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Medical AI Breaks New Ground
By Alex McFarland  |  Jun 30, 2021
Medical AI Breaks New Ground
Image courtesy of and under license from Shutterstock.com
AI is the key to solving many of the world’s greatest problems and nowhere more so than in healthcare. The medical sector witnesses almost daily breakthroughs, but to understand where it is heading requires a look at individual areas such as brain-machine interfaces, prosthetics, nanodevices, diagnosis accuracy, and DNA-based technology, among the countless tools under development.

RIO DE JANEIRO - Artificial intelligence (AI) is the key to solving many of the world’s greatest problems. The question is, when will that time arrive? While AI will continue to disrupt nearly every industry and government around the globe, there is one sector in particular that is witnessing near-daily breakthroughs: the medical field.

These are not just incremental advancements, but major developments with the potential to improve the lives of billions. The value and impact these developments will have on global citizens cannot be overstated, and as this work eventually reaches real-world implementation all at around the same time, the effect will be felt immediately by everyone.

To understand where this technology is heading requires a look at individual areas such as brain-machine interfaces, prosthetics, nanodevices, diagnosis accuracy, and DNA-based technology, just a handful of the countless tools under development.


Brain-Machine Interfaces

Perhaps the most-exciting and science fiction-like application of AI in the human body is brain-machine interfaces, or brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). This is brain-computer symbiosis, which is far closer to achievement than one might think.

This real-life brain-computer symbiosis was largely popularized by the ilk of Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, who is also CEO of Neuralink, a company devoted to bringing about ultra-high bandwidth, implantable, brain-machine interfaces. The company’s biggest contribution thus far has been its automated surgical system, which can implant the BCI device into a user’s brain and sew in up to 1,024 electrodes. While the achievements of Neuralink cannot be overstated, there is more than one player in this field.

Recent breakthrough research also came from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a non-profit research organization

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