medical d...Pubrica
Top 3D Animation Services Companies in India virtual worlds and computer simulations are examples of these, which can help healthcare professionals improve their training by giving them hands-on experience in virtual surroundings.
Learn More : https://pubrica.com/services/scientific-communication/
Reference: https://bit.ly/3r1iP9t
Why Pubrica:
When you order our services, we promise you the following – Plagiarism free | always on Time | 24*7 customer support | Written to international Standard | Unlimited Revisions support | Medical writing Expert | Publication Support | Bio statistical experts | High-quality Subject Matter Experts.
Contact us:
Web: https://pubrica.com/
Blog: https://pubrica.com/academy/
Email: sales@pubrica.com
WhatsApp : +91 9884350006
United Kingdom: +44-1618186353
The impact of self-tracking on empathic design and market research - Sarah Le...Ernesto Ramirez
This document discusses how self-tracking can impact empathic design and consumer research. It explores how studying users' self-tracking data can give designers deeper insights into users' needs and behaviors. This can help designers create more intuitive and sustainable products that form stronger, long-term relationships with users. However, questions remain about whether truly empathic design can scale to mass markets or if the most useful aspects are the data insights. The document also covers topics like empathic design principles, sustainability, and case studies.
The document discusses bone subtraction techniques using 320-detector row CT that allow visualization of contrast enhancement in non-lytic bone lesions, similar to MRI. This technique removes bone and calcifications without affecting contrast-enhanced structures, enabling identification of bone marrow edema patterns. It was found to accurately characterize bone lesions and depict subtle contrast enhancement, with potential to guide diagnosis and management. Training radiologists on this technique provides a non-invasive alternative to MRI for evaluation of certain bone lesions.
HOW INNOVATIVE mHEALTH APPS ARE TRANSFORMING PATIENT CARE ? BY TORI COONS, OB...Relevantz
The latest mHealth apps are doing some truly remarkable things to help reduce or eliminate inconvenient and lengthy trips to the doctor, hospital, or lab as well as to improve personalized patient care. Through better and smarter mobile technology, patients will start to see entirely new methods of delivering patient care – through digital means. By Tori Coons, ObjectFrontier Software
Dr. Asif Qasim (MedShr): The Future of Medicine: How Physicians Choose to LearnW2O Group
MedShr is a peer-to-peer learning platform for doctors to share clinical cases, connect with colleagues, and discuss patient care. It allows doctors to upload encrypted patient photos and videos with consent. With over 200,000 members in 180 countries, MedShr is growing rapidly and receiving positive feedback. The platform aims to improve healthcare through knowledge sharing and has potential for partnerships in medical education and pharmaceutical advertising.
This document summarizes the use of robotics in healthcare. It discusses how robots are currently used in a variety of settings like surgery, medical device packaging, lab automation, transportation, sanitation, and prescription dispensing. The document also outlines future applications of healthcare robots, such as using exoskeletons to help nurses transport patients or developing intelligent assistants for elderly care facilities. While healthcare robots have benefits, the document notes that advanced applications may not be widely adopted for decades due to technical challenges and costs for healthcare organizations.
9 Best Facts: How are Robotics Changing Healthcare Industry? | The Lifesciences Magazine
Advanced technologies, such as AI-guided robots and automation, provide a possible solution to the provider crisis by relieving healthcare workers from repetitive and time-consuming duties and enabling clinicians to concentrate on tasks that need a specialized touch. There are many applications of robotics changing healthcare, from clerical work to surgical assistance to hospital cleaning.
The document discusses using an interactive robot to intelligently monitor patients' health at home. It describes developing a system for the robot to understand contexts in order to determine the right time each day to ask a patient to complete a symptoms questionnaire. The system considers data from sensors and parameters like a patient's presence and facial recognition. Implementing this system on a NAO robot and enhancing its features improved the system's average precision from 76.8% to 18.2% higher. Future research will focus on understanding context within the semantic web to further increase effectiveness.
Can we morally justify the replacement of humans by artificial intelligence i...Kai Bennink
1) The document discusses whether artificial intelligence can morally replace humans in cancer treatment by analyzing the case of IBM Watson Oncology.
2) IBM Watson Oncology uses AI and machine learning to analyze patient data and provide treatment options to help doctors, achieving similar or better diagnosis rates than doctors.
3) However, some argue that AI systems like Watson are "black boxes" that we don't fully understand, and they could fail or make decisions in unexpected ways, so strict principles are needed to ensure AI aligns with human values and responsibilities.
Jorge Juan Fernández discusses collaboration in digital healthcare using exponential technologies. He notes that healthcare is the only industry where all exponential technologies like smartphones, virtual and augmented reality, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and sensors are converging. However, barriers to adoption include humans becoming disillusioned as technology advances exponentially, technology not translating to increased productivity, and legacy systems being slow to change. Fernández provides resources on exponential technologies from Singularity University.
This document provides an overview of technological advances in medicine. It discusses several medical implants including defibrillators and telescopes implanted in eyes. Implants will soon be able to monitor patients' health by detecting potential infections or appropriate drug levels. The document also describes advances in robotic surgery and how robot surgeons can perform with greater precision than humans. Additionally, it discusses the development of a handheld ultrasound device that combines ultrasound and smartphone technologies to enable diagnosis in remote areas. The document emphasizes that while technology has improved lives for many, medical advances are not yet available globally.
Robotic surgery has grown significantly since the late 1990s, with 85% of prostatectomies now performed robotically in the US. Surgical robots provide benefits like improved precision and reliability compared to human surgeons. While initially used mostly in large hospitals, robotic surgery is expanding to smaller hospitals. Researchers are working to enhance robotic surgery through technologies like artificial intelligence, with some early human trials expected within the next few years. Europe is also actively developing healthcare robotics to improve treatment.
