Effective disease prediction thanks to AI

Application of digital technology to health is being concerned by the health sector.In recent years, most hospitals have applied digital technology in treatment and management to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment.

For example, at the Hospital of Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City has applied AI and Big Data in the field of infection.From 2018 to the present, this unit has implemented 22 new technology application projects, including many programs that bring outstanding results such as: The hospital has built the forecasting systems of influenza and dengue fever based on machine learning model; Apply AI to extract handwriting from medical records to digitize and quickly analyze medical data; Deploying remote monitoring equipment for patients helps to detect abnormalities even when the doctor is not at the hospital bed ...

According to BSCKII Le Duy Tung - Deputy Director of Tropical Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, who can support the risk of an outbreak risk right from the first stage.Thanks to the smart monitoring system, Ho Chi Minh City promptly discovered and announced measles translation by 2024, thereby implementing the expanded immunization campaign, preventing the spread.

Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said: "Infections are always a big challenge for modern medicine, especially in tropical countries such as Vietnam.The disease can explode at any time, requiring the health sector to be ready to renovate and apply modern technology to adapt." He cited, from the Spanish influenza pandemic in 1918 to Covid-19, humanity witnessed the serious consequences with tens of millions of deaths.

While humans have only invented antibiotics for more than 100 years, bacteria that have existed billions of years have constantly adapted, evolved and resistant.This makes the war with the disease even more tough.According to Dr. Chau, modern medical strategy is inseparable from areas such as genetics, immunity, chemistry or vaccine development.

For example, the introduction of MRNA vaccine technology in Covid-19 epidemic is a turning point that allows medicine to respond faster than the global threat.A study from Imperial College London also showed that, if the global Covid-19 immunization campaign started earlier than 100 days, the world could have saved more than 8 million lives.However, the application of AI and Big Data in the field of health in Vietnam still faces many barriers.

One of the great difficulties is that the data quality is not synchronized, lack of intensive personnel with knowledge both in medicine and technology, and the initial investment cost is quite high.To overcome, Ho Chi Minh City Tropical Diseases Hospital is promoting cooperation with universities, research institutes, technology enterprises at home and abroad, in order to both supplement resources and transfer knowledge.According to experts, in the context of increasingly vulnerable to the epidemic of the disease due to climate change, rapid urbanization and global migration, the combination of traditional medicine with modern technology is an irreversible trend.

AI and big data will not only support the doctor to make a more accurate decision, but also open the ability to predict the disease early that it used to be impossible in the past.