Information
about our individual health can now be gleaned from a variety of data sources –
genomic profiles, electronic medical records, smart watches, social media, to
name a few. Each data source can potentially inform us about our health at
different levels of granularity, ranging from behavioral to physiological to
genetic levels. The future of healthcare relies on integrating the available
information to build effective descriptive, predictive and prescriptive models.
However, the collected data is highly heterogeneous differing in a number of
characteristics such as data types, scale, formats and noise levels. The era of
big data opens up new opportunities in personalized medicine, preventive care,
chronic disease management and in telemonitoring and managing of patients with
implanted devices.
This week
I want us to discuss about future of healthcare in terms of analytical approach.
I came across interesting article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267734327_Data-driven_healthcare_From_patterns_to_actions
where researches from Switzerland
consider a specific aspect of data-driven systems that take action autonomously
for the benefit of an individual patient through remote monitoring of electrocardio-gram (ECG)
I also
found ted talks in this topic where predictive algorithms used as medical guidelines
is shown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3phCyMynos
Please check
out the materials and answer questions below:
1. Do you
think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours
health? Will you be willing to use such app?
2. What is
your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications?
What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
3. What
other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized
healthcare?
1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteEvery day, every year, we have more and more different applications, including monitoring applications. Monitoring the consumption of electricity, the speed of moving vehicles, the legality of owned tickets or their timeliness. Health monitoring applications appear in the same way. Contrary to appearances, this's a fairly important detail of our lives. Have a healthy body. I believe that such applications are needed and there should be more and more of them. Not just a step or calorie counter. I have some cardiological problems myself and the state health service guarantees me a holter test once every two years. It would be nice to have ECG monitoring online, e.g. on the phone. Arrhythmia can kill.
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
Autonomy, not only in healthcare, scares me a little. However, today the nurse doesn't make very few injections. It has autonomous pumps that pour intravenous drugs into the body at specific doses. Such autonomy is ok. One needle in the vein and infusion of many medicines. The same applies to insulin pumps. Why to forge every day. It's also nice autonomy. I didn't want the automat to make decisions about my treatment. Thank you for such autonomy.
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
I have no idea. We have a DNA collection, a collection of bone marrow donors, blood banks organized into collections. We also have collections of available medicines. I have no idea what else but something will be found in the near future of science and medicine.
Hi, thanks for your comment, if you are interested in ECG monitoring i know that there is a device that can be used to track it, BITalino is low-cost devices and open source hardware, reliable instrumentation for biosignal and bioelectronics acquisition at Arduino prices. You could eveny make fun project from it
Delete1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteI think that in the future there will be many applications to monitoring our health. Today we have smartwatches that can monitor our sleep, heart rate and some of them can detect when we falling and call for help. I think in the future applications will monitoring us 24 h and send data to our personal doctor. I don’t know if I will use such applications. Before I decide, I need to know what data are stored and who will used it. I am afraid that our privacy could be endangered.
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
I think we need to know how autonomous system use our data. We need to protect our privacy. In some situation knowledge of our localization could be helpful eg. when we have accident and need help. I think this apps should guarantee us that our data are used only by our application and share data with our doctor. Medical data are very sensitive and have to be protected in any cost.
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
It’s not an easy question. I think a device with medical atest to monitoring our health and giving us suggestions to improve it. This device should allow us to contact a doctor. This device could give us tips based on our health and showing us what other people do to feel healthy.
Hi Piotr, thank you for your thoughts, I agree with you that medical data are very sensitive, and should by only used for the benefit of the user. I'm also afreaid that there will be problem with funding such application, because nowadays companys are focused on gathering and using sensitive data for marketing and and other purpouse.
Delete1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, yes. Currently, the technique allows for remote monitoring of vital functions and patient's health. Thanks to telemedicine it is not only possible to improve the quality of care and prognosis of this group of patients, but it will also bring savings to the health care system. However, it should be remembered that not all tests can be performed using the advantages of Telemedicine, such as surgery. In my opinion, the greatest problem is the fear of patients. The biggest concern is very common among people who meet with telemedicine for the first time. As a rule, man does not want to be a measuring object. But if the doctor convinces him that a device will help him stay healthy,then the fear will disappear.