This document provides an overview of robots and artificial intelligence (AI), genomic medicine, and biometrics. It discusses how each technology works and has developed over time. The document also examines how each could transform how governments deliver services and enhance efficiency. For example, AI and robots may support automation, personalization, and prediction across various government functions. Genomic medicine could help diagnose and treat rare diseases. Biometrics could improve security and targeted welfare programs. However, each technology also raises ethical issues that governments will need to address through new policies and regulations to balance their benefits and risks. The report aims to help policymakers understand and respond to these advanced scientific developments.
1. Advances in technology like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data are transforming medicine and how patients receive care. Virtual assistants and digital tools powered by AI may replace many routine doctor tasks in the future.
2. A Japanese patient's rare form of leukemia was successfully diagnosed by IBM's Watson after it analyzed the patient's genetic data compared to 20 million studies. This shows how AI can outperform doctors in certain areas.
3. For doctors to remain relevant, they will need to embrace new technologies, focus on skills like complex problem-solving that AI cannot yet match, and reinvent their roles in the changing healthcare system.
1. Advances in technology like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data are transforming medicine and how patients receive care. Virtual assistants and digital tools powered by AI may replace many routine doctor tasks in the future.
2. A Japanese patient's rare form of leukemia was successfully diagnosed by IBM's Watson after it analyzed the patient's genetic data compared to 20 million studies, leading to more effective treatment.
3. Exponential increases in computing power and data according to Moore's Law and Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns mean that medicine and health information will be subject to these trends of rapid technological change. This will further reduce the need for routine doctor involvement in patient care over time.
Healthcare executives: Don’t fear Artificial Intelligence. Embrace it By.Dr.M...Healthcare consultant
By 2025, 90% of U.S. hospitals will use artificial intelligence to save lives and improve their quality of care.
This should come as no surprise to anyone in the industry.
AI reduces the human effort spent on administrative and analytical tasks, empowering physicians and hospitals to focus on areas which truly require human intervention. In fact, half of U.S. hospital executives are actively investing in new AI applications.
Efficient AI solutions already save hospitals millions of dollars every year, but we’ve only just begun to see their potential impact. Robots might not replace doctors, but hospitals equipped with AI tools willoutperform non-AI driven hospitals—and soon.
Investing in AI-driven healthcare presents a significant opportunity for early adopters. Right now, we’re at the sweet spot: there is enough proven technology on the market to confidently invest on the ground floor, but we’ve still only scratched the surface of future AI applications.
Robotics in healthcare has great potential benefits but is still in its early stages. Robots can perform surgery more accurately than humans and help elderly patients live independently through tasks like medication reminders. Further research is needed to develop technologies like smart medical capsules and intelligent prosthetics. Roadmaps are required to guide research from laboratories to practical healthcare applications that address societal challenges.
The document discusses emerging trends in medicine that will change how healthcare is delivered in the future. It notes that (1) digital technologies like smartphones, apps, telemedicine, and wearables will become the main platforms for healthcare interactions, (2) portable diagnostics and 3D printing will enable diagnosing and treating patients anywhere, and (3) artificial intelligence and big data analytics will start replacing some doctor responsibilities and enable more personalized medicine.
Ambient Intelligence is a future vision where technology is integrated into people's environments and can understand and respond to their needs and behaviors. This report examines how Ambient Intelligence could impact healthcare. It identifies five levels of increasing intelligence - from embedding sensors to anticipating needs. Interviews with healthcare stakeholders explored opportunities and challenges around personalized care, like who has access to health data and for what purposes. Collective agreements are needed to ensure Ambient Intelligence enhances rather than threatens patient interests. The report aims to start a debate on these issues.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and deep learning are taking the healthcare industry by storm. They are not pie in the sky technologies any longer; they are practical tools that can help companies optimize their service provision, improve the standard of care, generate more revenue, and decrease risk. Nearly all major companies in the healthcare space have already begun to use the technology in practice; here I present some of the important highlights of the implementation, and what they mean for other companies in healthcare.
Design and implementation of instructional 3D Web-based interactive medical d...Pubrica
Top 3D Animation Services Companies in India virtual worlds and computer simulations are examples of these, which can help healthcare professionals improve their training by giving them hands-on experience in virtual surroundings.
Learn More : https://pubrica.com/services/scientific-communication/
Reference: https://bit.ly/3r1iP9t
Why Pubrica:
When you order our services, we promise you the following – Plagiarism free | always on Time | 24*7 customer support | Written to international Standard | Unlimited Revisions support | Medical writing Expert | Publication Support | Bio statistical experts | High-quality Subject Matter Experts.
Contact us:
Web: https://pubrica.com/
Blog: https://pubrica.com/academy/
Email: sales@pubrica.com
WhatsApp : +91 9884350006
United Kingdom: +44-1618186353
The impact of self-tracking on empathic design and market research - Sarah Le...Ernesto Ramirez
This document discusses how self-tracking can impact empathic design and consumer research. It explores how studying users' self-tracking data can give designers deeper insights into users' needs and behaviors. This can help designers create more intuitive and sustainable products that form stronger, long-term relationships with users. However, questions remain about whether truly empathic design can scale to mass markets or if the most useful aspects are the data insights. The document also covers topics like empathic design principles, sustainability, and case studies.
The document discusses bone subtraction techniques using 320-detector row CT that allow visualization of contrast enhancement in non-lytic bone lesions, similar to MRI. This technique removes bone and calcifications without affecting contrast-enhanced structures, enabling identification of bone marrow edema patterns. It was found to accurately characterize bone lesions and depict subtle contrast enhancement, with potential to guide diagnosis and management. Training radiologists on this technique provides a non-invasive alternative to MRI for evaluation of certain bone lesions.
