Former NHS surgeon creates AI ‘virtual patient’ for remote training

A former NHS surgeon has created an AI-powered “virtual patient” which helps to keep skills sharp during a time when most in-person training is on hold.

Dr Alex Young is a trained orthopaedic and trauma surgeon who founded Virti and set out to use emerging technologies to provide immersive training for both new healthcare professionals and experienced ones looking to hone their skills.

COVID-19 has put most in-person training on hold to minimise transmission risks....

11 December 2020 | Healthcare

AI helps patients to get more rest while reducing staff workload

A team from Feinstein Institutes for Research thinks AI could be key to helping patients get more rest while reducing the burden on healthcare staff.

Everyone knows how important adequate sleep is for recovery. However, patients in pain – or just insomniacs like me – can struggle to get the sleep they need.

"Rest is a critical element to a patient's care, and it has been well-documented that disrupted sleep is a common complaint that could delay discharge and...

17 November 2020 | Healthcare

Medical chatbot using OpenAI’s GPT-3 told a fake patient to kill themselves

We’re used to medical chatbots giving dangerous advice, but one based on OpenAI’s GPT-3 took it much further.

If you’ve been living under a rock, GPT-3 is essentially a very clever text generator that’s been making various headlines in recent months. Only Microsoft has permission to use it for commercial purposes after securing exclusive rights last month.

In a world of fake news and misinformation, text generators like GPT-3 could one day have very concerning...

28 October 2020 | Healthcare

IBM’s latest AI predicts Alzheimer’s better than standard tests

IBM has developed a new AI model which predicts the onset of Alzheimer’s better than standard clinical tests.

The AI is designed to be non-invasive and uses a short language sample from a verbal cognitive test given to a patient. Using this sample, the AI model is able to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s with around 71 percent accuracy.

For comparison, standard clinical tests are correct approximately 59 percent of the time and take much longer to diagnose. Current...

23 October 2020 | Healthcare

GTC 2020: Using AI to help put COVID-19 in the rear-view mirror

This year’s GTC is Nvidia’s biggest event yet, but – like the rest of the world – it’s had to adapt to the unusual circumstances we all find ourselves in. Huang swapped his usual big stage for nine clips with such exotic backdrops as his kitchen.

AI is helping with COVID-19 research around the world and much of it is being powered by NVIDIA GPUs. It’s a daunting task, new drugs often cost over $2.5 billion in research and development — doubling every nine years —...

5 October 2020 | Healthcare

Deep learning is being used to predict critical COVID-19 cases

Researchers from Tencent, along with other Chinese scientists, are using deep learning to predict critical COVID-19 cases.

Scientists around the world are doing incredible work to increase our understanding of COVID-19. Thanks to their findings, existing medications have been discovered to increase the likelihood of surviving the virus.

Unfortunately, there are still fatalities. People with weakened immune systems or underlying conditions are most at risk, but it’s a...

23 July 2020 | Healthcare

M3: Alibaba’s AI detects COVID-19 pneumonia in under a minute

M3, a medical web portal backed by Sony, claims Alibaba’s AI technology has allowed it to develop a powerful COVID-19 diagnosis tool.

The AI-powered tool is able to analyse CT scans for signs of COVID-19 infection to help quickly diagnose the novel coronavirus which has caused havoc around the world.

With heroic medical staff under more pressure than ever caring for the huge influx of people suffering with COVID-19 – in addition to all the other ailments they have to...

4 June 2020 | China

AI uses data from Oura wearables to predict COVID-19 three days early

Researchers have successfully used AI to analyse data from Oura's wearable rings and predict COVID-19 symptoms three days early.

The researchers, from WVU Medicine and the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, first announced the potentially groundbreaking project in April.

At the time, the researchers found they could predict COVID-19 symptoms – including fever, cough, and fatigue – up to 24 hours before their onset.

“The holistic and integrated...

2 June 2020 | Healthcare

Beware the AI winter – but can Covid-19 alter this process?

We have had a blockchain winter as the hype around the technology moves towards a reality - and the same will happen with artificial intelligence (AI).

That's according to Dr Karol Przystalski, CTO at IT consulting and software development provider Codete. Przystalski founded Codete having had a significant research background in AI, with previous employers including Sabre and IBM and a PhD exploring skin cancer pattern recognition using neural networks.

Yet what effect...

26 May 2020 | Deep Learning

Intel and UPenn utilising federated learning to identify brain tumours

Intel and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) are training artificial intelligence models to identify brain tumours - with a focus on maintaining privacy.

The Perelman School of Medicine at UPenn is working with Intel Labs to co-develop technology based on federated learning, a machine learning technique which trains an algorithm across various devices without exchanging data samples.

The goal is therefore to preserve privacy. Penn Medicine and Intel Labs have claimed...

11 May 2020 | Healthcare