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
Telemedicine cannot be treated as an alternative to traditional treatment (involving a personal visit by the patient). Telemedicine is its strengthening, supplementation and organizational simplification. Therefore, I believe that autonomous systems are the basis of Telemedicine. The methods of certification are now ready. RIS and HIS systems have ready-made protocols, which are already used in telemedical systems. There are also certificates that ensure the safety of medical devices. Every medical device must pass rigorous tests.
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
At present, the data from the health monitoring device is being monitored by a human being and it is him who makes the decisions. There are not enough doctors, especially if they have to additionally control medical systems. Manufacturers should focus on creating a decision-making system that can make decisions autonomously.
Hi Andrzej, Thank you for your comment, I share your point of view that autonomus systems could bring many benefits to the health care system - It could be the medicin for lack of specialists, diagnosis time or treatment standarization. Nevertheless I think that pacients might be sceptic and distrustful for that kinde of system at the begining.
Delete1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteOf course, more and more applications will be created. I myself use a watch that constantly monitors parameters such as the number of steps, my pulse and physical activities. A matter of time is the emergence of solutions that will allow monitoring of increasingly accurate parameters related to our body. Another issue is the privacy of such data and how it is used. If using it is my own choice, it is ok but I am afraid that we may have to do so in the future.
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
I think that while data collection can be carried out automatically, their interpretation is a more difficult matter. I wouldn't want a system to give me false tips or warn me about a threat that doesn't really exist. On the other hand, no human being will be able to process that much data. If in fact such systems were to give some automatic diagnoses, they should undergo complicated checking procedures similar to e.g. clinical tests to which drugs are now subjected.
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
It's hard to predict in what direction this will develop. I think that in the first place there will be more and more sensors to measure the parameters of our body and systems that will interpret this data. To make such a thing more effective, you would have to start introducing it at the national level and here, as I mentioned, questions about privacy are beginning to appear.
Hi Przemysław, thank you for your input. You payed attencion to interesting idea that medical aplcation should go through similar process to the drugs certification. I think It could bring more relaiability to the apps, ensure it's quality while this should encourage people to use that kinde of amenities.
Delete1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteI believe there will be more health monitoring applications in the future. Anyway, even today there are many such useful programs, e.g. online prescription, wristwatches monitoring basic life parameters (heart rate, blood pressure), cyber eye, etc.
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
In my opinion, the use of such applications or devices should be thought out and above all reasonable. Using the application can not replace a visit to a specialist doctor. We should not only suggest the data from the machine, because the measurements may be affected by errors, e.g. by inappropriate mounting of measuring instruments. Applications certainly make life easier but using them should always involve some risk.
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
Large medical data sets can be used, e.g. in mathematical models. On their basis, one can look for the symptoms of a given disease, study life threat, genetic diseases, genetic conditions. One of many large medical databases in Poland is "Polish Bank of Stem Cells". Stem cells are primary, non-specialized cells that have enormous potential for reproduction and the ability to transform into specialized cells. Thanks to these properties, they are used in medicine to restore damaged cells. They are located, among others in umbilical cord blood and umbilical cord.
Hi Artur thank you for your comment.
DeleteI also think that we will have more, and more application for Health monitoring. Currently used devices, are measuring more and more of outputs from our body, there are head bands that among others things can measure EEG.
Healthcare is definitely one of the sectors where any technological advancements will be implemented first so I expect that there will be more applications for health monitoring. Me, I have a scale that measures some additional health data except only body weight. I was kind of excited buying it, so I probably would use similar, but more advanced devices. But, for sure I would'd be interested in something monitoring my health constantly with an implant or even something less permanent.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that certifications requirements in healthcare are quite strict. I can't even imagine what would be required for fully autonomous system.
Technologies closest to my interests are those related to image analysis. For some reason the most popular are solutions for diagnosing a lung cancer based on x-ray images. My colleagues work on monitoring Achilles tendon healing process using medical images. From my perspective this is probable direction of implementing big data technologies in healthcare - systems providing support for medical personel.
Hi Adam Thank you for your input.