HOW INNOVATIVE mHEALTH APPS ARE TRANSFORMING PATIENT CARE ? BY TORI COONS, OB...Relevantz
The latest mHealth apps are doing some truly remarkable things to help reduce or eliminate inconvenient and lengthy trips to the doctor, hospital, or lab as well as to improve personalized patient care. Through better and smarter mobile technology, patients will start to see entirely new methods of delivering patient care – through digital means. By Tori Coons, ObjectFrontier Software
Dr. Asif Qasim (MedShr): The Future of Medicine: How Physicians Choose to LearnW2O Group
MedShr is a peer-to-peer learning platform for doctors to share clinical cases, connect with colleagues, and discuss patient care. It allows doctors to upload encrypted patient photos and videos with consent. With over 200,000 members in 180 countries, MedShr is growing rapidly and receiving positive feedback. The platform aims to improve healthcare through knowledge sharing and has potential for partnerships in medical education and pharmaceutical advertising.
This document summarizes the use of robotics in healthcare. It discusses how robots are currently used in a variety of settings like surgery, medical device packaging, lab automation, transportation, sanitation, and prescription dispensing. The document also outlines future applications of healthcare robots, such as using exoskeletons to help nurses transport patients or developing intelligent assistants for elderly care facilities. While healthcare robots have benefits, the document notes that advanced applications may not be widely adopted for decades due to technical challenges and costs for healthcare organizations.
9 Best Facts: How are Robotics Changing Healthcare Industry? | The Lifesciences Magazine
Advanced technologies, such as AI-guided robots and automation, provide a possible solution to the provider crisis by relieving healthcare workers from repetitive and time-consuming duties and enabling clinicians to concentrate on tasks that need a specialized touch. There are many applications of robotics changing healthcare, from clerical work to surgical assistance to hospital cleaning.
The document discusses using an interactive robot to intelligently monitor patients' health at home. It describes developing a system for the robot to understand contexts in order to determine the right time each day to ask a patient to complete a symptoms questionnaire. The system considers data from sensors and parameters like a patient's presence and facial recognition. Implementing this system on a NAO robot and enhancing its features improved the system's average precision from 76.8% to 18.2% higher. Future research will focus on understanding context within the semantic web to further increase effectiveness.
Can we morally justify the replacement of humans by artificial intelligence i...Kai Bennink
1) The document discusses whether artificial intelligence can morally replace humans in cancer treatment by analyzing the case of IBM Watson Oncology.
2) IBM Watson Oncology uses AI and machine learning to analyze patient data and provide treatment options to help doctors, achieving similar or better diagnosis rates than doctors.
3) However, some argue that AI systems like Watson are "black boxes" that we don't fully understand, and they could fail or make decisions in unexpected ways, so strict principles are needed to ensure AI aligns with human values and responsibilities.
Jorge Juan Fernández discusses collaboration in digital healthcare using exponential technologies. He notes that healthcare is the only industry where all exponential technologies like smartphones, virtual and augmented reality, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and sensors are converging. However, barriers to adoption include humans becoming disillusioned as technology advances exponentially, technology not translating to increased productivity, and legacy systems being slow to change. Fernández provides resources on exponential technologies from Singularity University.
This document provides an overview of technological advances in medicine. It discusses several medical implants including defibrillators and telescopes implanted in eyes. Implants will soon be able to monitor patients' health by detecting potential infections or appropriate drug levels. The document also describes advances in robotic surgery and how robot surgeons can perform with greater precision than humans. Additionally, it discusses the development of a handheld ultrasound device that combines ultrasound and smartphone technologies to enable diagnosis in remote areas. The document emphasizes that while technology has improved lives for many, medical advances are not yet available globally.
Robotic surgery has grown significantly since the late 1990s, with 85% of prostatectomies now performed robotically in the US. Surgical robots provide benefits like improved precision and reliability compared to human surgeons. While initially used mostly in large hospitals, robotic surgery is expanding to smaller hospitals. Researchers are working to enhance robotic surgery through technologies like artificial intelligence, with some early human trials expected within the next few years. Europe is also actively developing healthcare robotics to improve treatment.
This document provides an overview of robots and artificial intelligence (AI), genomic medicine, and biometrics. It discusses how each technology works and has developed over time. The document also examines how each could transform how governments deliver services and enhance efficiency. For example, AI and robots may support automation, personalization, and prediction across various government functions. Genomic medicine could help diagnose and treat rare diseases. Biometrics could improve security and targeted welfare programs. However, each technology also raises ethical issues that governments will need to address through new policies and regulations to balance their benefits and risks. The report aims to help policymakers understand and respond to these advanced scientific developments.
1. Advances in technology like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data are transforming medicine and how patients receive care. Virtual assistants and digital tools powered by AI may replace many routine doctor tasks in the future.
2. A Japanese patient's rare form of leukemia was successfully diagnosed by IBM's Watson after it analyzed the patient's genetic data compared to 20 million studies. This shows how AI can outperform doctors in certain areas.
3. For doctors to remain relevant, they will need to embrace new technologies, focus on skills like complex problem-solving that AI cannot yet match, and reinvent their roles in the changing healthcare system.
1. Advances in technology like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data are transforming medicine and how patients receive care. Virtual assistants and digital tools powered by AI may replace many routine doctor tasks in the future.
2. A Japanese patient's rare form of leukemia was successfully diagnosed by IBM's Watson after it analyzed the patient's genetic data compared to 20 million studies, leading to more effective treatment.
3. Exponential increases in computing power and data according to Moore's Law and Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns mean that medicine and health information will be subject to these trends of rapid technological change. This will further reduce the need for routine doctor involvement in patient care over time.
Healthcare executives: Don’t fear Artificial Intelligence. Embrace it By.Dr.M...Healthcare consultant
By 2025, 90% of U.S. hospitals will use artificial intelligence to save lives and improve their quality of care.
This should come as no surprise to anyone in the industry.
AI reduces the human effort spent on administrative and analytical tasks, empowering physicians and hospitals to focus on areas which truly require human intervention. In fact, half of U.S. hospital executives are actively investing in new AI applications.
Efficient AI solutions already save hospitals millions of dollars every year, but we’ve only just begun to see their potential impact. Robots might not replace doctors, but hospitals equipped with AI tools willoutperform non-AI driven hospitals—and soon.
