What the Middle East can learn from AI-powered big data analytics

Along with a regulatory sandpit climate, the Middle East's rapid adoption of technology and contemporary infrastructure has allowed it to surpass developed markets, positioning it to become a global hub for innovation.

The ability to quickly offer actionable insights to create precise forecasts is a major advantage of big data analytics, as is the ability to gather and synthesise large and diverse sets of data to enhance the decision-making process. Whether it's dealing with major economic headwinds or resolving crises and issues affecting the general public, this method helps businesses make better decisions and take appropriate action in reaction to changes in their ecosystem.

Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Presight.ai, said, "One of the most significant benefits of big data analytics is the ability to gather and synthesise large and diverse sets of data to improve the decision-making process, allowing the rapid delivery of actionable insights to create precise forecasts."

The use of AI in healthcare is rapidly expanding around the world. Forecasting firm Frost & Sullivan expects it to hit $6.6 billion by the year's conclusion. Massive amounts of data produced by diverse devices that can be analysed and used to inform decisions are what make such expansion possible.

Medical experts in the Middle East testify to artificial intelligence's usefulness and widespread adoption in the field.

With the idea that technology should form the backbone of the American Hospital, we embarked on our digital transformation path a year ago. In order to create more sophisticated models, American Hospital Dubai's chief information officer, Ahmad Yahya, has collaborated with industry leaders such as Oracle and Microsoft.

Using the hospital's existing Cerner clinical database and modelling, the IT department at the hospital developed a new COVID diagnostics tool. The clinical staff at the hospital's critical care unit adapted and verified it to better identify patient risk factors and determine admissions.

Two additional diagnostic apps that rely on AI are designed to spot asthma sufferers and foretell which emergency patients will need to be admitted.

We are presently developing three different AI models; one, the COVID model, has been validated, and the other two are very close to being validated. At this year's Arab Health 2021 conference in Dubai, Yahyah revealed, "We are also working on coming live early next year with real-time monitoring of patients' sentiments, satisfaction, and (hospital) capacity," which can help allocate resources.

Experts in the medical field believe that artificial intelligence (AI) can serve as a "third opinion" for doctors by analysing the vast amounts of accessible historical medical records and advising them on the best course of treatment. Artificial intelligence programmes can examine all the medical data we have on a given illness and determine which treatments and drugs have the best track record of success across all of medicine.

Massive volumes of data are driving the growth of AI-based apps

The discipline of medicine, which is replete with data, places a premium on precision more than in most others. Algorithms' ability to draw correct and accurate inferences from data increases as more data is fed into them. On the other hand, Massimo Cannizzo, CEO of Gellify, a venture capital firm that in October launched a US$50 million fund with management group Azimut to invest in companies providing healthcare and emerging technology in the Middle East, claims that the volume of health data generated by various types of technology in use today is growing.

Health data can be generated by a number of common wearable devices, such as portable heart rate and blood pressure monitors and devices that can track your blood sugar levels in real time.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostic systems will have access to even more data on the health of each individual patient as the price of already popular fitness bracelets drops and their functionality increases, allowing the doctor to more precisely and efficiently prescribe a treatment plan.

Cannizzo predicts that 25% of the adult population in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region will use a wearable device by 2022, demonstrating the rise of so-called augmented healthcare as evidenced by the growth statistics of the wearables market in this region.

Using Intelligence to treat illness and improve productivity

The ever-increasing sophistication of algorithms and artificial intelligence models—programs or collections of algorithms that employ a body of data to recognise trends and carry out tasks—is already being put to use in a variety of medical settings.

According to Kentaro Suzuki, general manager at medical equipment manufacturer Canon Medical, AI will not only help make clinical evaluations but also streamline operations and workflow. It can reduce MRI imaging times, for instance, Suzuki claims.

The present capability of the imaging equipment can be enhanced with the help of AI, according to Suzuki.

Computer vision and AI software can examine medical images and detect early signs of illness that a human doctor might miss. According to Suzuki, "it will never supplant humans" in terms of making direct diagnoses of patients. However, the "third opinion" that AI can provide is particularly useful in the case of oncological diseases, where early treatment can greatly improve the prognosis for a speedy recovery.

Application of AI to Genomic Research

The use of AI has the potential to revolutionise the field of genetics and advance genomics. Recent studies have demonstrated that an artificial neural network can be used to analyse massive amounts of genetic data, thereby exposing clusters and sequences of genes that are causally linked to various diseases.

Understanding genetic information at the most granular level is presently the key to deciding how to treat diseases because they are "encoded" in a person's genetic sequence.

As a result of the intricacy of genetic data, progress in genomics has been slow. However, practitioners now anticipate advances in genomic research due to AI's ability to classify and analyse a vast array of data in a short amount of time.

“I think we are all shifting towards more automated work flows and smart technologies, including in genomics by default because we generate large amount of data that is impossible to manually assess and make sense of," said Prof. Walid Mohammad Abuhammour, a clinical molecular geneticist, director of the genomics centre at Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital, and associate professor of genetics at Mohammed bin Rashid University.

Particularly, AI can contribute to progress in curing rare illnesses. According to Genomics England's head of data strategy, Joshua Symons, 80% of so-called rare illnesses are genomic, with 50% of them found in children.

To find novel drugs and improve people's lives on a national scale, "we want to embed the combination of AI and genomics into routine medical care," Symons said.

Symons argued that methods like these should be incorporated into standard clinical practice so that patients, who can now do things like test their own blood sugar levels for diabetes, have access to decision support tools that help them choose the best treatment options. He predicted that in the near future, people with cancer would be able to monitor their own treatment progress by drawing blood and having their ctDNA (circulating tumour DNA) analysed.

Increased worries about the safety of AI

However, as more and more businesses implement cutting-edge technologies like AI and robotics into healthcare delivery, issues of safety and patient protection have come to the fore.

"Many of our digital health businesses already employ AI. Companies that either make or use surgical machines are also present. Marwan Janahi, managing director of Dubai Science Park (DSP), which was established to promote the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a leading location for R&D, noted that the number of such businesses is on the rise.

According to Janahi, the healthcare industry is always changing, and DSP is home to more than 400 businesses employing more than 4,000 people. Despite the growing significance of AI in the healthcare industry, he cautioned that practitioners take special care to protect patients' personal information.

Patient information can be protected in a number of different methods. Patient data must be stored in the UAE, a country with very strict data security laws, according to Janahi. This legislation governing information and communications technology was issued in January 2019.

While the patient should have legal title to their data, Janahi argued that some leeway is necessary so that information can be shared internationally when necessary to improve healthcare knowledge and to seek second views.

According to Yahyah of American Hospital, data protection in the healthcare industry should be approached from multiple angles. "When it comes to protecting data online, we take the standard precautions, like installing filters, that most companies take. But your employees are the weakest link, and [security] awareness is crucial to us," he said.

According to him, the hospital uses simulated assaults as a form of prevention by spreading information among employees.