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Life-Saving AI Identifies High-Risk Patients in Hospital Trial

Written by:

Archie Williamson
Posted: 10-05-2024

Life-Saving AI Identifies High-Risk Patients in Hospital Trial

This is an AI-generated image created with Midjourney by Molly-Anna MaQuirl

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made remarkable advancements in healthcare in recent years. From assisting doctors with diagnosis to analyzing medical scans and tests, AI is proving to be an invaluable tool for improving patient outcomes. An exciting new development is the use of AI to predict which hospital patients are at high risk of dying, allowing medical teams to intervene and potentially save lives. Let's take a look at this AI news about how this life-saving AI system works and the impressive results of initial hospital trials.

How The AI Risk Assessment System Works

The AI system was developed by researchers at the National Defense Medical Center in Taiwan. It was trained on over 450,000 electrocardiogram (ECG) test results along with the corresponding survival data of each patient. From this training data, the AI learned to analyze ECG readings and output a risk score predicting the chance of death for each new patient.

Patients receiving a risk score in the 95th percentile or above are flagged as high-risk. As soon as their ECG results are uploaded to the hospital's computer system, the AI immediately analyzes the data and alerts physicians if the patient is deemed high-risk. This allows medical teams to quickly follow up with further testing and appropriate treatment for these vulnerable individuals.

Saving Lives Through Early Intervention

To test the real-world efficacy of the AI alert system, it was rolled out in two hospitals, encompassing 39 physicians and around 16,000 patients. The results were very positive, with the AI reducing overall mortality by 31% in the high-risk group. For patients with cardiac issues, the system lowered deaths by over 90% - an outstanding result.

The researchers believe these impressive improvements are due to AI quickly identifying those most likely to deteriorate, allowing medical teams to intervene early with additional diagnostics and therapy. For example, physicians often scheduled further tests and initiated treatment plans for patients who received an AI high-risk alert. This early intervention is key to preventing health crises and saving lives.

Wider Implementation Underway

Given the excellent performance in initial trials, the AI early warning system is now being implemented more extensively. It is already operational across 14 military hospitals in Taiwan. The low cost of the system means it can be easily rolled out to hospitals worldwide. The researchers believe it should become a standard component of patient care globally due to advancing healthcare with robotics

Some experts have described the system as extraordinary, with one commenting that medications rarely improve mortality rates as significantly. The ability to save lives with just improved monitoring and no expensive drugs is a major advantage of this AI approach.

The Future of AI in Healthcare

This system highlights the vast potential of AI in revolutionizing healthcare. Machine learning, when applied to the huge amount of patient data that hospitals hold, could uncover many new ways to improve care and lower risks. Patients around the world may soon benefit from AI assistants that can analyze their symptoms, predict health trajectories, and warn doctors of impending emergencies.

While questions remain around regulating these technologies, it's clear AI will become integral to 21st-century healthcare. With numerous applications, from robotic surgery to managing chronic illnesses, AI promises to make medicine more predictive, preventive, and precise. The results of this Taiwan hospital trial show that AI has arrived as a valuable new tool to enhance how care is delivered.

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Life-Saving AI Identifies High-Risk Patients in Hospital Trial

Written by:

Archie Williamson
Posted: 10-05-2024

Life-Saving AI Identifies High-Risk Patients in Hospital Trial

This is an AI-generated image created with Midjourney by Molly-Anna MaQuirl

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made remarkable advancements in healthcare in recent years. From assisting doctors with diagnosis to analyzing medical scans and tests, AI is proving to be an invaluable tool for improving patient outcomes. An exciting new development is the use of AI to predict which hospital patients are at high risk of dying, allowing medical teams to intervene and potentially save lives. Let's take a look at this AI news about how this life-saving AI system works and the impressive results of initial hospital trials.

How The AI Risk Assessment System Works

The AI system was developed by researchers at the National Defense Medical Center in Taiwan. It was trained on over 450,000 electrocardiogram (ECG) test results along with the corresponding survival data of each patient. From this training data, the AI learned to analyze ECG readings and output a risk score predicting the chance of death for each new patient.

Patients receiving a risk score in the 95th percentile or above are flagged as high-risk. As soon as their ECG results are uploaded to the hospital's computer system, the AI immediately analyzes the data and alerts physicians if the patient is deemed high-risk. This allows medical teams to quickly follow up with further testing and appropriate treatment for these vulnerable individuals.

Saving Lives Through Early Intervention

To test the real-world efficacy of the AI alert system, it was rolled out in two hospitals, encompassing 39 physicians and around 16,000 patients. The results were very positive, with the AI reducing overall mortality by 31% in the high-risk group. For patients with cardiac issues, the system lowered deaths by over 90% - an outstanding result.

The researchers believe these impressive improvements are due to AI quickly identifying those most likely to deteriorate, allowing medical teams to intervene early with additional diagnostics and therapy. For example, physicians often scheduled further tests and initiated treatment plans for patients who received an AI high-risk alert. This early intervention is key to preventing health crises and saving lives.

Wider Implementation Underway

Given the excellent performance in initial trials, the AI early warning system is now being implemented more extensively. It is already operational across 14 military hospitals in Taiwan. The low cost of the system means it can be easily rolled out to hospitals worldwide. The researchers believe it should become a standard component of patient care globally due to advancing healthcare with robotics

Some experts have described the system as extraordinary, with one commenting that medications rarely improve mortality rates as significantly. The ability to save lives with just improved monitoring and no expensive drugs is a major advantage of this AI approach.

The Future of AI in Healthcare

This system highlights the vast potential of AI in revolutionizing healthcare. Machine learning, when applied to the huge amount of patient data that hospitals hold, could uncover many new ways to improve care and lower risks. Patients around the world may soon benefit from AI assistants that can analyze their symptoms, predict health trajectories, and warn doctors of impending emergencies.

While questions remain around regulating these technologies, it's clear AI will become integral to 21st-century healthcare. With numerous applications, from robotic surgery to managing chronic illnesses, AI promises to make medicine more predictive, preventive, and precise. The results of this Taiwan hospital trial show that AI has arrived as a valuable new tool to enhance how care is delivered.