Investing in AI-driven healthcare presents a significant opportunity for early adopters. Right now, we’re at the sweet spot: there is enough proven technology on the market to confidently invest on the ground floor, but we’ve still only scratched the surface of future AI applications.
Robotics in healthcare has great potential benefits but is still in its early stages. Robots can perform surgery more accurately than humans and help elderly patients live independently through tasks like medication reminders. Further research is needed to develop technologies like smart medical capsules and intelligent prosthetics. Roadmaps are required to guide research from laboratories to practical healthcare applications that address societal challenges.
The document discusses emerging trends in medicine that will change how healthcare is delivered in the future. It notes that (1) digital technologies like smartphones, apps, telemedicine, and wearables will become the main platforms for healthcare interactions, (2) portable diagnostics and 3D printing will enable diagnosing and treating patients anywhere, and (3) artificial intelligence and big data analytics will start replacing some doctor responsibilities and enable more personalized medicine.
Ambient Intelligence is a future vision where technology is integrated into people's environments and can understand and respond to their needs and behaviors. This report examines how Ambient Intelligence could impact healthcare. It identifies five levels of increasing intelligence - from embedding sensors to anticipating needs. Interviews with healthcare stakeholders explored opportunities and challenges around personalized care, like who has access to health data and for what purposes. Collective agreements are needed to ensure Ambient Intelligence enhances rather than threatens patient interests. The report aims to start a debate on these issues.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and deep learning are taking the healthcare industry by storm. They are not pie in the sky technologies any longer; they are practical tools that can help companies optimize their service provision, improve the standard of care, generate more revenue, and decrease risk. Nearly all major companies in the healthcare space have already begun to use the technology in practice; here I present some of the important highlights of the implementation, and what they mean for other companies in healthcare.
1. The document outlines a presentation about the impact of computer science and robotics in medicine, including topics like bioinformatics, robotics, and applications like the Da Vinci surgical robot.
2. It provides details on bioinformatics, describing it as using information gathering and validation to translate medical data into practices. It also gives an overview of the Da Vinci surgical robot and its key components that enhance precision and minimize tissue damage.
3. The presentation aims to understand public perspectives on emerging technologies in healthcare, with a survey asking about the job market for doctors by 2020 and trust in robotic surgery.
STAT News: Digital health should mature from apps to innovative environments ...Carlos Rodarte
Digital health technologies have focused on mobile apps rather than meaningful health problems. This has led to many technologies searching for medical purposes without success. The next wave of digital health should move beyond smartphones and into the physical environment by using sensors and internet-connected devices to actively influence behaviors. Future technologies will customize home environments using variables like light, sound and temperature to promote well-being and help manage chronic conditions. This will help digital health mature from disruptive apps to innovative solutions.
The future of healthcare will see a shift from treating illness to sustaining wellness. Ageing could become a treatable disease in the future. Find out more: http://bit.ly/2wD13dL
Artificial intelligence has great potential applications in public health by analyzing large health datasets to provide insights on disease determinants and shape public health policies. AI technologies like machine learning, computer vision, and deep learning can be used for epidemic prediction, disease screening, diagnostics, telemedicine, and drug discovery by analyzing medical records, images, genetic data, and more. However, AI in public health is still in its early stages and faces challenges regarding data quality, transparency, bias, regulatory issues, and replacing human jobs. Principles for ethical AI development include prioritizing human well-being, transparency, accountability, and non-discrimination. Overall, AI shows promise to transform public health when developed collaboratively with human experts.
Nella tradizione del nostro Paese, un piatto semplice come la pasta può diventare l'occasione per scoprire le mille storie legate non solo ai suoi ricchi ingredienti ma anche a chi - ogni giorno a tavola - ne è il vero protagonista: tu!
Ecco perché in questi brevi racconti - oltre ad alcune curiosità sul mondo della pasta - troverete le vostre storie e le nostre tradizioni. Quelle di un luogo, l'Italia, che anche grazie a un piatto semplice come la pasta resta unico al mondo! Buon appetito...
In Italy do as the Italians do (lesson n.3: Pasta)Paolo Donati
Do you think that Pasta it's all about Spaghetti and Maccheroni? Are you curious to find out some real Italian tips about pasta cooking and dressing? Here a brief guideline for you: buon appetito!!
In italy do as italians do (lesson n.2 - Business culture tips)Paolo Donati
1) Italians place emphasis on formality in initial business relationships, including proper dress, manners, and use of honorific titles.
2) When introducing yourself, be polite, respect personal space, have good hygiene, gently shake hands, and be aware of hierarchical cultural norms.
3) Meetings in Italy value relationships over strict schedules, and interruptions are common as ideas arise. Conversations among multiple people at once also occurs.
4) Appropriate small talk topics include sports, weather, food, culture, but avoid criticism of Italy or discussions of politics, religion, or crime.
There is no doubt: in the next years we will assist to a fast growing HUMAN – ROBOT interaction also inside our offices & at work. The same already happened with computers and internet some years ago…
This means that also HR Depts have to start studying more this issue on multiple win-win approaches, ie not only in order to easily reduce labor costs and thus raise efficiency and margins.
In other words it is HR responsibility to find out how can we really introduce augmentation in our different and diverse “human staff” also on a ethical perspective. Otherwise the not far risk is that one day machines will work and produce value only for other machines.
Looking to manage compensation in private companies? Remember that basically this means you have to master the art of bringing together the will of the company and the will of the employees... with a keep-it-simple model and an eye open on communication!
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A livello globale il mercato del lavoro appare ancora oggi debole e frammentato, con molti sistemi economici regionali caratterizzati da un ritmo di crescita inferiore alla situazione pre-crisi.
Secondo un recente studio ILO , se tale scenario non cambierà, il numero di disoccupati nel mondo passerà da 202 a 218 milioni, con un impatto maggiore per le nuove generazioni (quelle generalmente più colpite).
Uno dei fattori che, in questo contesto, ha portato molti lavoratori ad essere forzosamente allontanati dal proprio posto di lavoro è quello legato ai licenziamenti collettivi.
