WVU leading the way in development of artificial intelligence technologies for health care – WV News

MORGANTOWN The use of artificial intelligence could be a game-changer in the field of health care, and these technologies are being developed and refined in the Mountain State at West Virginia University.

Artificial intelligence refers to a computer system that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence.

What this means is that an AI system is expected to learn, just like a human being, from its past experience. It is expected to be able to adjust its behavior to changes, like changes in an environment or changes in certain conditions, and obviously to changes in the inputs that are given Based on this, it can make certain intelligent decisions, said Dr. Donald Adjeroh, professor and associate chair at the WVU Statler College of Engineerings Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Artificial intelligence systems can analyze huge amounts of data very quickly and identify patterns that may not be obvious to a human.

This means analyzing tremendous amounts of data in a short period of time to recognize patterns that may lead to quicker diagnosis, more personalized treatments or identification of risk factors for disease.

Data is anonymized to protect patient privacy, Adjeroh said.

While technology helps us function better, we need to now leverage this technology and machine learning to help improve our day-to-day lives and improve our overall health and wellness for all populations, and use this technology to help predict disease earlier, said Dr. Ali Rezai, executive chair of the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute.

Although artificial intelligence technology is not new, the amount and availability of data for analysis has increased dramatically, Adjeroh said.

At the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, artificial intelligence is already being used to take measurements from ultrasound images. These tasks are completed not only more quickly through artificial intelligence systems, but the measurements are more standardized, with less variability and more precision in the measurements, according to Dr. Partho Sengupta, Abnash C. Jain chair, chief of cardiology and director of the Center for Cardiac Innovation at the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute.

Adjeroh is also leading a collaboration between the WVU Statler College of Engineering, the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, West Virginia State University and three campuses of the University of Arkansas System to work on a $4 million project to study AI technology in cardiovascular health funded by the National Science Foundation, according to a press release from the university.

This research includes analysis of data from cardiac imaging technologies like ultrasound and electrocardiograms to find indicators of disease or increased risk for development of disease.

At the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, researchers and providers are developing wearable technologies, including rings and watches, and machine learning analytics that have applications for dementia and Alzheimers; addiction; athletics; military; aging; and chronic pain, according to Rezai.

Data collected through wearable devices can help improve understanding of both population and individual health and wellness, he said.

Artificial intelligence can help physicians understand what testing may be needed in order to develop a blueprint for personalized treatment of disease, to halt addiction cravings before they happen, or to implement early interventions that can slow or stop the development of disease.

For all conditions, if you know earlier you may be predisposed, or you come in earlier, then you can change the ways of your day-to-day functioning, Rezai said. Its good that were doing this in West Virginia and trying to help the population of West Virginia by bringing high- technology innovations here, leveraging technology to improve population, functioning, health and wellness, and resilience.

In addition to providing for improvements in care, the technologies free up time that physicians and mid-level providers can spend with patients, Sengupta said.

If youre just looking at the screens and not taking care of the patient, not developing a human relationship, you cannot have a patient-doctor relationship develop, Sengupta said. Machine learning is not replacing physicians or people. It is bringing back the joy of doing medicine into our field. Each one of us went into the clinical medicine world because we like to see our patients and understand their problems, bring back solutions and treat them.

Staff Writer JoAnn Snoderly can be reached at 304-626-1445, by email at jsnoderly@theet.com or on Twitter at @JoAnnSnoderly.

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WVU leading the way in development of artificial intelligence technologies for health care - WV News