AI Horizons: Weekly Insights into AI Innovations in Healthcare

Shafi Ahmed
Feb 4
7 min read

“As a surgeon and futurist, I believe that AI in healthcare is not about replacing healthcare workers, but empowering them to do what truly matters — saving lives and allowing everyone to access safe and affordable care.”

Professor Shafi Ahmed

Welcome to the inaugural edition of my AI Horizons newsletter. Every week, we look at the latest advances in artificial intelligence that are transforming medicine, revolutionising patient care, and redefining how we view global healthcare.

This week, we will dive into cutting-edge AI trends reshaping healthcare- from diagnostic breakthroughs to AI-driven surgeries, patient care, and medical education. We will also discuss how leading AI platforms like ChatGPT, OpenAI, SORA AI, Gemini, and more will play a part in healthcare. Lastly, we'll be diving deep into the role of virtual reality (VR) & Metaverse in transforming healthcare and medical education.

A Decade of Digital Surgery: From Google Glass to AI in Healthcare:

Ten years ago, I pioneered the use of Google Glass to live-stream a colorectal cancer operation to medical students all over the world. That was one of the first moments in my journey toward digital innovation, transforming how I approach surgery and education. It's been nothing short of revolutionary, from that first-ever experiment of its kind to the present era of AI in healthcare. Surgery, once a domain of physical textbooks and hands-on training in operating theatres, has been revolutionised with advancements in digital technology, particularly AI. The same principles that guided my decision to use Google Glass in surgery now underlie the drive for AI: accessibility, real-time learning, and global collaboration.

Today, as I push forward with AI in healthcare, I see the metaverse and AI reshaping patient care, presenting new possibilities for remote collaboration and medical education, and revolutionising how we engage with health technologies. AI in healthcare has transitioned from a futuristic concept to a practical reality, delivering cutting-edge advancements in medicine, surgery, diagnostics, patient care, medical education, and much more. Let’s embark on this transformative journey together.

Generative AI: From ChatGPT to Gemini

As we stand on the cusp of a healthcare revolution, generative AI platforms are taking centre stage, reshaping patient care in ways we once thought impossible. From ChatGPT to Gemini, these powerful tools are not merely technological marvels but harbingers of a future where AI becomes an indispensable ally to healthcare providers, reshaping healthcare, medicine, surgery, and medical education.

I envision a future where AI-powered assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini streamline the hideous tasks of healthcare professionals, enabling them to focus on what truly matters: patient care. From assisting with data-driven decision-making to generating clinical documentation, AI liberates healthcare professionals to worry more about patient care than administrative work. But this is just the beginning, I believe, while practising as a metaverse surgeon and futurist in healthcare. AI can be a powerful tutor, guiding healthcare professionals through complex surgical procedures and offering real-time feedback.

One of the most popular AI platforms, ChatGPT, has already made a difference in productivity and improved workflows supporting clinicians, researchers, and surgeons. With its advanced capabilities, Google's Gemini has the potential to revolutionise research and diagnosis in medicine by analysing massive amounts of data from medical literature and patient data so that new treatment options can be developed and disease progression can be predicted. Similarly, SORA's adaptive AI systems and video generation capabilities can change the game for surgical precision and patient care. Grok promises to revolutionise things by incorporating advanced conversational AI into applications.

Google's Med-PaLM 2 is a groundbreaking AI language model aimed at transforming the healthcare sector. This AI solution is proficient in understanding and generating medical information by examining extensive medical literature, clinical documentation, and patient data. Med-PALM 2 can assist healthcare professionals by providing accurate, evidence-based answers to complex medical questions, generating concise and informative summaries of medical literature, and assisting in medical decision-making. Med-PALM 2's ability to synthesise and present tailored information improves decision-making, enhances patient care, and augments the capabilities of clinicians in real-time. It is already being integrated at prestigious institutes worldwide, like the Mayo Clinic and the National Institute of Health (NIH), to support biomedical research and innovation and train medical students and healthcare workers.

AI in Diagnostics: Revolutionizing Precision and Medical Education for the Future

In the ever-evolving era of healthcare, AI's role in diagnostics has transformed from a futuristic dream to an essential companion in modern medicine. In my experience as a metaverse surgeon and healthcare futurist, the diagnostic precision of AI is profound, from analysing complex medical imaging efficiently to interpreting a large number of pathological investigations. That said, the potential of AI in healthcare extends far beyond just a diagnostic tool. Imagine a training doctor in a medical "metaverse," being able to diagnose and treat virtual patients with guidance from an AI tutor that provides real-time feedback, analyses their decisions, and predicts possible outcomes based on accurate data.

Enlitic's ENDEX, a groundbreaking AI platform, utilises deep learning algorithms to analyse medical images like X-rays, CT scans, and MRIS with exceptional speed and accuracy. ENDEX empowers healthcare providers with valuable prospective insights, leading to earlier diagnosis and more effective treatment plans. This decreases physician burnout and also facilitates faster reporting times and an accurate imaging database. A case study revealed over 10% efficiency gain using ENDEX, which is expected to rise over time due to AI and machine learning.

