The potential for AI in healthcare is tremendous, as AI increasingly becomes integrated into the healthcare ecosystem. AI is transforming the way doctors deliver cost-effective, high-quality diagnostic and treatment services to their patients. For example, the technology can identify patterns and anomalies in diagnostic data from medical scans at a speed and volume that humans are simply unable to replicate.
The processing power of AI has applications far beyond providing simple diagnoses. It can be used to help health professionals identify the severity of what is wrong with the patient and provide insight as to why they are experiencing certain symptoms. This additional information helps doctors decide on the most effective treatment.
AI has almost endless potential, but the bright future it offers cannot be reached if the necessary infrastructure is not in place to support its development.
The implementation of AI technology serves to enhance the capability and efficiency of trained medical staff, not replace them. Taking the HeartFlow Analysis as an example, AI technology can quickly produce an accurate 3D model of the patient’s arteries from a CT scan, but it still requires a doctor to interpret the significance of the disease in the model, integrate it with other patient data, and subsequently decide on the best course of treatment.
AI and the analysis it provides is invaluable, and it helps physicians most effectively use their time and provide improved diagnoses. However, human intervention will always remain at the centre of patient care.