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There is no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare had a very successful year. In October, the FDA added 178 AI-enabled devices to its list of more than 500 AI technologies approved for medical use. Topping the list of most trusted devices were two major players in health tech: GE Healthcarewith 42 authorized AI devices, and Siemenswith 29.
Together, the two companies accounted for almost 40% of the new devices that made the list.
Yet despite the giant strides made in the field by these two giants, a recent investigation by a medical intelligence firm blue vision found that regardless of actual progress being made, about 50% of American adults say they have not seen or experienced improvements in their own care due to medical advances in AI.
Why is that? And when will consumers start reaping the benefits?
They already are, but may not realize it since many tools are used by clinicians behind the scenes in radiology and imaging, explained Peter Shen, head of digital health at Siemens Healthineers. North America. But increasing personalized medical care using AI tools is something Siemens continues to refine and prioritize.
“Our strategy for AI goes beyond imaging and pattern recognition,” Shen said. “The informed diagnostics we derive from AI allow us to design better ways to care for patients. For us, it’s more than about efficiency and more than just decision-making. We want begin to direct personalized medicine towards the patients themselves and create accessibility to medical care.
Behind the curtain and beyond the hype
Rapid improvements in AI technology are largely aimed at making healthcare more accessible to the patients they serve by potentially reducing costs, speeding up processes, and providing even more accurate and personalized care. The benefits continue to evolve with each iteration of AI-based medical technology, and many of these advancements are also used to help medical professionals behind the scenes.
Radiology and medical imaging continues to be the fastest growing area of AI medical advancements, accounting for more than 85% of the FDA’s total list of 521 devices. Experts from GE and Siemens say they anticipate further growth in this area, especially with the potential it holds to change healthcare outcomes and diagnostics for patients.
for instance, Vara AIan AI-powered mammography screening platform, was able to detect about 40% of all cancers in clinical trials that were initially missed by radiologists.
This is something patients may not notice, but it can certainly impact their diagnoses and treatment outcomes.
“AI is moving past the hype cycle and becoming mainstream, increasing access to applications that use AI,” said Vignesh Shetty, SVP and General Manager of Edison AI and Platform at GE Healthcare. “As a result, the face of radiology, imaging and healthcare is changing and AI is becoming one of its defining features.” When it comes to AI, he added, “it’s no longer about whether AI will replace healthcare professionals, it’s more about ensuring that healthcare professionals who use AI differ from those who do not”.
Supporting AI patients in 2023
Interestingly, Bluesight’s research found that although many patients reported not seeing or experiencing technological advances directly in their medical care, 84% of patients responded neurally or positively about a scale of 1 to 5 to the statement: “I think technology makes health care More accessible.”
This could indicate that there is room for improved education and dialogue around the use of AI in healthcare to build trust – something Bluesight research also found is lacking. At the same time, the personalization capabilities of AI can contribute to this trust, allowing patients to also feel better seen, heard and supported.
“AI technology has the potential to improve the accuracy and efficiency of medical diagnostics, which could help doctors provide better care for their patients,” Shetty said. “Additionally, AI-powered tools can help reduce the time and effort doctors and other healthcare professionals have to spend on routine tasks, which could free up more time for them to see patients.”
As GE heads into 2023, the company is largely focused on supporting patients. Its solutions include the Edison platform to improve the efficiency of patient processes; the Critical Care Suite 2.0, which automates high-risk procedures; And its Mural platform, which allows clinicians to access the status of patients in intensive care to provide care and reduce intervention time.
“What customers really appreciate is the reduction in uncertainty, whether it’s in healthcare, ridesharing or another industry,” Shetty said. Now imagine a 20x improvement in patient and provider experience through smart scheduling or reduced exam and report times. This is the transformation that GE Healthcare seeks.
As for Siemens, Shen said that in 2023 the company plans to focus more on using its AI algorithms and technologies to improve pattern recognition and train it on large amounts of clinical data and help achieve better patient outcomes.
“Rather than using AI in one clinical space like radiology, we can train it to look at multiple clinical spaces like image data and also data from lab results or blood tests, or even pathological slides from a biopsy,” Shen explained. “If we integrate all of this into our AI systems and train the AI to find correlations between all of this clinical data, it will help clinicians make stronger, more informed diagnostic and treatment decisions about their patients.”
This type of work with AI technology can also be used to model patient anatomy and eventually lead to the development of anatomically correct and personalized digital twins for patient care to perhaps test the effectiveness of certain therapies. in very specific digital twin simulations, before trying it out. .. on the patient himself, Shen said.
These advancements are unlikely to slow down anytime soon and will likely become technologies that patients will interface with more and benefit from in healthcare. Going forward, AI solutions in healthcare are expected to skyrocket, bringing the market to $188 billion by 2030 according to Statistical.
While focusing on growth, both Siemens and GE Healthcare plan to continue to prioritize outcomes that better serve patients.
“Achieving results will improve the future of AI and leverage insights to help healthcare professionals make more informed diagnostic decisions and create personalized therapeutic treatments for patients,” Shen said.
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