We are not going to begin this article with the (unfortunately) ever-increasing figures about Covid19. Instead, we’ll get straight to the point. Artificial Intelligence is being employed to help us deal with the disease and increase chances of survival, and IoT has been there all along too. Here are several examples of tech being put to the best use possible.
Early Discovery Software
As self-isolation and quarantine have become mundane, one cannot help but wonder was there any chance one could have predicted what is going to happen? Apparently, BlueDot’s achievements should have been recognized much sooner.
Canadian outbreak risk software BlueDot was invented with the mission of detecting unusual infectious disease and its spread.
This machine-learning tool alarmed its creators on 30th December, 2019, that unusual pneumonia cases were appearing in nowhere else but Wuhan, China. That was exactly nine days before the WHO announced the presence of the newest virus. In the cases of a pandemic, every hour counts, let alone days, so we could say the software is priceless.
How does BlueDot achieve such outstanding results? It’s all about collecting data and interpreting them, as usual.
This software is able to process the information about over 150 diseases and syndromes every day. Moreover, it refreshes the system every 15 minutes. Not only does its pool include the WHO and CDC data, but it goes as far as taking worldwide commercial flights into the equation, which we bear witness have contributed immensely to the spread. As a result, it is able to warn us timely.
AI Tool for Comparing Medical States
Ever since the virus has started taking lives, medical workers have been given the most difficult choice. For some, it turned into a daunting daily errand: which patient to switch to oxygen and respiratory devices, and which one to leave behind. AI seems to be more skilled at making the call that a human, as long as it is given the right input.
At the moment, a team at NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Science is finishing a tool specialized in predictive analytics. Its mission would be to give the most exact and correct estimation which patient has more/fewer chances of survival.
Let’s remember that Covid19 is still new and insufficiently explored. As it appears, the traditional patterns that were used so far in determining one’s condition affected by Covid19, such as lung images and immune responses, age, or gender, were not that useful in predicting whose mild symptoms were going to turn deadly violent.
The latest AI tool found that myalgia, hemoglobin levels, and liver enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were the best indicators that the patient will be fighting for his or her life soon enough.
The machine’s accuracy is 80% at the moment, but as its development is rapid, there is hope it will be enhanced quickly.
Chatbots for Quick Information
Along with true and reliable information, loads of invalid, dangerous idata is polluting the internet, wreaking havoc in people‘s minds. As mentioned above, coronavirus is still a mystery, so people are just becoming acquainted with do’s and don’ts, symptoms, and preferred treatment or reactions. Thus, having a machine that can answer the most popular Covid19 questions can also save lives.
Once again we turn to Canada for an example. Stallion.AI used their expertise to create a multilingual virtual healthcare agent. It can provide the right feedback and guidelines, just like any physician would based on the information given by a potential patient.
At the moment, all medical staff is concentrated elsewhere and has very little time to communicate pieces of advice to the public, so the healthcare chatbot is saving valuable time and helping people obtain precious information promptly.
Multi-Purpose Platform
Finally, there are platforms that have multiple functions. One of such ground-breaking solutions is WalkAbout who is offering their solution for free to all who are fighting against COVID-19. There are several ways in which such IoT platform can contribute.
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Geofencing surveillance system ” unfortunately, countries are facing problems with how to monitor a great number of people that are in a compulsory quarantine. As the governments have already come to understand, not all of the risky population are willing to succumb. A simple electronic Bluetooth wristband would send signals about the person’s whereabouts. What is more, this would prove to be an excellent precautionary measure.
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Real-time alerts ” the information collected at the airports about a passenger’s health could be stored and should any symptoms appear, it would be easy to see where the person was moving around. For instance, China used to publish the infected person’s previous circulating area, such as bus lines or airports, so others were able to react on time if they had been in the area and started feeling the mildest Covid 19symtoms.
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Saving the healthcare workers ” a simple monitoring device could help immensely. As medical staff is both exhausted and exposed, having a small, light wearable that would monitor patients’ biometric measurements (body temperature, oxygen saturation, heartbeat and blood pressure) would help save time, and eventually, lives, be it the patient or the healthcare professional.
Conclusion
The whole world has united to win this battle and it’s using all of its resources. Even though AI, machine learning and IoT are far from its full potential, they are still extremely powerful tools that can definitely help us win this battle.
