Throughout history, technology has primarily helped in tracking and treating diseases. And with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a beacon of hope in times of crisis. Read on to learn how AI helps in diagnosing the coronavirus.

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the healthcare system is in a hectic state of providing patient care. Healthcare providers are under a lot of stress finding the cure and vaccine to the said virus. And on top of that, they have to accommodate the large number of patients sent in.

Italy, in particular, had experienced first-hand the devastating effects of an overwhelmed healthcare system. Despite its draconian measures to prevent the spread of the virus, the hospitals couldn’t keep up with the flood of patients that needed intensive care. As of writing, Italy has the highest fatality rate in the planet.

AI Technology in a Crisis

Due to the dire state of the situation, governments have enlisted the help of AI technology in the war against the infectious disease. Using AI to fight coronavirus elevates the pressure on the healthcare providers. It takes care of the time-consuming processes and speeds up the diagnosis of patients.

In this entry, we’ll discuss how AI technology plays an important role in solving a problematic situation.

What is AI Technology?

Artificial intelligence (AI) copies the behaviors associated with human intelligence. It is the type of technology that can plan, learn, analyze, and solve problems. And to a certain extent, AI can mimic our creativity.

Essentially, this is a type of system that resembles human thinking. But just like us, the computer also needs to “learn” how to respond to certain actions. It uses algorithms and historical data as its basis for learning.

Although it’s a much more complex field, AI is commonly recognized in the areas of speech and language recognition. You can see it used in virtual assistants like Siri and the visual recognition of self-driving cars. It has also played a significant role in the development of facial recognition in web and mobile applications.

With that said, industries use this kind of technology to maximize productivity. These machines can deliver simple tasks in less time at a lesser cost. Therefore, it not only improves efficiency, but it also cuts down on manpower expenses.

AI in the Medical Field

Today, AI is still in its early stages of development and implementation. Researchers are leveraging technology to improve the overall care for patients. Although it comes with certain limitations, AI is often used as a complementary technology. It serves to assist physicians, nurses, and medical researchers.

AI in Diagnostics

One of the latest breakthroughs of this technology is its ability to diagnose diseases correctly. In the same way that doctors can identify certain patterns in diagnosing a patient, machine learning can do the same. It can acquire and recognize those patterns through digitized inputs. The faster process of diagnostic information is incredibly helpful for doctors.

AI in Drug Development

Additionally, this technology also contributed to the area of drug development. Developing drugs is notoriously expensive and time-consuming. Machine learning made a lot of the development stages incredibly faster and easier. From identifying target molecules to finding biomarkers for diagnostics; AI sped up the entire cycle. It shaves off years of work and millions of investments.

However, AI’s full potential has yet to be realized in the field. Today, it still cannot replace the critical processes of the medical practice, nor replace the seasoned hands and expertise of doctors. But clearly, it’s already been a large help to the medical field and perhaps a fighting chance against the coronavirus.

AI against COVID-19

And now that we’ve learned how AI aids the field of medicine, let’s look further into its role in the current medical crisis. With the SARS-COV-2 virus spreading at an alarmingly rapid pace and countries have strategically turned to AI to contain it. AI has become a helpful tool in remote patient monitoring, data analytics, and digital consultation.

Here are some of the ways AI is being used to fight against this new strain of the coronavirus:

Diagnosing COVID19 patients

Healthcare providers have been using AI to diagnose patients with coronavirus diseases. AI-based algorithms are used to gather, study, and combine information from laboratories and imaging tests. And with this process, AI can create a composite mechanism that’s easier to understand. With the help of this data compilation, clinicians are able to develop sample images faster. This also allows accurate prioritization of patients.

Consequently, similar apps and systems have also been developed for community use. These AI solutions provide symptoms assessment and directives based on the results. The main goal of public AI is to survey and minimize the need for patients to go to the hospital.

Monitoring Patients

To lessen the burden on hospitals and clinics, people with mild to moderate symptoms are advised to recover at home. Remote monitoring has made this possible. It fast-tracks the containment of the outbreak by providing efficient patient apps.

However, this leaves a high risk for patients who are unsure of their condition. This is where AI technology comes in. By using AI to track coronavirus, patients with mild to moderate symptoms can safely recover at home. Likewise, patient-monitoring apps can also help healthcare providers keep track of the progress of their current patients.

Overall, monitoring apps have the ability to provide clinical-grade sensors and collect data on numerous physiological signals. This could improve clinical decision-making for providers. In the process, the accurate data helps them learn more about the disease so they can better treat it.

Integrating Tech with Medicine

Clearly, the global pandemic affects every sector of society and it will take the full participation of everyone involved to contain it.

With the ongoing fight against the coronavirus, tech companies are trying to maximize the capabilities of AI. As part of its effort in helping out the healthcare industry, Tech giants like Apple even upgraded their Siri app to provide COVID-19 symptom-based guidance.

Learning more about AI

In this digital age, information is crucial in overcoming the crisis. Full Scale is making it a priority to disseminate critical information. Contact us If you want to learn more about AI technology or you would like to talk to business experts.