PathAI is leading the charge in AI-assisted pathology by developing algorithms and collaborating with biopharma to accurately diagnose diseases from tissue samples. Their platform, AISight, has been trained on millions of images and can distinguish between benign and malignant cells nearly flawlessly. PathAI aids in biomarker discovery and drug development and improves laboratory workflows. According to a study from the American Journal of Surgical Pathology, AI integration with pathology significantly improved accuracy and efficiency in detecting breast cancer lymph node metastases.

Redefining Surgery: How AI and Robotics Are Shaping the Operating Room of Tomorrow

As a surgeon with a deep understanding of the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in the operating theatre, I have firsthand experience of how this is reshaping the landscape of tomorrow. The operating theatre, once a realm only for human surgeons, is undergoing a revolutionary transformation with the integration of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) for better surgical outcomes. In any surgical procedure, precision is paramount, and robotics (powered by AI) is redefining what is possible.

Computer-assisted surgery (CAS) systems use AI algorithms to analyse medical images, such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIS, providing surgeons with valuable insights during surgical procedures. Besides tracking surgical instruments and guiding surgeons toward accurate incisions, these AI systems can simulate surgical procedures beforehand, enabling surgeons to anticipate potential outcomes and challenges.

Systems like the da Vinci Surgical System and Vicarious Surgical Robotic System have already enhanced surgical capabilities, allowing for minimally invasive surgeries with astounding accuracy and better outcomes. AI integration helps these platforms provide augmented reality overlays, real-time feedback, and predictive analytics, empowering surgeons to make more informed decisions during high-risk procedures. In the operating room, minor details make the most significant difference, and the Vicarious Surgical robotic system utilises a single port requiring a 1.5 cm incision to maximise visualisation, precision, and control of instruments in robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery.

Touch Surgery Ecosystem, by Medtronic, empowers surgical teams with next-generation computing, visualisation, and artificial intelligence technologies at every stage of surgery, both in and out of the operating room. This is a first-of-its-kind AI-powered solution to turn complex data into clear, actionable insights, streamlining your surgical evolution.

In my opinion, as a surgeon and futurist, the confluence of AI and robotics is not just an advancement; it’s a paradigm shift, and it will play a significant role in better surgical outcomes and how we train our next generation of surgeons.

Transforming Medical Education: The Convergence of AI and the Metaverse

As we stand on the brink of a revolutionary shift in healthcare, the future of medical education is also being redefined by integrating artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, and the metaverse, offering new horizons to educate and train the next generation of healthcare workers. From pioneering the use of Google Glass to live-stream a colorectal surgery worldwide to being a metaverse surgeon and educator, I have experienced firsthand how AI is reshaping medical education, moving beyond the traditional era of textbooks and hands-on training to providing interactive, personalised, and immersive training experiences. One of the most significant applications of AI in medical education is the generation of interactive virtual environments and patient simulators, where these AI tools create lifelike patient scenarios to allow healthcare workers to practice their skills, learn from expert mentors, and collaborate with peers from all around the world. With the advent of Apple’s Vision Pro and smart glasses from Facebook & Snapchat, this transformation process to AI & metaverse has fastened.

Osso VR is one such advancement, which creates immersive XR experiences, that allow medical students and training surgeons to practice surgeries in a fully interactive 3d environment. It combines artistic mastery with clinical accuracy for products, procedures and therapies. Their in-house Osso Analytics, integrated with the power of AI, brings learning data to life, quantifying and visualising performance across the organisation, and provides real-time feedback and a personalised learning platform. Multiple peer reviewed studies have demonstrated an acceleration in learning, workflow competency and higher knowledge retention compared to other training methods.

With its leading-edge AI-powered care coordination solution, Viz.ai closes the gaps between patients, clinicians, and life-saving treatments. It uses AI-powered algorithms to detect abnormalities in medical images, aiding medical professionals and healthcare workers. For medical students and trainees, this platform not only provides visual understanding of various conditions but also enhances diagnostic accuracy, bridging the gap between textbooks and clinical practice. Qure.ai enhances the capacity of health professionals, mainly in remote or under-resourced locations, operationally enabling the prompt and accurate readings of X-Rays, CT scans and MRIS by using artificial intelligence to analyse medical images.

I believe the true potential of AI in medical education lies in its ability to augment, rather than replace, human interaction. As AI and metaverse continue to evolve, the future of medical education will also be shaped by these shaped by these innovations, making training more accessible, immersive, and efficient.

Takeaway:

As I reflect on the incredible journey that AI has taken us on in healthcare, it's clear that the future of healthcare is on the brink of a remarkable transformation driven by AI, the metaverse, and innovative digital tools. But we are just scratching the surface of what potential AI holds in healthcare, in not only enhancing healthcare but fundamentally rethinking how we train, treat, and interact with patients and medical professionals alike. As a metaverse surgeon and futurist, I'm excited to discover the endless possibilities these technologies can offer to redefine healthcare, from personalized patient care to collaborative medical education. Let's continue to embrace the future of medicine—together.

Stay tuned for next week's edition, where we'll dive deeper into the latest trends, breakthroughs, and innovations in AI, medicine, and healthcare, and will also explore how AI is transforming mental healthcare and delve deeper into ethical dilemmas in AI adoption.