Artificial intelligence is getting smarter and better day by day. It can diagnose your symptoms and remedies before the doctor even has a chance to look at your test results. Breakthroughs in research are finding new ways for patient care, accelerating diagnoses, personalizing treatment plans, predicting future health risks, and indicating promises for a bright future of AI in healthcare. According to Statista, the global healthcare AI market was projected to reach nearly $188 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual rate of 37% from 2022 to 2030. AI is now your tireless family doctor, who never takes rest, deeply analyzes vast amounts of data, and spots hidden clues in medical images. Let us explore the ground-breaking impact of AI in healthcare, certain challenges to consider, and future trends that will change the face of the healthcare industry.

Source: www.sphericalinsights.com
 

How AI is Transforming Patient Care

The accuracy in diagnostics and personalization in patient’s treatment plans according to their ailments is improving exponentially with the combined knowledge of human beings and Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI model’s capability to analyze and process limitless amounts of patient data makes it a tireless Health Data analyst who never pauses to take a nap. It examines lab results and medical records more carefully than an experienced human physician. It can identify patterns and detect abnormalities that human physicians may not even recognize at first glance. Analyzing is the relatively easier part of the process, but understanding and interacting with it is a totally different ball game. AI discards all the jargon and irrelevant data and filters out the useful details that the health data analyst could understand and formulate a plan. AI has saved millions of lives by spotting subtle signs of cancer and cardiovascular issues by precisely observing X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs and providing much-needed support to radiologists. The way it improves from its previous errors and learns from experiences closes the gap between humans and AI. 
 

Benefits of AI in Healthcare

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Early detection of disease and AI-powered diagnostics

AI wins the race against time by rapidly processing the medical data and accuracy of diagnosis. It identifies the symptoms of fatal diseases like cancer in its preliminary stages and warns medical professionals to take preventive and effective actions. Recently, MIT came up with a Machine learning algorithm that knows when to make a decision or when to contradict the consultation of a human expert. They concluded that a human AI model will perform 8% better than a simple AI-powered diagnostics model. AI in robot-assisted surgery has also become very popular in recent times. This technology involves using robotic systems to give a helping hand to surgeons to carry out more controlled operations. One of the most well-known examples is the Da Vinci Surgical System which was developed by Intuitive Surgical.

Personalized patient planning and care

Every patient arrives with their own set of troubles to look after. To reflect that individuality, their AI-powered healthcare planning should be fine-tuned discretely.  From scheduling appointments to providing personalized recommendations, AI-powered virtual assistants can handle it all and improve customer satisfaction. Apart from that, the use of AI in personalized medicine can help analyze patients’ medical history and genetic information and generate personalized reports that contain details about the patient’s likelihood of getting diagnosed with a disease and drug usage. Nowadays, you will find several apps on your device that track your progress, create your diet plan, note your nutrition intake, and recommend medications based on the medical records provided by you. All of this is possible because of AI in personalized medicine and machine learning.

Predictive analytics

For clinical care, social and environmental data of patients is considered to estimate the chances of risks. Early estimation allows them to intervene and prevent severe consequences. Apart from that, predictive analytics helps in optimizing the capacity and taking care of staff outages. As per the 2023 AMN healthcare survey of registered nurses, 94% of registered nurses report significant shortages, with 80% expecting the situation to worsen. Predictive models can also forecast the spread of any virus like influenza and prepare us to respond in an effective manner. A 2021 study showed machine learning models could forecast COVID-19 severity using data from the first 24 hours of hospitalization, identifying pH levels as a key factor. 

Source: www.nature.com

 

Medical imaging analysis

For quantifying a wide range of clinical conditions, AI uses advanced algorithms to dissect complex data. It shows remarkable sensitivity in picking out subtle abnormalities within images. However, the progress of AI for medical imaging analysis relies heavily on the availability of labeled and standardized big data. Efforts to build large-scale, well-labeled databases, such as those for Alzheimer's disease detection and knee injury diagnosis, have yielded promising results and sparked some hope. The utilization of deep-learning libraries and architectures like VGG16/19 and ResNet have improved the capability of AI for medical imaging analysis in medical image interpretation. Initiatives like the Chest X-ray dataset released by the National Institute of Health and databases for lung and skin cancer diagnosis provide valuable resources for advancing Artificial intelligence in healthcare and medical imaging analysis.

Drug Discovery and Development

In 2022, the global market for AI in drug discovery was valued at $1.4 billion and is expected to grow to approximately $9.7 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.36% from 2023 to 2032. In earlier days, the development of drugs used to take years of work and cost millions of dollars. But now, AI can thoroughly analyze the molecular data and predict the side effects of the medical condition in a snap. AI in drug discovery can help identify novel proteins and genes as targets for new drugs, and advanced systems like AlphaFold predict the 3D structures of these targets to aid in drug design. It reduces the necessity for physical testing by predicting key properties like toxicity and bioactivity. AI can also create new drug molecules from scratch. After identifying potential drug candidates, AI will also sort, rank, and prioritize them for further evaluation and suggest synthesis pathways to simplify manufacturing. These are some of the key benefits of AI in healthcare.