DeleteAre you working on creating some kinde of autonomus classifier that can be used as a support tool for decision making in diagnostic process? Are you working close with any of medical research Center?
1.Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteNowadays, the world is growing rapidly. The development of technology has become an indispensable element of our lives. People often use technology in various areas of life also to monitor their health. Pregnant women often use the applications to calculate the order weeks of pregnancy or the number of kicks of a child in the belly. Runners sometimes use a heart rate measuring application. People use applications to monitor the quality of sleep and the number of steps they have taken during the day. I believe that in the future there will be more and more applications of that kind and that people will use them even more often. Maybe in the future, scientists will be able to develop applications that detect serious diseases in humans. This would undoubtedly be a breakthrough in science. I think I will gladly try such applications. Until now, I used only the application that monitors sleep and counts the number of steps, saying whether the daily norm of walking has been established.
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
In my opinion in the future such a solution will be widely used. It seems to me that for now most people may be afraid of such a solution by answering that they don't want robot to manage his/her life. There is already a lot of research showing that robots are better at performing activities and analyzing data than humans. Man is a human being who gets tired, his/her behavior depends on humor. On the other hand, robots don't have such a problem. Therefore, I think that the use of autonomous systems in medicine is the future. It seems to me that such applications should use large data resources or artificial intelligence that will minimize the risk of error. Applications should be well tested before they reach people. The situation is similar with doctors. Doctors should be well prepared before starting their profession
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
I am not an expert in medicine or health care, but maybe basing on the collected data, we could assess the state of human health and suggest that he/she should visit a doctors. Sometimes a person does not realize that he/she is sick because, for example, he does not feel that something hurts him.
Hi Monika, thank you for your thoughts,
DeleteI agree with you that health care aplication are the futhure of applied medicine, aspecialy in time's of pandemia where we geting used to every day online interaction even with the doctor.
1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm sure of that. For people there is nothing more important than his health, which is why this industry will develop very much. And of course I used similar applications, but unfortunately now they are of average quality (
I am for the treatment to be automated, unless of course this is the best treatment, certified and helps. Many are against the automatic treatment being prescribed to people, but it seems to me that many doctors are also mistaken, and the chance of the automatic machine error is much lower
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
If I had the idea of a healthcare revolution, I would already have written a doctoral paper).
Hello Sebastin, thank you for your comment, you point out important issue. Many doctors, make mistakes that cost humans lives and it's seemse not to bee as big issue as algorithm that also make mistakes from time to time.
Delete1. There are already many applications that monitor our health. The best example is the smartwatch. They monitor our sleep, the number of heartbeats, how many steps we took, etc. We can also have an intelligent scales that is connected to the application, in which we have an insight into BMI, body fat, hydration, etc. I think that there will be even more such applications in the future , maybe even the phones will have new functions, e.g. for measuring body temperature. I do not currently use such applications and I will not use them in the future. You can get into paranoia very quickly when you see all those charts and results of our health that are very approximate and calculated rather mathematically than accurately reflecting our health.
ReplyDelete2. As others have mentioned, we shouldn’t completely believe in the result of an application that may not reflect the actual state of our health. It is a good thing to observe our health, but it should not be an oracle. Contact with your doctor and detailed tests will always be better. I don't know much about certifications, but I think they have to be very strict about health data.
3. Analyzing imaging test results such as x-rays, tomographic images. What I would dream of in modern healthcare is a different way to test my blood sugar than taking blood sample several times every day. I have many diabetics in my family and I know how bothersome it is. A system that would collect data about our health and analyze it with the results of other patients could help diagnose specific medical cases. It could even help detect certain environmental variables that have a great impact on our health, e.g. if a large number of people suffer from pneumonia in a very polluted area.
Hi Monika thank you for your reply, I imagine that in the future we will have new ways of treatement for diabetes, and multiple sugar level check will not be needed any more. Maybe insulin pumps could have extra feature that would analyzed patients at the moment and adjuste amount of insulin that would be injected.
Delete1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteI will. It's really helpful and in the future this data could help to understand how a few deseases occur to us. Moreover we could verify our changing condition during weeks/months.
