Preventative medicine is currently popular because it helps to reduce long-term healthcare costs, allows patients to avoid painful procedures, and contributes to longer, better quality lives. The shift from traditional yearly checkups and tests to more advanced technology could be happening soon.
New AI tools are being developed with the potential to identify future heart attack risks and even prioritize and direct emergency calls based on the likelihood of the patient experiencing a cardiac event. Let’s explore some projects that aim to make heart attack deaths a thing of the past.
Europe’s AI Decision Driver
Four European countries are implementing an AI algorithm to detect cardiac arrest with up to 95% accuracy, in comparison to human dispatchers, who can only achieve about 74% accuracy. This helps prioritize emergency call responses, allowing patients to receive expedited care and potentially preventing brain and organ damage or death.
AI is a major advancement in machine-enhanced medicine. Other AI programs include an Israeli program for detecting intracranial hemorrhages, and one designed by Stanford scientists to identify cancerous skin markings.
Predicting Future Disease
Google has released a new algorithm that assesses cardiac risk by scanning the blood vessels in the eye. This algorithm can predict cardiac risk with an accuracy of 70%, slightly lower than the medical standard SCORE test, which is about 72% accurate. With further exposure and testing, the Google algorithm is expected to become more sensitive to small details through machine learning.
Making Details Matter
Most medical knowledge is generalized and often based on studies consisting primarily of white men, leading to errors in diagnosis and poor disease prevention efforts, especially for minority populations. Apollo Hospitals in India have developed a cardiac assessment AI based on the Indian population in partnership with Microsoft’s AI Network for Healthcare, aiming to deliver more accurate diagnosis and disease prevention efforts.
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death globally and is increasing in low- and middle-income countries, making better disease detection and preventative efforts more important than ever. AI tools are ready to change the game to improve patient outcomes.