Source: www.precedenceresearch.com

Use -Cases of AI in healthcare

Pharmaceuticals

Many startups are taking vaccine research more seriously after COVID-19. However, it requires critical thinking and comprehensive study. Advancements made in Artificial intelligence have accelerated the research process for developing vaccines and helping governments in damage control. With AI, researchers were able to create multiple viable drug options for muscle fibrosis in only 20 days. AI also gives promises to diseases that are currently incurable. E.g. progeria, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and rabies.

Health & fitness

AI is used by companies to develop workout apps that offers objective and goals to user on daily basis and keeps track of their progress through AI-powered data analytics. Users simply have to add their preferences and goals in the app to help the interface understand what workout plan should be suitable for a particular user. Fitbit and Hevy are some popular examples of fitness apps that generate an entire monthly or weekly workout plan for users and make sure that they remain healthy, active, and mentally fit. These apps also feature gamification components to make sure that users don’t get easily bored and have a memorable workout experience.

Challenges of AI in healthcare

Integration with legacy systems

Integrating Artificial intelligence in healthcare record systems can be difficult due to their fragmented nature. Even in the same organization, EHR systems are siloed and data sharing gets more complicated. The lack of standardization makes it tough to aggregate and analyze the data consistently. For instance, object classification will be one of the many hurdles associated with the integration of AI in warehouse management and one of the severe challenges of AI in healthcare as a whole. It may require qualified expertise and understanding of how the current system works to ensure smooth integration of AI into pre-existing systems.

Shortage of proficient staff members

The strain on healthcare professionals (HCPs) has led to fatigue, burnout, and increased turnover, particularly among bedside nurses. This shortage not only impacts patient care but also affects the treatment cost.  With nursing jobs predicted to have more demand than supply, and the cost of turnover increasing, the healthcare industry faces a critical challenge in ensuring sustainable staffing solutions. Predictive technology tools can optimize operating room schedules, while symptom checkers and virtual nursing assistants can reduce clinician burden and unnecessary hospital visits.

Data privacy and regulatory concerns

Gaps in regulatory frameworks leave AI technology in a gray area. This exposes patient data to potential misuse. Bounded by HIPAA regulations, the healthcare industry must carefully evaluate third-party vendors and establish agreements to uphold data protection standards. That being said, it is essential to exercise caution and vigilance in safeguarding any network-connected technologies utilized in patient care or data analysis. The challenge lies not only in preventing general abuses of power but also in making sure that patient data remains secure and within the jurisdiction of its origin.

Unethical & irresponsible use of AI

Ethical considerations in science and innovation will build a strong and safe future for AI in healthcare sector. Philosophical dilemmas about accountability in life-threatening mistakes lead to significant legal and financial ramifications. AI systems often sustain biases present in their training data. The opacity of "black box" AI tools magnifies the difficulty in assigning responsibility when errors occur. Cloud Security Alliance's emphasis on recognizing inherent biases and the White House Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights are some of the notable initiatives taken in this direction. Nevertheless, developers must be alert about unintentional biases arising from incomplete datasets.

Future of AI in healthcare industry

1) Right from diagnostics and treatment planning to patient care and rehabilitation, AI is rapidly evolving and earning its place. Soon AI will be used to develop treatment plans for patients depending on their physiology. More empathetic robots will be used to provide emotional support and care to patients during their treatment, apart from simple tasks like lifting heavy objects and organizing their stuff.

2) AI in robot-assisted surgery is rapidly emerging as a leading segment in clinical surgery and healthcare. Many industry experts, clinicians, and surgeons view it as the future of surgery due to its benefits, such as smaller incisions and lower blood loss. AI will offer real-time monitoring of acute signs. and detect potentially hazardous diseases before they even arise.

3) AI for chronic disease management will become more personalized and equitable. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and kidney disease heavily impact healthcare costs. Due to this, using AI for chronic disease management has become a top priority for healthcare providers around the world. These chronic illnesses are the primary causes of death and disability in the US and are major contributors to the nation’s $3.5 trillion annual healthcare expenses.

4) The time of being misunderstood by machines is over now. AI-powered virtual assistants are engaging with us on a human level and making conversations as natural and intuitive as talking to a close friend. AI is also gaining the ability to diagnose patients remotely, helping those who cannot afford to visit large hospitals. Providing efficient medical facilities to underdeveloped areas will become more accessible. This will save the lives of countless number of innocent beings all over the world.

AI-powered healthcare integration is not just a classy trend but an uncompromisable need. Whether it is orthopedics, neurology, cardiology, or any kind of specialized care, AI integration will have a big role to play in finding modern and innovative ways to visualize and fix a problem. The traditional healthcare industry is coming to terms with the fact that AI/ML is the future. Our highly qualified and skilled AI engineers at Webelight Solutions have developed countless successful end-to-end projects and have the experience to guide healthcare professionals in the right direction who are looking for personalized AI/ML integration services. 

Get a quote from us today and see how we can help your patients get modern, data-driven, and empathetic care through our advanced AI integration healthcare services.