The medical industry has seen many changes in the past couple of decades. The technology developed since the late 1990s has changed the way doctors treat patients as well as helped people get better medical treatment.
Telemedicine and virtual office visits have come to the forefront of modern medicine due to COVID-19. Virtual microscopy and AI have also come into play and are changing the way we approach diagnosis and treatments.
If you want to hear about the exciting changes and future of medicine in the healthcare industry, read on below.
Virtual Microscopy
Students who use or combine virtual microscopy with conventional microscopy learn histology better than those who only use the conventional method.
They were shown to have an enhanced understanding of x-rays and were able to make better assessments for their patients. Basically, virtual microscopy uses a completely digital approach other than hard copy slides.
Medical imaging can be done by doctors and medical assistants who are also able to post images over several computer networks with virtual microscopy.
Digital Pathology
Digital pathology is a sub-field of pathology which uses virtual microscopy to collects images and share data electronically. Digital pathology provides great benefits that you won’t have by only using glass slides.
You’ll achieve improved analysis, better viewing, and reduce errors. You’ll have quick access to previous cases, storage of data for long-term predictive analysis, and you won’t have any breakage.
Also, you are able to use barcoding to cut down on misidentification problems. Another benefit digital pathology provides is allowing for team annotation of slides with a full live zoom and multiple angle views.
Other benefits include increased productivity due to an improved workflow, reduced turnaround times, and even more innovation.
This will in turn foster better collaboration while big data can help pathologists become more specialized.
Digital Pathology in Seven Steps
- Champion Digital Pathology
- Define Needs and Goals
- Specify Infrastructure and Laboratory Information Systems Needs
- Build Workflow
- Configuration and Training
- Rollout
- Analyze Benefits and Expand Applications
AI
When you factor in AI or Artificial Intelligence with digital pathology and virtual microscopy, it’s invaluable. AI has brought in robotic light microscopy which is extremely accurate and fast.
Without AI, healthcare professionals and students alike wouldn’t be able to use modern image-based diagnostic techniques.
The unprecedented advancements AI has made with machine learning have catapulted the medical industry decades on end.
Slides are digitized in high throughput and enormous amounts of data can be processed at lightning speeds.
Did you know that diagnostic errors account for 10% of deaths in the United States alone? Because of AI, we can reduce this significantly.
A third of those errors are because of a lack of access to images and other vital medical data to provide the most accurate diagnosis.
AI reduces these errors and also helps provide a quicker diagnosis than most clinicians can, while also being able to predict outcomes.
AI uses advanced medical image analysis algorithms to diagnose diseases. It also allows for several pathologists to work together in real-time from hundreds, and even thousands of miles away.
Being able to get a fast second and third opinion makes for a more accurate diagnosis and therefore saves lives.
AI makes whole slide imaging possible. With whole slide imaging, you get much better accuracy, increased preservation, and everything’s a lot easier to share. Plus, it saves money.
AI and Telepathology
AI allows pathologists to digitally transfer and exchange images and digital records remotely to achieve a correct diagnosis in minutes.
AI makes for a more precise diagnosis as well allowing dozens of slides to be integrated with digital scanners and lab IT systems. It provides new ways to analyze images quicker and more accurately.
Global pathology initiatives are augmented by using AI too. It allows for a wider range of learning and an accurate global disease classification while making knowledge distribution faster and more widespread.
AI makes both common and complex tasks pathologists are often bogged down with more simple. What this does is reduce case workloads and speed up triage.
Without AI, pathologists work manually procuring and processing tissues which can make for human error and is extremely time-consuming.
By using AI software tools you get faster more accurate readings which can also be cross referenced with AI algorithms to see what previous pathologists found and diagnosed.
Data Management and AI
Health monitoring is where AI and data management meet. It’s at the center of this where AI has basically put telemedicine on a rocket ship to the future.
With “health” or “smart” wearables, they can provide both a short and long-term view of the state of your health.
These simple little AI devices allow people to continuously monitor their health instead of having to go in for a check-up with their general practitioner.
If there is a problem that comes up, the patient can easily schedule a telemedicine call with their doctor and most likely get a diagnosis and treatment plan or options in a short time period.
All of this can be done from the comfort of your home. Another great thing about AI and data management is that the longer the process goes on the smarter the AI systems get.
This means that these devices will have increased accuracy with faster diagnosis’s the longer you wear them. AI is making healthcare become less generalized and more personal due to its data management solutions.
Advanced Healthcare
Technology has advanced so far in the last 50-70 years. There’s no place that’s more evident than in the medical field, especially when you think of the last two decades or so.
Virtual microscopy, digital, and telepathology have all been blessed by AI. Plus, both clinicians and patients alike have seen better analysis, diagnosis, and treatments because of AI being implemented.
Also, there’s added predictability for the future of a person’s health. If you want to learn more about advancements in healthcare technology and insert them into your practice, contact us today.
