Artificial intelligence and healthcare

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is gradually changing the landscape of medicine. With the advent of powerful computation and the availability of “big data,” the applications of AI in healthcare are expanding to realms, which were previously thought to be the domain of human intelligence. The applications of AI could be broadly classified into diagnostic and therapeutic categories. The diagnostic applications of AI include the procurement of specimens and interpretation of the findings. Similarly, novel AI algorithms are being applied to analyze retinal images and radiographs. Further, the algorithms could classify patients into clinically relevant categories and aid in decision making. The therapeutic applications of AI extend from prescribing medicines to performing robotic- and endoscope-assisted surgeries, with precision nearly as high as that of trained surgeons. Other applications of AI are predicting epidemics, developing drugs, and managing intensive care units (ICUs), to name a few. AI holds unprecedented potential to revolutionize patient care. The knowledge of AI applications can help clinicians and researchers appraise the current state of the utilization of AI in healthcare and may guide future research. In this article, the existing and upcoming applications of AI in healthcare are reviewed, with respect to various disciplines.