Back in 1970s, when MYCIN—an early backward chaining expert system for identifying bacteria that caused severe infections and for recommending the right dosage of antibiotics in accordance with the patient’s body weight—was developed using AI in Standford University, USA, healthcare experts knew they had achieved a milestone in the history of healthcare. Since then, there has been no looking back.
Enterprises have since been focusing on using AI in healthcare. “The global healthcare industry is making significant strides in the field of AI. There are many startups as well as large players like IBM and Google who are working in the space,” says Dr Pinak Shrikhande, principal at HealthQuad, a venture capital fund that specifically invests in early-stage healthcare companies in India.
AI in India is gaining popularity as many startups have been mushrooming in the healthcare space.
Healthcare industry is probably one of the few industries that generates enormous amounts of data. Thus, the need for Big Data analytics is huge, as it is expected to change the way healthcare works. Douglas Adamson, chief technology officer – CSO, Health Catalyst, says that, most of the data that is collected is not used entirely.