🤖Patients First, AI Second🤖

Ethical and regulatory landscape of healthcare AI

Unlocking better Women’s Health wtih AI

• Google's AI collaboration in Nigeria mapped access to emergency obstetric care, aiding efforts to tackle the high maternal mortality rate, which stands at over 800 deaths per 100,000 live births, by improving healthcare facility access.

• In Kenya, AI-enhanced maternal ultrasounds by Google and Jacaranda Health are being tested for wider use by non-specialists, targeting a global expansion of prenatal care, alongside a project in Taiwan focusing on AI to improve breast cancer detection accuracy through ultrasound imaging.

🚨 Pulse of Innovation 🚨

Breaking news in the healthcare AI

How can AI help clinicians improve pancreatic cancer detection? 

• 85% of people with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed too late to receive life-saving treatment. Early diagnosis is crucial, yet up to 40% of CT scans with a tumor small enough to remove, 2cm or less surgically, are not detected when a patient’s scans are evaluated. However, there is hope on the horizon. Scientists are now training AI to improve early detection rates that may indicate the presence of a tumor often missed by the human eye. This breakthrough has the potential to save up to 30,000 lives annually.

• We asked world-renowned Pancreatic Cancer Expert Dr Prof Shaalan Beg, for his opinion. “ Dr Shaalan believes that current pancreatic cancer research focuses on enhancing early detection methods. AI-based imaging techniques can help identify occult tumors. Additionally, blood-based approaches seek novel biomarkers, enabling early cancer detection. Together, these  strategies aim to increase our ability to diagnose pancreatic cancer when it is still operable and has not spread to other parts of the body.”

🧑🏼‍🔬 Bench to Bedside👨🏽‍🔬

Developments in healthcare AI research and innovations

AI and augmented reality for mental health support

• This platform combines spatial computing, virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide immersive mental health support. Utilizing GPT-4 for AI-driven therapy, XAIA (eXtended-reality Artificial Intelligence Assistant) engaged participants with mild-to-moderate anxiety or depression in biophilic VR environments..

• The study provides initial evidence of acceptability and safety of AI powered psychotherapy via spatial computing. The Apple Vision Pro has further enabled XAIA’s use and its available on the AppStore.

  

  XAIA workflow

👩‍⚕️AI in the Clinic 🏥

Real-world and practical use of healthcare AI in clinic

AI transforming medical coding and reducing physicians’ and coders’ burden 

• Mass General Hospital implemented an automated coding system powered by AI in 2015, and its improving the medical coding based on patient records for a large academic center. Given its success, the spinoff company CodaMetrix was created to advance technology and commercialize it. It now used by over 200 centers and 50k providers.

• With generative AI, the CodaMetrix has implemented several features on the revenue cycle management (accounts for ~20% of US healthcare spending) which go beyond autonomous coding and include pre-authorization algorithms, payer-adjudication algorithms, radiology based coding and more. It reduced manual radiology coding by 64%.

🩺 Start-Up Stethoscope 💵 

Trending startups and technologies impacting clinical practice

Can you smile better with AI ?

• Overjet's FDA-cleared technology aids in precise disease diagnosis and insurance claim reviews, marking significant growth and innovation in the dental sector. The investment supports Overjet's mission to enhance dentistry through AI, improving patient care and operational efficiency.

• Overjet secured a $53.2 million Series C funding round, the largest investment in dental AI, elevating its total funding to $133 million and valuation to $550 million. Participants included March Capital, General Catalyst, and the American Dental Association, among others.