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- The Third Eye of Medicine: How AI is Changing diagnosis, Speeding up Care, and Empowering Doctors
The Third Eye of Medicine: How AI is Changing diagnosis, Speeding up Care, and Empowering Doctors
Today, artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is not a technology of the future, but a part of medical reality. In Russia, neural network technologies help diagnose cancer at an early stage, reduce examination time, and increase the accuracy of diagnoses. At the same time, the digital mind does not replace the doctor, but makes his work more accurate, faster and more efficient. You can find out exactly how the technologies work and what needs to be improved in the Izvestia article.
How AI is changing medical practice
Computer intelligence has saved doctors from paperwork and now the specialist spends most of his time on the patient at the reception. One of the key services is the Medical decision support system, which offers three possible diagnoses based on complaint data and medical history. The doctor chooses one of them or sets his own.
If the patient indicates complaints in advance when making an appointment, the system automatically generates a "sammari" summary of his medical record. The doctor receives it before the start of the appointment and can immediately get to the point of the request.
— Previously, in order to understand what was wrong with the patient, it was necessary to read deeply into the chart. Now Sammari is ready for admission — we don't waste time searching for information, and we have more time to talk," Andrey Tyazhelnikov, chief freelance specialist in primary health care for the adult population of the Moscow Department of Public Health, chief physician of the city polyclinic No. 220, told Izvestia.
However, experts emphasize that the final decision is always made by the doctor and artificial intelligence technology is just an assistant. For example, when examining the chest, as a rule, there are results without deviations and only in rare cases there are signs of pathology. Therefore, AI helps doctors to keep their attention on important points that may not be noticed in the routine.
The emergence of AI in medicine has measurable effects:
— The description time of X-ray and CT examinations decreased by 25-75%, on average by 45-60%;
— The accuracy of diagnosis has increased by 20%, and the share of early detection of breast cancer in Moscow has reached 80%;
— SPD identifies 95% of common diseases and has already helped to make 15 million preliminary diagnoses in Moscow;
— Automatic ECG decoding in Moscow polyclinics has reduced the processing time of the results by 3-5 times;
— AI-sammarization (data collection) of medical cards has saved doctors up to 50% of the time to study their medical history.
In which medical fields is AI used?
Artificial intelligence is actively used in radiation diagnostics (CT, MRI, X-ray, mammography, fluorography), automatic decoding of electrocardiograms, diagnosis, visualization (analysis of medical images, laboratory results), robotization of surgery and schedule management.
Doctors note that the AI analyzes the patient's entire medical record and, if the doctor makes a diagnosis that does not match the data in the documentation, the system prompts you to pay attention to additional indicators.
— Mammography is now interpreted much faster thanks to the use of AI services. The screening examination of the chest organs is analyzed by the service for the presence of pathologies. Suspicious areas are marked, and the images are sent to the doctor to form a conclusion. All this takes not even minutes, but seconds of time," said Yuri Vasiliev, chief freelance specialist in radiation and instrumental diagnostics in Moscow, chief physician of the Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine at DZM.
The Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund (FFOMS) told Izvestia that AI technologies can significantly improve diagnostic processes, increase the accurate detection of diseases, identify their stages and predict their development. As a result, the cost of treatment is reduced by increasing the level of early detection of cancer and other diseases.
— If we are talking about diagnostics, about images, then sometimes artificial intelligence sees things that the human eye simply cannot distinguish, — says doctor Andrey Tyazhelnikov.
In a matter of minutes, on a CT scan of the head, AI analyzes and helps the doctor understand what type of stroke is in front of him in order to determine the tactics of therapy — drug or invasive intervention, and also performs mathematically accurate measurements of the affected area, Anna Meshcheryakova, CEO of the Third Opinion Platform, pointed out in a conversation with Izvestia.
Another example is intelligent video analytics. Video monitoring systems in hospitals automatically detect up to 60 different events, including risks of falling, bedsores, prolonged patient absence from the ward, and seizures, falls, catheter disconnection, and other dangerous incidents in intensive care units.
"The implementation of such solutions has significantly reduced the reaction time of medical staff from a few minutes to two seconds, which is especially important in intensive care units," added Anna Meshcheryakova.
It is worth noting that more and more clinics are using a virtual personal assistant in their work, which can automatically make an appointment or answer questions without medical advice. For example, if the patient cannot decide on the choice of a specialist, the GPT assistant, a digital "avatar" of the doctor created on the basis of artificial intelligence, which works in the format of a text dialogue with the user, will help him in this, according to the clinic "Be Healthy".
Figures and scale of AI implementation
In January–June of this year, more than 763,000 mammographic studies were conducted using AI, almost 1.9 million studies using chest X-rays/fluorography, and more than 86,000 studies using CT scans of the chest organs, the FFOMS reported.
In Moscow, AI algorithms in radiation diagnostics are currently available to radiologists at more than 150 medical institutions of the Moscow Department of Health, including children's ones. In addition, more than 50 neural network services in the capital help doctors in more than 40 areas, from oncology to adrenal diseases.
How doctors learn to work with AI: from simulations to online courses
Special platforms with educational programs, simulators, and useful materials have already been created for doctors, where they can work with AI services to analyze medical images. Webinars are also regularly held and massive online courses are available, including AI training in mammography, fluorography, and radiation diagnostics.
Special attention is paid to the legal and ethical aspects of the use of artificial intelligence in medicine, noted Anna Meshcheryakova. One of the largest centers for training to work with new medical technologies is located in Moscow.
Earlier, Olia Artemova, Deputy Director of the Department of Digital Development and Information Technology at the Russian Ministry of Health, noted that by March 2025, about 20 subordinate organizations had created about 40 educational courses to train AI specialists.
What needs to be improved when using AI in medicine
Although AI is already helping doctors, the potential of its use has not been fully revealed. One of the key tasks is to deepen data analysis. And that's all for more accurate diagnoses.
The role of the patient is also important — timely medical check-up and filling out electronic questionnaires help the system to work more accurately. AI is part of the teamwork between a doctor and a patient.
— The more data there is in the electronic card, the more information artificial intelligence will analyze and, accordingly, we will prescribe treatment more efficiently and quickly, — says Andrey Tyazhelnikov.
At the same time, there are concerns among the medical community that AI is "simplifying" diagnostic thinking.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