Fermandoci al solo caso dell’Europa il quadro legislativo appare (ancora) tristemente complicato: come potrà essere dedotto dalle pagine che seguono, il sistema di regolamentazione dei licenziamenti collettivi è ancora oggi molto frammentato nonostante vi sia una Direttiva ad hoc (la n.98/59).
Resta quindi il fatto che, ancora oggi, aziende e parti sociali hanno in ogni paese diversi sistemi (e costi)!
Cercando di riassumere, tutti questi sistemi si basano ormai su procedure “standard” imperniate sia sulle dimensioni dell’azienda che sull'esistenza di un comitato sindacale aziendale: infatti è in base a questi elementi che viene spesso legata la creazione di un piano sociale ad hoc, nel quale di fatto vengono spesso identificati i vari indennizzi da pagare ai lavoratori (oltre alle diverse misure di ricollocazione, outplacement ecc.).
La recente crisi ha dimostrato però che la sola erogazione di sussidi e indennità non è più lo strumento da usare per affrontare socialmente i licenziamenti collettivi.
Il punto sul quale si vuole porre l’attenzione è pertanto legato al fatto che le questioni legate ai licenziamenti collettivi dovranno essere maggiormente slegate dal più ampio contesto della politica dell'occupazione di ogni paese.
Una politica che nel “vecchio continente” non può (e non deve) più essere frammentata. Se non altro perché nel “nuovo mondo”, sempre più globale, per combattere un problema globale serve ora una soluzione “globale”.
Ecco perché, nell’ambito del lavoro, potrebbe essere necessario combattere l’incertezza del sistema attuale con la certezza (anche del diritto), la complessità dei singoli sistemi con la semplicità di un unico Codice / Statuto e Tribunale del Lavoro e, parallelamente, ospitando nella “casa comune” un unico sistema fiscale e di tassazione sul lavoro: la vera sfida per un’Europa che voglia finalmente avere il coraggio di superare la sua adolescenza!
@Office: there's much more behind that word...Paolo Donati
The word "office" has its origins in Latin and refers not only to the place of work but also to the duties and obligations of a position. While offices were originally created during the Industrial Revolution, the modern office is changing due to trends like increased globalization, virtual work environments, and an emphasis on the well-being and inclusion of employees. Looking to the future, the office may blend real and virtual elements and focus more on effective collaboration and sustainable design that supports worker health.
In a world always growing with a fast consumer appetite for (noisy) sound, the use of silence remains in collective perception something like a wrecked icon of old fashioned manners/ages, a spark of social oblivion, if not even a (sometimes snobbish) symbol of New Age / esoteric-meditative way of living.
But if we just stop a minute and look back to his real deep meaning, we can learn that – if well used - Silence is a rich and powerful tool to be used in our business and social life.
Promoting Wellbeing - Applied Social Psychology - Psychology SuperNotesPsychoTech Services
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Local Advanced Lung Cancer: Artificial Intelligence, Synergetics, Complex Sys...Oleg Kshivets
Overall life span (LS) was 1671.7±1721.6 days and cumulative 5YS reached 62.4%, 10 years – 50.4%, 20 years – 44.6%. 94 LCP lived more than 5 years without cancer (LS=2958.6±1723.6 days), 22 – more than 10 years (LS=5571±1841.8 days). 67 LCP died because of LC (LS=471.9±344 days). AT significantly improved 5YS (68% vs. 53.7%) (P=0.028 by log-rank test). Cox modeling displayed that 5YS of LCP significantly depended on: N0-N12, T3-4, blood cell circuit, cell ratio factors (ratio between cancer cells-CC and blood cells subpopulations), LC cell dynamics, recalcification time, heparin tolerance, prothrombin index, protein, AT, procedure type (P=0.000-0.031). Neural networks, genetic algorithm selection and bootstrap simulation revealed relationships between 5YS and N0-12 (rank=1), thrombocytes/CC (rank=2), segmented neutrophils/CC (3), eosinophils/CC (4), erythrocytes/CC (5), healthy cells/CC (6), lymphocytes/CC (7), stick neutrophils/CC (8), leucocytes/CC (9), monocytes/CC (10). Correct prediction of 5YS was 100% by neural networks computing (error=0.000; area under ROC curve=1.0).
share - Lions, tigers, AI and health misinformation, oh my!.pptxTina Purnat
• Pitfalls and pivots needed to use AI effectively in public health
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There is increasing confidence that cell therapies will soon play a role in the treatment of autoimmune disorders, but the extent of this impact remains to be seen. Early readouts on autologous CAR-Ts in lupus are encouraging, but manufacturing and cost limitations are likely to restrict access to highly refractory patients. Allogeneic CAR-Ts have the potential to broaden access to earlier lines of treatment due to their inherent cost benefits, however they will need to demonstrate comparable or improved efficacy to established modalities.
In addition to infrastructure and capacity constraints, CAR-Ts face a very different risk-benefit dynamic in autoimmune compared to oncology, highlighting the need for tolerable therapies with low adverse event risk. CAR-NK and Treg-based therapies are also being developed in certain autoimmune disorders and may demonstrate favorable safety profiles. Several novel non-cell therapies such as bispecific antibodies, nanobodies, and RNAi drugs, may also offer future alternative competitive solutions with variable value propositions.
Widespread adoption of cell therapies will not only require strong efficacy and safety data, but also adapted pricing and access strategies. At oncology-based price points, CAR-Ts are unlikely to achieve broad market access in autoimmune disorders, with eligible patient populations that are potentially orders of magnitude greater than the number of currently addressable cancer patients. Developers have made strides towards reducing cell therapy COGS while improving manufacturing efficiency, but payors will inevitably restrict access until more sustainable pricing is achieved.
Despite these headwinds, industry leaders and investors remain confident that cell therapies are poised to address significant unmet need in patients suffering from autoimmune disorders. However, the extent of this impact on the treatment landscape remains to be seen, as the industry rapidly approaches an inflection point.
