Healthcare AI News 11/6/24

News

Adventist Health Rideout uses Viz.ai to reduce the time that is required to transfer suspected stroke patients to a hospital that offers specialty care from 202 minutes to 109. The system analyzes the CT scan and alerts the care team if it detects a potential stroke. The data is preliminary, as the hospital has used the technology on just 10 patients since it launched in May 2024.

OpenAI adds web searching capability to ChatGPT. It also collects up-to-date search results from news and data providers and displays them in visual categories such as weather, news, and maps. Results include source links. Unlike Google’s search results, it does not display promoted links, advertisements, or sources that are of questionable quality.

OpenNotes and Abridge partner to research the effectiveness of patient visit summaries that are generated from ambient listening by having those patients evaluate them.

Business

Aignostics, which applies AI to digital pathology to support precision medicine, raises $34 million in a Series B funding round. Mayo Clinic participated in the round and will work with the company to develop foundation models and biopharma product offerings.

Snoop Dog-backed cannabis biotech Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies collaborates with Oxford University to use AI drug discovery to develop non-addictive, cannabinoid-based pain medications. The company also announced that its shares will be de-listed because they have lost 97% of their value, leaving it with a market cap of $3 million.

France-based insurance startup Alan, which allows customers to ask questions to doctors via a chat interface and receive an answer back in 15 minutes, adds a virtual assistant to the feature. The virtual assistant, which is called Mo, rephrases the question and then asks if the person would rather interact with a doctor or Mo. Conversations with Mo are checked within 15 minutes by a doctor who can correct its recommendations. The company says it will enhance the tool to provide personalized guidance based on context and the user’s health history.

Research

The National Cancer Institute awards Pieces Technologies a $2 million grant to develop a conversational AI agent that will allow cancer patients the ability to ask questions about their care. The system, which will also collect social determinants of health information, will be co-developed by MetroHealth.

Penn State researchers find that patients are more satisfied with using a medical AI chatbot if the system remembers their social information and makes small talk about their job and hobbies. 

Other

Nvidia’s healthcare VP says that the next wave of AI will turn medical devices into robots. Kimberly Powell predicts that “This physical AI thing is coming where your whole hospital is going to turn into an AI.”

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
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