artificial intelligence

AI in medical technologies: prioritising an ethical approach to deliver better care

Digital
10 Feb 2020
Artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous potential to improve patient outcomes and reduce their variability, making health systems more efficient. But we must take an ethical approach to ensure sustainable implementation and public trust. As leaders in the medical technology sector, we are playing our part in ensuring that our industry develops advanced data-driven technologies in the interest of patients. For us, this is not new: it is in line with our approach to innovation. We begin from an ethical perspective, seeking to improve the lives of people who benefit from the medical technologies we develop. This is a crucial moment in the history of AI in healthcare. Policymakers are looking closely at how to maximise the positive impact of computational science in the age of data while safeguarding privacy and security. We have set out our thinking in two key documents: a paper on Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in healthcare , in response to the Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI of the European Commission High-Level Expert Group on AI (HLEG AI), and a recently-published MedTech Europe position paper on AI in medtech , addressing the Policy and Investment recommendations of the HLEG AI. These documents set the foundation for our contribution to the upcoming communication of the European Commission on artificial intelligence. Game-changing potential Let’s remind ourselves why this is worth getting right. AI can improve the speed and accuracy of diagnostics and medical imaging; support real-time monitoring and preventative healthcare – intercepting disease in very early stages, sometimes even before it happens. It can also bring a new approach to the delivery of care, optimising the use of healthcare resources, including health professionals’ time; supporting doctors to be at their best and treat patients in better ways than ever before; and empowering patients to manage their well-being. But there is...

AI in healthcare: Europe gets real

Research & Innovation
13 Nov 2019
AI – Artificial Intelligence – sounds like another buzzword floating in the air of Brussels when we talk about future R&D priorities. There are many interpretations of what AI means, while some people are already grumbling that it’s just another fad. Personally, I believe that now is the time for practical examples of deployment of AI in medical practice. No more buzzwords, let’s get real! The European Commission is releasing three calls in its ICT Programme and Health Programme for 2019-2020. These topics call for collaborative projects, either fundamental or applied, classified in EC jargon as Research & Innovation Actions or Innovation Actions, respectively. In total, more than 100 M€ is being invested in AI for healthcare topics by the European Commission. The calls address: AI for Health Imaging (DT-TDS-05-2020, 13 Nov 2019, €35 million) AI for the smart hospital of the future (DT-ICT-12-2020, 20 April 2020, €40 million) AI for Genomics and Personalised Medicine (DT-TDS-04-2020, 20 April 2020, €35 million) I’ve had the opportunity to participate in the preparation of a proposal on AI for the smart hospital of the future. In order to strictly meet the requirements of the calls and the expected impacts – we all know that impact can make or break a proposal – we have assembled a very diverse group of partners comprising medtech companies, hospitals, health economists and, of course, AI companies. Finding a suitable AI partner was not so easy. I must confess that identifying a European Company with proven experience in AI in healthcare has been challenging because the field is so young. It also raises the question of European sovereignty in AI, especially in healthcare. Of course, inviting one of the big four tech companies – Google, Apple Facebook and Amazon (GAFAM) – would have been the first option for...

Future of healthcare in medtech

Value
14 Jun 2019
The recent Medtech Forum I attended in Paris left me with a strong impression regarding the central role that medical technology has in blending heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity. The sector's adaptation to technological and societal change demonstrates why it is now better positioned than ever before to tackle global health challenges. The sector has changed a great deal in the last decade. Firstly, major strides in the field of digital technologies (e.g. smart phones, apps, wearables) have forced the medtech sector to step out of its comfort zone to deliver applications that are meaningful for patients and healthcare professionals. Secondly, the patient population, more tech-savvy and with access to more validated information about their condition than ever before, is increasingly engaged and demanding. Both factors were reflected by ambition from industry, and the challenge to evolve and modernise is being met. I believe that the industry's amazing diversity means that all areas of healthcare delivery involve medical technology. It can be overwhelming to consider the possibilities that medtech will enable. It is perhaps helpful to briefly focus on two burgeoning areas of technology where our sector is already offering solutions, but with a real potential to become far more central to the healthcare delivery of the future. 1. Personalised medical devices When thinking about the potential to increasingly tailor healthcare in the future, thoughts often turn to personalised medicine. Scientific progress in that field is undoubtedly exciting, but the medical technology sector has already made real progress on custom-made and targeted devices to meet individual needs. Technology has already developed to the stage where it is possible to produce personalised medical devices such as 3D printing of joint implants based on an individual's CT scan data. This is the technology of...
Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence: The next revolution in healthcare?

Digital
6 Jun 2018
At the turn of the century, healthcare companies were at the zenith of an ‘innovate-manufacture-sell’ business model. It was a good time to be in medical technology. European and American companies were leading the way. While for many companies, this model is still alive and well, those at the forefront of the AI and robotics curve know they are part of a new revolution in healthcare. In the not too distant future our measurements of success won’t be in units sold, but instead in dramatically better outcomes for more patients everywhere, as well as in software programmes being used, numbers of surgeons trained, and millions of euros saved for health systems. This is all because of the promise artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and big data hold to improve clinical outcomes, reduce health system costs and heighten the patient experience. These just so happen to be the core challenges facing mature healthcare systems in the 21 st century. AI, robotics and big data: Bigger than the sum of their parts It’s important not to see AI, robotics and big data as one amorphous ‘digital’ concept. They are concrete, separate advances in technology that, when applied to healthcare deliver results bigger than the sum of their parts. Increasing computing processing power means larger and larger data sets can be collected. In the past, medical research considered a few thousand patients a large study. Hospitals often conducted their research in isolation. Today, data sets on clinical outcomes for entire populations can be collected to provide powerful insights. Robotics started to take off in the late 2000s as a means of driving forward the advances made during the laparoscopic revolution of the 1990s. With ever increasing precision of robots, robotic surgery is being expanded to delicate eye surgery, neurosurgery and re-constructive microsurgeries (e.g. blood...