How AI Expedites Medical Diagnosis?

Artificial intelligence (AI), often known as machine intelligence, is generating a substantial impact on a variety of industries, including healthcare. Artificial intelligence (AI) in the medical field has the potential to significantly enhance patients’ lives by improving diagnostics and treatment and supporting patients and healthcare providers in carrying out the necessary medical decisions promptly.

AI in the medical care field is gaining traction, notably in diagnosis and therapeutic management, along with healthcare software development services. A lot of studies have been done on how AI may help with healthcare decisions and improve physicians’ judgment.

Let us explore deeper into this subject. But first, let’s define AI in medical care.

What is AI in the healthcare industry?

The healthcare business is about to go through a major transformation. Technology can be utilized to provide more accurate, cost-effective, and useful treatments at precisely the right time in a patient’s care. AI in the medical field can help in identifying chronic diseases through imaging and risk assessment.

As payment arrangements change, patients expect more from their providers, and the amount of available data grows at an astonishing speed. This is where artificial intelligence comes into the picture as it is positioned to be the engine that accelerates advances across the healthcare ecosystem.

How is AI improving the healthcare sector in general?

The Global AI healthcare market was valued at $7.4 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow at 49% CAGR from 2022 to 2027, with an approximate growth to reach $48.77 billion by 2027. By revolutionizing treatment techniques and data collection, AI in healthcare‘s ultimate goal is to improve patient outcomes. The data collected can help in complex disease diagnostics leading to effective treatment procedures. Let us explore some of the options below:

Also Read: The future of clinical trials – Unlocking AI’s potential to revolutionize healthcare research

Health monitoring with mobile devices and wearables

Almost everyone now has access to devices outfitted with sensors that can gather and analyze crucial health data. From mobile phones with activity trackers to equipment that can measure heartbeat 24/7, most of the population have all of these. A rising amount of health-related information is generated on the road with the help of smartphones and smartwatches and other devices.

Analyzing and interpreting this data, along with information provided by individuals via apps and other personal diagnostic equipment, can offer a unique insight into individual and community health. Aritifical intelligence in medicine will be critical in extracting relevant insights from this massive and diversified data collection. This is how one can use AI for medical diagnosis.

Help with clinical decision-making

While a physician’s job entails a wide range of activities, one of the most important is diagnosing disorders and diseases and developing treatment plans for patients. For the ordinary clinician, however, this may be a hard, time-consuming, and even stressful process that frequently entails rigorous research and painstaking seeking solutions to problems that may not even exist.

The incorporation of AI in medical industry can assist in treatment and diagnosis planning by simplifying a large number of difficult, time-consuming, and laborious processes while giving solutions suited to the individual needs of each patient. Using AI to diagnose disease accelerates the process of treatment providing more successful and advanced treatments.

Improves the diagnostic process

One of the advantages of AI in the medical field is improved diagnostic efficiency. Manual errors in healthcare settings might be increased by an absence of medical history and a heavy caseload. In comparison to humans, AI systems can forecast and diagnose diseases quicker than clinicians and with less error risk. This can be true if there is robust data quality.

(Also read: How Generative AI is Reshaping the Healthcare Industry – 10 Applications and Use Cases)

Reduces operating costs

Using artificial intelligence in medical diagnosis can help with doing the same thing at a fraction of the initial cost. For example, suppose AI can search through millions of photographs for indicators of sickness. It eliminates the need for time-consuming physical labor. Patients are treated more quickly and effectively, which reduces admissions, long waits, and the demand for beds.

Contributes toward safer surgeries

AI is finding a place in healthcare robotics by delivering efficient and one-of-a-kind surgical support. Surgeons gain enhanced dexterity to operate in small places that might normally necessitate open surgery. Robots can be more accurate around delicate organs and tissues, resulting in less blood loss, contamination risk, and postoperative pain. Patients who undergo robotic surgery report reduced scars and quick recovery due to the smaller incisions required.

[Also Read: Top 5 applications of RPA in Healthcare]

Better and enhanced patient care

Healthcare facilities are frequently overcrowded and disorganized, resulting in a disappointing patient experience. According to a recent study, poor communication is the worst element of the patient experience for 83% of patients. Using AI to scan data, gather reports, and quickly tell patients where they should go and who to visit can help avoid the normal chaos in healthcare situations. AI technology for patients offers another unrivaled advantage: it is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Seamless exchange of information

Another advantage of AI in medical diagnosis that should be mentioned is the ease with which information can be shared. AI can follow precise patient data more effectively than traditional care, giving doctors additional time to concentrate on treatments. The ability of algorithms to quickly assess large amounts of data is critical to realizing the full potential of AI and precision medicine.

Optimize and streamline population health management

Artificial intelligence-powered solutions are already being used to monitor population health and wellness. These systems sift through massive amounts of data from health insurance claims, medical records, and other sources to identify relevant insights that can be translated into solutions for clinicians and patients. This enables them to develop individualized health programs for patients that take into account their health risks and environmental issues, in addition to the patient’s habits, lifestyle, and overall health.