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Osteoporosis is an increasing cause of morbidity among the elderly.
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2. 1. The actual scenario
Healthcare is a costly item in national budgets.
Looking to OECD’s 2015 average data for Western countries we can see that the current
healthcare expenditure weights roughly around the 9% of GDP1
:
On the other side we all know how in these last decades the world’s population has been
ageing: virtually every country in the world is experiencing growth in the number and
proportion of older persons thanks also to improvements in quality of life and medicine
Looking to recent UN studies2
by 2030 older persons will outnumber children aged 0-9 years
(1.4 billion versus 1.3 billion) and by 2050 there will be more people aged 60 years or over
than adolescents and youth aged 10-24 years (2.1 billion versus 2.0 billion).
The ageing process is most advanced in high-income countries: Japan is home to the world’s
most aged population: 33% were aged 60 years or over in 2015. Japan is followed by
Germany (28% aged 60 years or over), Italy (28%) and Finland (27%).
1
http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/health-data.htm
2
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/ageing/WPA2015_Report.pdf
Summary
Is healthcare going to benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution? And how exactly new
technologies like telemedicine, personalized medicine, and robotics are going to be
transformative in medicine?
In these brief overview – without using too much sci-fi examples - we will see how
healthcare is going to be affected by AI and robotics in the near future. The biggest
finding is however that technology will not put aside human healthcare professionals: they
will have in robots and AI an important partner which is going to relief them from routine
operations. Thus letting the chance to focus more on the patient at a more “human side”
eg as comforters or perhaps as medical mentors. In other words doctors and nurses are
not going to be replaced by machines simply because… there is no calculation algorithm to
understand human emotions!
3. The overall scenario gets more complicated when adding to this data also the general drop in
salaries throughout world’s top 50 economies: the problem is that technology is not only
rapidly changing the global workforce but also lowering average salaries in many industries.
According to International Monetary Fund3
, the advance of technology is the biggest reason
workers are earning a shrinking slice of the income pie.
Even if technology is a bigger driver for humanity, it’s expected that automation will decimate
the labor force in certain industries over the next 20/30 years, which will put an enormous
drain on wages for existing workers.
Considering these three megatrends, one can easily understand that current healthcare
expenditures will not be sustainable in the next future.
A solution to this problem might be the massive introduction of robots, AI and automation in
healthcare. However it’ key to remember that these devices will not completely replace human
clinicians and/or surgeons like some might expect: the “human touch” in people care is still
unreplaceable as the motto goes: “To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always”!
But this does not mean that – like in other life areas – technology will not be able to assist
(better: augment) professionals in the human care whether this might be at the hospital or at
home. Let’s have a look…
2. Towards human healthcare augmentation
Even in the era of social media networking, internet of things, artificial intelligence, cognitive
computing and artificial neural networks the medical know-how often is still inside the single
physicians mind and skills. This is a typical human-to-human behavior, which hooks commonly
in many other professional scenarios. But we understand that this means we are not fully
giving to machines / AI the chance to augment clinicians ability in diagnosis and treatment
management (which still will remain in their hands also for ethic reasons).
And eventually this is a pity considering that today also in medicine (like in many other
business areas like Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR etc) we have machines which - like in a
modern “Rosetta Stone” approach - sense information, compare it in a big data scale, process
it and finally act on it.
For example we have devices which are able to
augment the human senses: eg think about
Doppler Labs earplugs that can filter sounds that we
don’t want and enhance the sounds we want to hear.
On the processing side Google – just to say one - is
developing a contact lens that will sense your body
temperature and glucose levels to help you manage
your diabetes.
On the action side we have powered wearable
exoskeletons or robotic walkers for old patients and/or rehabilitation (eg HAL5, Lokomat,
LOPES and UniExo exoskeletons) or other robotic solutions used also in prosthetics such as the
OttoBock dynamically adapting devices.
Another breakthrough are Robot-Assisted Surgeries
(RAS): in this area we have already some interesting
solutions like the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR),
3
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2016/09/berg.htm
4. which consists of tools for suturing as well as fluorescent and 3D imaging, force sensing, and
submillimeter positioning.
Inventors generally don’t claim that robots will replace humans in the operating room anytime
soon. Instead they see these RASs as a proof of concept—both for the specific technologies
used and for the general concept of “supervised autonomy” in the OR.
The evidence that we are not talking
about sci-fi is the already used (and
FDA-approved) “da Vinci” surgical
robots which are able to handle
minimally invasive surgery on humans.
Important to remember: the da Vinci
it's not an automated surgical system.
Rather it's remote controlled by a
human surgeon (even if it's most
common to have the surgeon sitting
right next to it in the operating room).
In other words the benefit of the da Vinci system isn't really the remote access: instead, it's
that the surgeon can do much smaller incision along with visual enhancements like infrared
imaging that provide valuable information than their eyes might not.
This kind of devices are also being used in ophthalmology: recently University of Oxford
surgeons at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital have
performed the world's first operation inside the eye
using a Robotic Retinal Dissection Device called
R2D2. This bot acts like a mechanical hand with 7
independent computer-controlled motors which are
able to act precise 1000th
of a millimetre in scale
movements.
The new wave of innovation will allow a convergence
of surgical robotics with AI and data gathered from robotic systems. One first application of
these devices might be the Lung cancer, which is surgically treatable but only if it is found fast
enough. Currently surgeons use a pre-operative image to search for cancer, but the lungs are
a moving target. So, to get to the cancer, surgeons deform the lungs on the way in and again
on the way out because they are taking a different path. With surgical robotics, you can track
the path in and use that same motion tracking data on the way out.
More help to humans will came from Nanorobotics, ie
the technology of creating machines or robots at or close
to the scale of a nanometre (10-9 meters). Nanorobots
(or molecular robots) will be able to deliver drugs into
defected cells and/or treat & repair our body organs. The
substructures included in nanorobot will include installed
power supply, sensors, nanocomputer, pumps, controllers
and weight tanks. Another key feature of nanorobots is
that – once injected – they can stay operational inside the
body for a considerable length of time.
