Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a crucial component of healthcare to help augment physicians and make them more efficient. In medical imaging, it is helping radiologists more efficiently manage PACS worklists, enable structured reporting, auto detect injuries and diseases, and to pull in relevant prior exams and patient data. In cardiology, AI is helping automate tasks and measurements on imaging and in reporting systems, guides novice echo users to improve imaging and accuracy, and can risk stratify patients. AI includes deep learning algorithms, machine learning, computer-aided detection (CAD) systems, and convolutional neural networks. 

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IBM sale of Watson Health reveals healthcare’s AI conflict

The reported exploration to sell Watson Health, the AI-driven health business of IBM, underscores deep challenges with technology in solving healthcare problems, according to the Wall Street Journal.

 

Call made for more rigorous evaluation of AI aimed at guiding providers, patients

Only two of 34 representative studies evaluating the use of AI for real-world shared clinical decisionmaking from 2014 to 2020 included external validation of the models up for consideration.

Ethics researchers warn of healthcare AI’s potential for widening gaps between haves and have-nots

Healthcare AI is advancing too quickly for its users to fully comprehend the implications of its design, development and applications, according to bioethics specialists who scanned the literature. 

Oxford experts: ‘Ethically unacceptable’ to bypass impact testing of AI-powered clinical decision support

AI-based CDS tools that perform well in clinical trials will flounder on the way to clinical practice if they’re not evaluated early and thoroughly for their effects on real-world clinical decisionmaking.  

People with diabetes open to remote digital monitoring; more concerned about intrusiveness than AI per se

One turnoff is remote food monitoring. Another is real-time feedback—whether from a live healthcare professional or an AI algorithm.

One of AI’s leading lights discovers the indispensability of humility

A noted AI researcher and educator who was drawn to the field by its escalating penetration of “the mysteries of perception and cognition” has found a sort of missing link in its evolution. 

Sophisticated neural network simulates rational thought processes

Researchers have used explainable AI to break down a hypothetical animal’s foraging behaviors into measurable cognitive dynamics. They hope their success leads to a better understanding of how humans think.

Zebra cleared to market 3D printing for orthopedic surgery

An Israeli healthcare AI startup has earned a seventh green light from the FDA. Its latest algorithm can reconstruct X-rays of bones into 3D printouts with no less clarity than would be produced by advanced imaging modalities.

Around the web

Compensation for heart specialists continues to climb. What does this say about cardiology as a whole? Could private equity's rising influence bring about change? We spoke to MedAxiom CEO Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, a veteran cardiologist himself, to learn more.

The American College of Cardiology has shared its perspective on new CMS payment policies, highlighting revenue concerns while providing key details for cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. 

As debate simmers over how best to regulate AI, experts continue to offer guidance on where to start, how to proceed and what to emphasize. A new resource models its recommendations on what its authors call the “SETO Loop.”