How does AI expedite medical diagnosis?

AI for medical diagnosis can assist healthcare practitioners in diagnosing patients. They can do this by assessing symptoms, providing specific therapies, and forecasting risk. AI technology can also detect anomalous outcomes. This is one of the primary reasons why there is support for AI for medical diagnosis.

AI in the medical field can assist physicians in enhancing treatment in a variety of ways like drug discovery, hospital management, telehealth and others. After examining troves of therapy and patient data (which itself is a lot of data for a human to process properly) to discover what has been successful in the past for comparable numbers of patients, potential treatments and other follow-up steps can be tailored more effectively with the help of an AI.

Along with enhanced communications, this can aid in addressing the persistent issue of patient non-compliance.

Here are several other ways through which AI can expedite medical diagnosis:

Symptom analysis, personalized treatment recommendations, and risk prediction

Intelligent symptom checkers are already being used by many healthcare practitioners and organizations. This machine learning system asks patients several questions regarding their symptoms and then recommends appropriate next actions for seeking therapy based on their responses.

Healthcare companies are adopting a variety of web-based, AI-powered health aides to triage patients with COVID-19 symptoms. It provides individualized advice and information based on the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines (CDC).

Furthermore, AI technology can advance precision medicine (healthcare tailored to the individual) by synthesizing data and forming conclusions, allowing for better educated and personalized therapy. Deep learning algorithms can examine huge volumes of data—including a patient’s other molecular/cellular analysis, genetic content, and lifestyle factors—and uncover relevant research that might help doctors choose therapies.

Healthcare AI can also be used to create algorithms that forecast individual and community health risks to assist in improving patient experiences. Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania created an algorithm in machine learning in the medical field that can track hundreds of important characteristics in real-time to predict sepsis or septic shock in patients 12 hours before symptoms appear. This is how AI is used in medical diagnosis and can be exploited to its fullest potential.

Detecting disease

AI in medical diagnosis can be used to detect disease. Imaging tools can help clinicians in the diagnostic procedure. Some applications create deep learning medical tools to improve radiological diagnostics by analyzing medical data. The techniques help clinicians better understand and define cancer severity. In some situations, these technologies can be used to replace the necessity for tissue samples with “virtual biopsies,” assisting clinicians in detecting tumor characteristics and genetic traits.

Furthermore, AI in clinical trials can help with diagnostics. It could assist reduce the number of diagnostic errors produced each year. Making use of deep learning specialists’ AI abilities can improve disease detection efficiency. A recent study published in the journal of the National Cancer Institute demonstrates that an AI system can monitor breast cancer as efficiently as an average breast radiologist, with a 95 percent accuracy rate. AI applications are being used in oncology to identify malignancies. Pathologists employ machine vision technologies to identify diseases in bodily tissues and fluids, and facial recognition aids in the identification of phenotypes associated with particular rare diseases.

Contributed to the field of dermatology and ophthalmology

With the help of smartphones and other portable gadgets, artificial intelligence in medical diagnosis has extended to the field of dermatology and ophthalmology. The application of AI and ML for medical diagnosis in dermatology focuses on picture analysis and classification, as well as the capacity to distinguish between malignant and benign skin conditions.

Using cell phones to collect and distribute photographs could expand telehealth’s potential. Several firms have been able to diagnose diabetic retinopathy in ophthalmology with the help of a smartphone-based fundus camera, and a low-power microscope with an attached camera.

Helps accurately predict infectious outbreaks

AI in medical diagnosis can effectively predict infectious outbreaks. The development of improved AI algorithms are capable of evaluating ever-increasing volumes of publicly available data. It is already assisting epidemiologists in tracking the spread and progression of contagious diseases.

Accelerates paperwork

AI in medical diagnosis can help with the facilitation of paperwork in the healthcare industry. While AI is important for identifying and treating diseases, it is also useful in the dull reality of office jobs. AI-powered speech recognition technologies enable doctors and scientists to dictate notes and fill out forms verbally, avoiding unnecessary time spent at a keyboard for more critical patient care.

AI can speed up essential operations and uncover mistakes before they turn out to be costly by automating form completion. Companies with expertise in medical coding assist healthcare companies in detecting problems early in the workflow.

AI in the medical sector can increase the productivity of human specialists by speeding up scan reading and automating data entry. AI allows healthcare workers to spend more time connecting with patients by removing such time-consuming tasks from their plates. Most caregivers would tell you that such one-on-one contact is the most crucial diagnostic tool that they use.

AI does not miss out on delicate and minute details

You cannot overlook the role of ai in medical diagnosis as AI for medical diagnosis can beat the human eye. Unlike the human eye, AI-based machine learning can examine and interpret thousands of images in a matter of seconds to find patterns, and thus we should employ more and more AI in medical imaging.

This system has the potential to be extremely useful in medical diagnosis, as overworked radiologists are unable to spot every subtlety of one image after seeing hundreds of others. AI for medical diagnosis supports professionals in applications like these by prioritizing photos that are most likely to reveal a problem.