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
I think that the same certificate which every medical device have. Such measuring instruments spend on our skin almost all the time. If app doesn't need any additional devices then it only need opinions from doctors/health care organisations.
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
System which suggest us recomendation about physical/mental exercises to improve out health. Moreover that system will motivate us to live healthier.
Hi, thank you for your thoughts, It's valuable point that users could track their health changes through weeks/months and this might help them pay more attention to their health. I think that it could also bring some competition which might activate many of them and improving health will be a side effect.
Delete1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteI’m still waiting for HEV Mark IV Suit.
Do you remeber that voice:
„Welcome to the HEV Mark IV Protective System for use in hazardous environment conditions...” ?
And seriously, I think that nanorobots monitoring our health and repairing what is fixable is our future.
Before this happens, I will gladly use other solutions.
The simplest sports band allowed me to notice sleep problems. Of course, the equipment does not have any certificates, and as we know it is not accurate, however, in a better or worse way showed that I have such a problem and confirmed the improvement of my sleep during treatment.
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
I believe that health data collected from millions of people for many years will be able in the future to help diagnose and treat any disease. I have no idea what certificates would have to have autonomously monitoring health devices, but I know that the standardization of such solutions will be time consuming.
Just look at drug registration.
Pursuant to the provisions of Polish law, the admission process should not exceed 210 days. In the case of innovative medicines, registration alone takes 2 years. In addition, the registration procedure is preceded by clinical trials that last about 5 years.
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
Diagnosing diseases is one thing, coming up with drugs for a given disease is another challenge and I also think that big data technologies can improve healthcare in this approach.
Hello, thank you for your comment.
DeleteI think that we will have to come up with new ways of certification medical app. Five years is definitely too long to wait for lunching new product, technology change so quickly that the new app will be already out of date. I think that one possible way to deal with this might be using UX approache for testing.
1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteI hope so! A lot of health/diet/fitness monitoring applications are currently available; our smartphones are calculating precisely the amount of time spent on exercises. For example, for people with diabetes, there is a device (FreeStyle Libre) which provides a continuous glucose monitoring system. For people with epilepsy, there is, for example, Embrace2 Seizure Monitoring hardware, an FDA-cleared wrist-worn wearable. It detects possible convulsive seizures and instantly alerts caregivers, whether they're sleeping next door or are living miles away. So I think we are in an excellent way to create a generic health monitor!
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
Right now, it's a no-go. There are a few variables that we need to resolve. First of all, the GDPR's "right to an explanation" - so, is it even possible to use the machine learning black box for this kind of system, according to the EU law? Second of all- the approach itself. There is no general conclusion about the strategy for autonomous systems mechanic. For example, should we use a knowledge-based or non-knowledge-based approach to create this kind of system? There is no standards nor certifications that assure a high quality of this kind of autonomous systems.
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
I think that a lot of effort we need to put in the early diagnosis of diseases. That can have a significant impact on the aging society.
Hi Artur, Thank you for your thoughts, I agree with you that we should put more effort to diagnose diseases as early as possible. It's easier to treat less advanced cases, It's quicker, cheaper, not mentioning patients benefit, less life threaten procedures, less stress, which could give them longer happier lives.
ReplyDelete1. Do you think that in future we will have more and more application to monitor ours health? Will you be willing to use such app?
ReplyDeleteI hope we will, and also I hope it will be more varied data, something more than classic "pulse and blood pressure". I know non-invasive glucose measurements (no strips nor other consumables) are mostly working, would like to see more of that.
I'll be willing to use those, given the measurement is non-invasive and reliable.
2. What is your opinion in terms of using autonomous systems in healthcare applications? What kind of certification should these apps go through to be safely used?
I'm a bit against autonomous systems working on individual level that are out of full control by said individual, but autonomous systems working on the level of whole populations is promising topic.
3. What other use you can think of for big data technologies that could improve / revolutionized healthcare?
I don't think that I could think of anything apart from epidemic outbreaks monitoring. Maybe some high-level monitoring of societies to catch any negative environmental or life-style related issues? Like the lead poisoning in some US city from couple of years ago - that should be a clearly visible in aggregated data.