GAFAMS, STARTUPS & INNOVATION IN HEALTHCARE by PHARMAGEEK

A deep learning tool was able to classify subtypes of lung cancer with the same level of accuracy as human pathologists, according to a study conducted by Dartmouth’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center and published in Scientific Reports.

Via Dominique Godefroy, Philippe Marchal

300 million people are affected by asthma globally, and 100 million are suffering from the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The treatment of these two diseases costs over €80 billion in the US and Europe each. The direct costs make up almost $50.1 billion, and hospital stays are the most significant part of that cost. For adults, asthma is one of the top reason for underperformance at work. Sufferers miss about 14 million workdays each year, and this equals about $2 billion of indirect asthma costs.

Patients first realize that they have a chronic pulmonary disease like asthma or COPD if symptoms like recurrent wheezing, coughing or difficulty in breathing appear. A pulmonologist would then use a spirometer to formally diagnose the condition. The pulmonologist then managed by a combination of lifestyle choices and medication. Lifestyle choices include avoiding triggers such as cigarette smoke, pets, or aspirin. Medication is generally inhaled using an inhaler and can be quick-relief medications (such as beta2-adrenoceptor agonists or salbutamol) or long-term control medication (such as corticosteroids or Long-acting beta-adrenoceptor agonists).

Given that controlling lifestyle choices are a big part of preventing and managing chronic pulmonary diseases, smart medical devices such as smart inhalers and smart spirometers could have a significant impact on health outcomes. Here are 5 different ways in which AI is redefining respiratory care

Via Dominique Godefroy

Last year, studies presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting showed that IBM Watson was pretty darn good at creating treatment plans for cancer patients. Turns out, however, that the AI is still far from perfect: according to internal documents reviewed by health-oriented news publication Stat, some medical experts working with IBM on its Watson for Oncology system found "multiple examples of unsafe and incorrect treatment recommendations." In one particular case, a 65-year-old man was diagnosed a drug that could lead to "severe or fatal hemorrhage" even though he was already suffering from severe bleeding.

The report puts the blame on the IBM engineers and the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center doctors who helped train the AI. They reportedly fed Watson hypothetical patients' data and treatment recommendations by MSK doctors instead of real patients' information. The approach apparently didn't work as well as they'd hoped, with one Florida Jupiter Hospital doctor telling IBM upon testing the system that the product is "a piece of shit." It's worth noting, however, that MSK believes the example involving the 65-year-old patient was merely part of a system testing and not an actual recommendation.

Despite that Jupiter doctor's less-than-stellar review, a spokesperson told Gizmodo that the hospital still uses Watson's recommendations. Its doctors don't completely rely on the plans it cooks up, though, and see them as an extra opinion when they can't agree on a treatment. As for IBM, it knows that Watson for Oncology still needs work and has taken feedback from clients into consideration to roll out multiple software updates with updated features over the past year.

Via Dominique Godefroy

The human body is frail and people end up in intensive care units for all kinds of reasons. Whatever brings them there, more than half of adults admitted to an ICU end up sharing the same potentially life-threatening condition: kidney damage known as acute kidney injury.

The Veterans Administration thinks artificial intelligence could reduce the toll. In a project that drew on roughly 700,000 medical records from US veterans, the agency worked with Google parent Alphabet’s DeepMind unit to create software that attempts to predict which patients are likely to develop AKI. The VA hopes to test whether those predictions can help doctors prevent people from developing the condition. AKI manifests as a sudden failure of the kidneys to properly remove waste from the body, and often occurs as a complication of surgery, infection, or other stresses of hospitalization.

The project is an example of the worldwide push to save lives using the AI techniques that power internet companies’ virtual assistants and facial recognition. The spread of digital health records offers a torrent of data about patients, including subtle patterns that algorithms can interpret in ways doctors cannot. In the US and other rich countries, AI is seen as a way to improve care and cut costs. In places like India and China with chronic shortages of medical specialists, the technology could improve access to care.

DeepMind’s collaboration with the VA fits into a broader push into health care by Alphabet. The company hopes to use AI to diversify beyond advertising, which supplies nearly 90 percent of its revenue. Other Alphabet projects are training algorithms to detect eye disease and cancer. Google recently hired veteran health system executive David Feinberg to take charge of its health projects.

Via Dominique Godefroy

Chinese tech giant Tencent and London medical firm Medopad have teamed up to use artificial intelligence in the diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease.

A camera captures the way patients move their hands to determine the severity of their symptoms.

The research team has trained the system with existing videos of patients who have been assessed by doctors, working with King's College Hospital in London.

"We use the AI to measure the deterioration of Parkinson's disease patients without the patient wearing any sensors or devices," explains Dr Wei Fan, head of the Tencent Medical AI lab.

The aim is to speed up a motor function assessment process, which usually takes more than half an hour.

Using smartphone technology developed by Medopad, the hope is that patients could be assessed within three minutes - and might not even have to attend a hospital.

Medopad is a London-based firm that has been developing apps and wearable devices to monitor patients with various medical conditions.

It has been growing fast - but is a minnow compared with Tencent, which is spearheading China's huge investment in AI.

Via Dominique Godefroy