AIIMS-P to use AI-powered devices to improve patient care

Patna: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, has entered into a partnership with the e-health section of the ministry of health and family welfare to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions. It has recently also procured several AI-enabled medical devices to enhance patient treatment.

Head of cardiothoracic surgery department at AIIMS-Patna, Dr Sanjiv Kumar, said that with the AI revolutionising healthcare, education, and research on a large scale, it has become crucial to build a strong foundational understanding of AI principles and applications now a days.

"AI algorithms can detect maladies like cancer, heart disease, and neurological problems from medical images such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans.

AI helps doctors determine patterns that human doctors may miss, thus improving their accuracy in diagnosing patients. Even a beginner can interpret an ECG properly with the AI-driven instrument," he said.

Dr Kumar further pointed out that orthopaedic department of the AIIMS-Patna has started robotic surgery for the treatment of its patients with higher accuracy.

In fact, AI has revolutionised the health care system in modern times with accurate data analysis and predictive health care, he added.

Recently, the state health department has decided to launch an intensive screening of TB patients by using the technology of AI. Teams from the health department would move from village to village along with hand-held X-ray machines and AI-controlled mobile kits to identify the TB-affected people.

Health department sources said that at present there are nearly two lakh TB patients in the state and more than 10,000 people affected by this disease have died during the last two years (2022-23 and 2023-24).

Pramod Kumar Singh, director-in-chief (disease control) of state health department, said that the proposed screening would reveal the exact number of people suffering from TB.

"AI will not only help immediate detection of TB patients with the help of X-ray and data analytics but also suggest the protocol of treatment of patients on the basis of their test reports.

The department hopes that the screening will be completed soon so that proper treatment of the patients may be started at the earliest," he said.

Dr Satish Kumar of Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) said that equipment based on AI technology must be procured at all the health centres of the state with a view to ensuring early diagnosis and proper treatment of the patients. These machines would facilitate in reducing unwarranted rush of patients at the hospitals by curtailing the time of treatment, he said.