The Evolution of Healthcare: How AI and Machine Learning are Transforming the Industry

Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are no longer just the plot device of a science fiction movie – they are a real-world solution to many pressing challenges. Plus, their influence is not limited to the tech realm but extends to all facets of society. AI and machine learning solutions hold immense potential to revolutionize major sectors of modern society, including healthcare. And today, we will discuss how they have transformed the healthcare industry.  

Technology In Healthcare

The use of technology in healthcare is nothing new. The cutting-edge advancements in healthcare tech have brought forth dramatic tiers of change throughout the industry, from antibiotics and heart valves to infusion pumps and radiotherapy. Although healthcare is one of the most rapidly growing industries, adopting top-of-the-line, hi-tech AI solutions have further exacerbated its growth. 

Artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to grow more sophisticated each year, and the sheer potential these advanced tech solutions hold in the healthcare space is immeasurable. With the continual advancements in the medical realm, all tiers of medical professionals need to stay up to date with the latest technological advances to deliver the most optimal patient care experiences. So, lifelong learning has become crucial for anyone looking to grow in the industry. Healthcare professionals should consider taking an artificial intelligence in healthcare course from an accredited institute to discover how to leverage AI to optimize their practice.

The Role of Machine Learning & AI in the Evolution of Healthcare

Technology is constantly influencing new changes in the industry, from pathological labs to biosafety, with more on the horizon. Today, we’ll look at the role of AI and machine learning in transforming the medical landscape. 

1. Disease Detection

Gone are the days when disease diagnosis was a long and tedious process. AI has greatly facilitated fast and accurate medical diagnoses. With their built-in diagnostic tools and imaging support, AI-powered applications have streamlined the diagnostic process while enhancing the accuracy and speed of the process. These advanced systems can provide accurate disease diagnoses based on various imaging modalities without requiring complex procedures. Additionally, AI has enabled medical experts to monitor and detect early signs of cardiac disorders thanks to the widespread availability of AI-powered consumer wearables. 

For example, while cancer is terrifying, early diagnosis can significantly improve survival rates. However, cancer diagnosis used to be a lengthy process involving multiple scans – and even then, the possibility of inaccurate diagnosis was high. The American Cancer Society pointed out the shortcomings of mammograms in diagnosing breast cancer in women, with 1 in 2 patients being misdiagnosed with the disease. But thanks to advancements in healthcare, AI applications have eliminated the need for biopsies by diagnosing cancer thirty times faster with 99% accuracy.

2. Drug Development

The efficacy of drugs is everything in medicine. However, drug development is not a simple procedure – it would take years for experts to develop a new drug with provable efficacy. But, AI frameworks are speeding up and simplifying this procedure and bringing about a dramatic increase in the efficiency and speed of drug development while also cutting down on experimental resources. 

For example, the C-19 virus grew stronger with each wave, which meant that the vaccine’s efficacy grew weak as the virus mutated and evolved. And AI immensely supported medical and pharma experts in developing novel vaccines with improved efficacy to combat the virus. 

Artificial intelligence can sift through mountains of medical data to identify hidden patterns and make critical associations in data. And this is nothing ordinary, as it significantly helps accelerate the development of new medications and facilitates medical experts in their drug development efforts.

Pharmaceutical companies can leverage AI to discover systematic medicinal treatments for various diseases. It can swiftly screen through thousands of pharmacological compounds and analyze the success rate of specific meds based on patient-specific physiological parameters. Furthermore, cutting-edge AI methodologies – like next-generation DNA sequencing and precision meds – ensure that the treatment achieves targeted clinical results.

3. Advanced prosthetics

Prosthetics are an integral element of modern medicine and represent a triumph of cutting-edge technology. Throughout the years, prosthetics have undergone a tremendous change to achieve their current look: lifelike and lightweight. But in the end, prosthetics are prosthetics – they are a passive substitute for lost body part(s), which helps restore the body’s overall proportions. However, artificial intelligence and machine learning might just be able to change that. 

With artificial intelligence, researchers have been working on creating an innate link between the prosthetic limb and your body using an artificial nerve that acts much like all other nerves. Research in the area seems promising, and as prosthetics get smarter and more adaptive, functional prosthetics no longer remain a far-fetched thought. In fact, a medical application of ML demonstrates how the combination of cutting-edge algorithms and liquid metal might one day result in prosthetic limbs that can accurately sense and feel their surroundings.

4. Personalized treatment

The success of treatment depends on its efficacy, which relies heavily on personalized care guided by data synchronized with each patient’s specific need. As every person is unique, it’s to be expected that their bodies may react differently to various compounds and medications. But for a doctor who interacts with and attends to tens of patients daily, it’s impossible to deliver this level of care to every single one of their patients. However, machine learning makes things much easier for doctors as it supports them in providing optimal care.

With machine learning, doctors can leave all the processing to the machines and focus on patient care. Advanced machine learning modules utilize cutting-edge data to assess patients’ medical information, from their history to symptoms. The improved accuracy and objectivity of the findings will help medical professionals devise better patient care strategies.

A famous example of such a machine learning system is the Watson for Health by IBM. It utilizes cognitive tech to access massive healthcare data and enhance diagnostic capabilities. This system can read and retain exponential volumes of medical records and easily sift through large amounts of data, analyze it, and return objective results that can help healthcare professionals make better patient care decisions.

Bottom Line

Artificial intelligence and machine learning hold massive potential at all levels of healthcare, including molecular, patient, and population. They are reshaping the future of healthcare right before our eyes. Modern healthcare solutions harness the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve service efficiency across the sector. 

AI and machine learning have already transformed the industry to a certain extent, from accelerating drug development and providing crucial insights to streamlining personalized patient care and improving patient care outcomes. 

However, there is still a lot more to come.

The future of healthcare will be sustained by next-gen innovations, which will have an even more significant effect on the sector.