[Also Read: Radiology Redefined: How Apps are Revamping Medical Imaging]

Disease classification

The ability of deep learning technologies or artificial intelligence in medical diagnosis to examine photos and find patterns brings up the possibility of developing algorithms to assist doctors in diagnosing specific diseases more quickly and precisely. Furthermore, such algorithms can learn indefinitely, boosting their accuracy in predicting the correct diagnosis.

Helps with giving real-time data

Acquiring reliable information at the right time is a vital component in diagnosing and treating medical disorders, and this can be achieved by using AI to diagnose disease. Doctors, along with other medical professionals, can use AI in medical field to accelerate and optimize important clinical decision-making by leveraging real-time and precise data. More quick and accurate results can lead to better preventative measures, cost savings, and a decrease in the waiting time for the patient.

Real-time analytics can aid in the improvement of physician-patient interactions. Making crucial patient data available via mobile devices can help patients participate in their treatments. Doctors and nurses can be notified of critical changes in patient statuses and crises via mobile alerts.

Giving longer life to people

You might be wondering how artificial intelligence in medical diagnosis can help people live longer. Well, it is no surprise that algorithms can analyze all of our medical, behavioral, and environmental data for us. As a result, they can anticipate our biological age and advise us on how to stay healthy. AI is already being integrated with aging research to develop an aging clock that will aid in tracking immunosenescence levels and identifying new therapies to strengthen the immune response in the elderly. This will also help in diagnosing medical issues early as AI can predict risks based on the lifestyle and other factors of an individual.

Fine-tuning treatment

AI disease diagnosis can also assist those with chronic or life-long illnesses to function better. Machine learning algorithms, for example, can analyze data from cochlear implant sensors to offer individuals input on how they sound so they can improve communication with the hearing world. AI technology can also assist doctors in tailoring therapies to a patient’s individual needs.

Future of AI in healthcare

The Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) In Diagnostics Market was valued at USD 532.22 Million in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 5371.11 million by 2028, increasing at a CAGR of 33.23% from 2021 to 2028, according to Verified Market Research.

By 2030, AI will be able to access many sources of data to show disease trends and aid in treatment and care. Healthcare systems will be able to forecast a person’s likelihood of developing specific diseases and provide preventative steps.

AI will assist minimize patient wait times and increase hospital and healthcare system efficiency. During the forecast period, the growing need for time-saving diagnosis methods in developed economies is expected to boost the expansion of AI in the medical diagnostic market.

Furthermore, government investment in healthcare systems to provide advanced medical treatment, rising concerns about the pressure of work on the medical staff, as well as assimilation of data-centric treatment due to readily available information are expected to drive AI in the medical diagnostic market during the said period.

Moreover, an increase in awareness in the healthcare sector about the critical benefits of machine learning in the medical field and advanced analytics for medicine prescription and preventive health practices is expected to drive the market forward globally.

Also Read: AI in Mental Health – Use Cases, Opportunities, Challenges

Appinventiv can be your technology partner helping you to successfully adopt the futuristic approach

Appinventiv has been no less when it comes to contributing to healthcare software development services particularly using AI technology. Appinventiv contributed to the creation of a revolutionary system that helped deal with the issue of patient-caregiver communication.

We created a multi-request format platform for YouCOMM that connects in-hospital patients with nurses to obtain aid with their fundamental requirements. Appinventiv created a fully customized patient messaging system that allows patients to tell the staff their needs by manual selection of options, voice commands, and head motions.

The astounding results show a 60% growth in nurses’ real-time response time. More than 5 hospital chains in the US are running on this solution.

Being one of the leading software development companies, we are adept at the challenges of creating a sophisticated medical diagnosis system with AI. Speak to our experts to get your project started.

FAQs

Q. How can AI be applied in the healthcare sector?

A. Artificial intelligence in medical field (AI) makes the lives of patients, physicians, and health practitioners quicker and easier by doing tasks that would often be handled by humans in a prolonged amount of time and at a significant expense. With technology that can predict, analyze, adapt, and operate, whether they are used as portable devices to monitor patients’ well-being or for disease detection, AI is reinventing and bolstering modern healthcare.

Q. What is the future of the healthcare sector?

A. Information sharing, integration, accessibility, patient empowerment, behavior modification, and technical and scientific advancement via artificial intelligence and robotics are six main aspects that the future of health is looking forward to, given that they will work together to reshape the current healthcare system from medicine-based illiberal care to preventative measures and well-being.

Q. What are the pros and cons of AI in the healthcare industry?

A. All industries now heavily rely on artificial intelligence (AI). The healthcare industry today has widely adopted this technology. However,  it’s important to consider all the upsides and downsides that come with it:

The pros are-

• Access to healthcare is improved by AI
• Gives real-time information
• Early clinical concerns can be identified with the help of AI-powered technologies.
• Saves effort and resources

The cons are-

• Human surveillance is necessary.
• The potential for an erroneous diagnosis
• May result in unemployment
• Risks to security

THE AUTHOR

Dileep Gupta

DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER