Philips uses the power of AI to save lives
By Chong Jinn Xiung August 2, 2017
- AI is not meant not to replace human doctors but to complement them
- Objective results enable early detection and intervention with non-invasive methods
THINK of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and you think of killer of robots like Skynet from the Terminator movies. But while science fiction has popularised the idea that AI is menacing, in reality, AI is actually helping doctors save lives.
This is not in happening in the distant future, it is actually happening today thanks to technology developed by Philips.
While talk and development of AI for the medical field are nothing new, it is now finally possible to leverage on AI due to powerful cloud computing that enables companies to personalise how information is presented and makes sense to doctors and specialists.
Philips head of healthcare informatics, solutions and services for Asean and Pacific Fernando J Erazo (pics) describes healthcare as a team sport with a host of different people from different teams spanning generalists, specialists and patient care. Each has a role to play and the glue that binds them all together is data.
However, the challenge is that even one single patient generates a vast amount of information that doctors may struggle to process.
Fortunately, Philips is offering healthcare experts a helping hand with their IntelliSpace Portal 9.0 clinical informatics platform that is supported by AI technology.
The Philips healthcare platform IntelliSpace is a clinical suite of solutions for various disciplines like oncology, radiology and cardiology to enable earlier detection and quicker decision-making.
According to Erazo, heart diseases is the number one killer in Malaysia. However, at present, many cases are treated reactively when it is too late to intervene without performing invasive surgery.
Early health screening is vital to detect cases before they become chronic. This results in many scans and images that need to be processed by doctors.
Medical imaging is fundamental in this process and with the help of AI, medical experts can get objective results that quantify the patient’s condition and determine if the method of treatment is working.
The AI steps in by comparing scanned images against thousands of other cases from around the region and globe, all to help doctors make better-informed decisions.
“Very often when a screening is performed, the data normally sits in isolation and it is difficult for doctors to pull it up to see a trend in the patient’s condition,” said Erazo.
“The risk is for data to get lost in the hospital’s system or it being too cumbersome for doctors to search and process. There is a need for greater advocacy for a one-patient-one-record system that enables hospitals both public and private to freely exchange the patient’s records so doctors can immediately know their history,”
He was quick to point out that despite all the advancements of AI in the medical field it won’t ever replace the role of real human doctors. It instead elevates the role of humans as AI will automate tasks, consolidate case notes and free up their time to perform higher function tasks.
He details other advantages of the system such as the ability to access patient data anywhere from their laptops since many hospital staffers may work remotely, enabling them to compare notes and give a second opinion.
AI also understands how people use its tools and the way they work, anticipating what they may need to do by preloading and processing images. saving them precious time.
AI in healthcare is already present in Malaysia with the Philips IntelliSpace platform deployed in hospitals across the country, providing health care providers with a complete picture of care for patients.
Related Stories:
AI, analytics accelerate pace of digital workplace transformation
Customer retention, AI dominate priorities of Asian companies: Salesforce
For more technology news and the latest updates, follow us on Facebook,Twitter or LinkedIn.