Recently Researchers at Munich Technical University have been playing with nanoscale “bricks”
made of the ultra-stable material, and shown that like tiny Lego pieces it can be stacked,
slotted - and even made to move.
Apart from these high-potential nanobots, in the near future of healthcare we will assist to the
introduction of the so called “chatbots”, ie intelligent personal assistants, artificial intelligence
5. supported messaging apps or voice controlled bots are forecasted to replace simple messaging
apps soon. In healthcare, they could take off the burden on medical professionals regarding
easily diagnosable health concerns or quickly solvable health management issues. Here is the
evolution of bots as health assistants.
Medical Virtual Reality (VR) is another area with many potential possibilities for healthcare.
Although the field is brand new, there are already fascinating examples of VR having a positive
effect on patients’ lives and physicians’ work. For the first
time in the history of medicine, on 14 April 2016 at the Royal
London hospital a cancer surgeon performed an operation
using a virtual reality camera . Everyone could participate in
the operation in real time through an ad hoc app. This means
that also for education VR will play in the nearby future a
major role in medicine.
But there’s more. VR might also improve the patient customer
experience at the hospital by reducing stress and pain. Think
about Farmooo — developed under the supervision of Dr.
Diane Gromala, the director of SFU’s Pain Studies Lab — “is intended to help teen cancer
patients get distracted during chemotherapy treatments.
Another valuable application of VR might be in pediatric areas making kids feel like at home:
through a smartphone and virtual glasses, VisitU – a Dutch company app - makes live contact
possible with a 360 degree camera at the patient’s home, school or special occasions such as a
birthday celebration or a football game. Though hospitalized, people will be still able to enjoy
their lives.
The Swiss company Mindmaze has recently created another interesting device called
MindMotionPro: this app allows patients to “practice” how to lift arms or move fingers with the
help of virtual reality. Although they might not carry out the actual movement, the app
enhances attention, motivation and engagement with visual and auditory feedback. The
resulting mental effort helps patients to recover their traumatized nervous systems much
faster than lying helplessly in bed.
6. Turning to Artificial Intelligence (AI) we can say that actually there are some highly
promising AI tools which might be used in surgical procedures.
• Watson: Watson is an IBM expert-system type of AI. Watson can store more medical
information than any single human can store and give responses to natural language queries
from surgeons. Watson will become an intelligent surgical assistant.
• Machine learning algorithms: machine learning is commonly used in dealing with big
data, and artificial neural network (ANN) is an interesting machine learning technique. The
underlying mechanism of ANN is very similar to that of a biological human brain: initially these
machines have no experience but after training with big data the learning algorithm focuses on
input feature variable and the response variable and a model with hidden layer can be fitted to
reflect proper relationship between input variable and outcomes. This is what was done with
AlphaGO: developed by Google’s DeepMind this ANN recently achieved 60 straight victories on
an online platform for the popular game Go. Recently Google announced that it would expand
its business into medical treatment and thus develop a diagnostic algorithm and treatment
strategy by learning from millions of previous samples. In this black-box approach, the
biological or pathophysiological mechanisms.
7. Underway there are also projects in the implantable devices area.
Apart from the chip you might have in your own dog’s neck and the other usual artificial
organs like hearth, an interesting breakthrough might be tied to the recent Defense Advanced
Research Project Agency (DARPA). This agency is actually studying how to improve our ability
to remember information: even if this is still a research program, it’s easy to imagine that
these kind of solutions might be usable eg for Alzheimer patients.
But the very next trend will be ignited in the area of assistant robots and companion
robotics. Social robots especially
use artificial intelligence to
understand people and respond
appropriately. Think about Paro, the
therapeutic seal, which has been
used to reduce stress in elderly
patients. But major advances in natural
language processing and
social awareness algorithms might be
able to turn social robots in better
personal assistants. The Amazon Echo
digital assistant, Alexa, is a popular product that I would argue is one of the first social robots
for consumers.
Talking about the Socially-Aware Robot Assistant (“SARA”), Dr. Justine Cassell of Carnegie
Mellon University recently explained that “AI is not a technology, it’s a technique for
understanding people and making machines act the way people do.”
3. The (near) future hospitals
How the future hospitals will look like?
Here are a few things we might encounter in the next
decade:
• No waiting time: like in hotels, cognitive computers
will handle the reception and direct people when
8. and where to go by analyzing their EHR records automatically responding to doctors’
notes and prescriptions.
• Waiting rooms will be more user-customer-friendly featuring eg charging sets for
wearable devices where data could also be exported before the visit together with a
drink and a relaxing background music.
• Smart control: cameras and other sensors will not only secure premises but also guide
and record every movement in the hospital sending people and robots to the
appropriate locations.
• Hi-tech rooms: flexible touchscreens featuring important health data will be around the
bed which will be controlled by the patient. The walls might include virtual reality to
make sure the patient feels literally at home by showing them images and pictures from
their home which they can upload to the system while lying in a hospital bed.
• Operating rooms (ORs): surgical robots will rule the scenes of operating rooms although
not all ORs will include surgical robots as there will still be operations that could not be
performed using only robots.
9. • Devices and equipment of radiology: surgery and many other specialties from CT scans
to endoscopic technologies will be so small they would all fit in the OR.
• Augmented surgeons: using portable devices such as 3D visors and smart radiology
images such as CT or MRI scans, surgeons will be able to fully look into the body of the
patient even before the operation for better surgical planning and during the operation
for more precise movements.
Other interesting tools for new hospitals are delivery robots: using different techniques like
electronic maps, sensors and painted lines, these bots are able to autonomously transport
different supplies in hospitals, giving nurses more time to spend with patients. These robots
are even able to plot out the most effective routes, avoid heavy foot traffic areas, and move
quickly without causing accidents.
To be quoted are also the already existing automated pharmacy dispensing systems and
real drawers which are able to give advanced patient safety and reduced costs for pharmacy
operations and the healthcare facility.
Connected medical devices are also creating a digital revolution: apart from the common
wearable devices for runners and sporty people, today are already existing devices such as
Cellscope’s digital otoscope and the AliveCor Kardia, both consumer-friendly products that add
10. sensors to a smartphone so consumers can monitor ear infections or atrial fibrillation
respectively.
Last but not least we have to expect some automated devices also at the dentist room: few
months ago Neocis has received FDA clearance to market Yomi, a robotic computerized
navigational system intended to provide assistance in both the pre-operative and the surgical
phases of dental implantation surgery. But we can also expect also in this expertise the
introduction of orthodontic nanobots which, for example, might be able to directly manipulate
the periodontal tissues, thus allowing rapid and painless tooth straightening or rotating and
vertical repositioning within minutes to hours.
But technology is already starting to assist the
training of a dentist: the Japanese company
Morita has recently invented a humanoid practice
robot called Simroid. This bot alerts dentistry
students if it is uncomfortable. SIMROID
realistically simulates the behavior and reactions
of a patient and can communicate with students
and dentists in Japanese and English.
4. Some takeaways
If the current state of the art technology can tell us that we are sick, the future will bring us
augmented medical devices and, thanks to AI, the ability to prevent illness and costly mistakes
made by clinicians.
According to a recent survey made by Stanford University we are just beginning to
experience how AI will change our lives in profound ways: with a project called One Hundred
Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100) a panel of AI experts from multiple fields including
healthcare has declared that AI will overpass human intelligence in 2030.
In healthcare AI promises a broad array of life-enhancing innovations: “For AI technologies,
healthcare has long been viewed as a promising domain. AI-based applications could improve
health outcomes and quality of life for millions of people in the coming years — but only if they
gain the trust of doctors, nurses, patients, and if policy, regulatory, and commercial obstacles
are removed” reports the Study.
Major AI applications will include clinical decision support, patient monitoring and coaching,
automated devices to assist in surgery or patient care and management of healthcare systems
with advances also in collecting useful data from personal wearable monitoring devices and
mobile apps.
The report also says that – even if the promise of new analytics using data from Electronic
Health Records (EHRs) remains largely unrealized due to regulatory and structural barriers - in
the next 15 years, AI, if coupled with sufficient data and well-targeted systems, will be able to
change the cognitive tasks assigned to human clinicians. “The opportunity to exploit new
learning methods, to create structured patterns of inference by mining the scientific literature
automatically, and to create true cognitive assistants by supporting free-form dialogue, has
never been greater,” the report stated.
AI’s ability to analyze millions of patient clinical records eventually will enable finer diagnosis
and treatment: “traditional and non-traditional healthcare data, augmented by social
platforms, may lead to the emergence of self-defined subpopulations, each managed by a
surrounding ecosystem of healthcare providers augmented with automated recommendation
and monitoring systems,” the report said.
11. The report also states that personalized rehabilitation and in-home therapy will reduce the
need for hospital or care facility stays.
Smart devices in the home will help patients and caregivers in daily living activities such as
cooking and, if robot manipulation capabilities improve sufficiently, dressing and toileting.
The statement that healthcare is about to change is quoted also in another
PricewaterhouseCoopers study (“What doctor? Why AI and robotics will define New
Health”4
), based on a commissioned survey of over 11,000 people from 12 countries across
Europe, the Middle East and Africa
The PwC survey also explored the key drivers for a person’s willingness or unwillingness to use
an AI-enabled or robotic health procedure or service. Easier and quicker access to healthcare
services (36%) and speed and accuracy of diagnoses (33%) were the primary motivators for
willingness, with lack of trust in robots being able to make decisions (47%) and lack of the
human touch (41%) as the primary reasons for their reluctance.
But out there there’s not only a technical battle to win: in fact, it may surprise you to learn
that the world’s first computerized clinical decision-support system, AAPhelp developed in the
UK in 1972 (but the same might happen with modern predictive AI like IBM Watson’s or
Google’s Deep Mind) is not massively used in order to save lives. Why? The answer lays on a
simple problem: technology in healthcare still has to tackle some major negative connotations
and fears (not only ethical) from clinicians and professionals.
Another issue to be considered is that healthcare is not a market like all the others: one thing
is choosing a smartphone another one is to handle patients also from human side. This means
that we have to think to more “psychologically” trained doctors and nurses in order to be a real
patients’ mentor rather than a “chirurgical hand” which will be job for machines (remember de
“daVinci” robotic tool).
But there’s also another issue: data privacy management.
The use of big data in healthcare implies that patient records, healthcare statistics and all
other personal details might be used by researchers to train the AIs to make diagnoses. But
people are increasingly sensitive to the way personal data is used and, quite rightly, expect the
highest standards of ethics, governance, privacy and security to be applied.
In other words, the problem is not creating the algorithms but higher standards of data
protection and scientific rigor.
AI will be better than us in some ways thus making us feel awkward. However, if we think
about how much it can improve our lives, we can realize that beating it at certain tasks should
not be our goal and it wouldn’t improve society as a whole. In other words, also in healthcare
we do not have to compete with machines (at the end there’s no match, they will win) but use
them in order to assist and augment professionals in what has to be considered more
important: personal human care.
4
https://www.pwc.be/en/news-publications/publications/2017/what-doctor.html
12. For STAR WARS nerds…
PADME’S GIVING BIRTH TO LUKE AND LEIA IN A FULLY AUTOMATED DELIVERY ROOM OPERATED BY A ROBOTIC MIDWIFE
…IN THE SAME TIME, IN ANOTHER FULLY AUTOMATED OPERATING ROOM, ANAKIN SKYWALKER IS BEING TREATED FROM
HAND AMPUTATION AND 3RD
DEGREE FULL BODY BURNS.
More good reads:
• The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age by Robert
Wachter
• The Guide to the Future of Medicine: Technology AND The Human Touch
• The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine is in Your Hands by Eric Topol Hardcover