Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#101

Post by cmdrfred » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 12:20 PM UTC

This is a big ask and I'm not working in AI but I'd like a comprehensive as possible list of treatments offered at facilities with pricing. I'd build a website that looks up the treatment you require and compares the estimated cost of travel to each location that offers it (keeping in mind exchange rates) to find the lowest total price. This data should be global to be as effective as possible.

It could even offer suggestions like "Spend $200 more and recover on a island paradise!"

If globalism is good for low wage workers it certainly should be good for the medical profession.

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#102

Post by jszymborski » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 12:56 PM UTC

(Breast) Cancer biopsies, with histology and outcome reports.

While it isn't my research project, I've been trying to use computer vision and some naive AI to identify early breast cancer lesions in images from mouse tissue with mixed success, but it's something that can be very much accelerated with a large human dataset with outcomes.

(If you work in the field and what to help/hire me with/for something like this, kindly send a message to hn AT naj-p.com)

There are understandably some ethical guidelines that need to be worked for this sort of thing, but seeing as their are public repositories of not-so-dissimilar information (e.g. mammograms), it should be workable.

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#103

Post by tyfon » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 1:02 PM UTC

robbiemitchell wrote: post #98

pragone wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> everything that can allow an app to give you a first diagnose before heading to the doctor. Why do you want to have the diagnosis before seeing a physician? (I'm legitimately interested in the answer.) In my experience, it's about 50-50 with helping versus hurting making the correct diagnosis and providing accurate treatment.

Seeing a doctor can be expensive and inconvenient (another form of expensive).

I can understand inconvenient, but expensive?

Even in the US where you actually have to pay for medical stuff, it can't be more than $10 or so for a quick consultation?

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#104

Post by Anderkent » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 1:19 PM UTC

tyfon wrote: post #103

robbiemitchell wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seeing a doctor can be expensive and inconvenient (another form of expensive).

I can understand inconvenient, but expensive? Even in the US where you actually have to pay for medical stuff, it can't be more than $10 or so for a quick consultation?

Depends on whether you count opportunity costs under 'inconvenient' or 'expensive', I guess. If you have to take time off work to travel to a doctor, wait for an appointment, etc, that's all costs.

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#105

Post by acveilleux » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 1:21 PM UTC

jszymborski wrote: post #102

(Breast) Cancer biopsies, with histology and outcome reports. While it isn't my research project, I've been trying to use computer vision and some naive AI to identify early breast cancer lesions in images from mouse tissue with mixed success, but it's something that can be very much accelerated with a large human dataset with outcomes. (If you work in the field and what to help/hire me with/for something like this,…

You're probably aware, but CAD is a staple of modern mammo interpretation workflows. Products like Hologic ImageChecker CAD.

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#106

Post by PeterisP » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 1:35 PM UTC

BigJono wrote: post #63

surgeryres wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One potential problem with this - the question of liability, and who is responsible for diagnostic accuracy? In this case, for some "Lab on a Chip" device providing a patient directly with diagnostic information without the vetting of a human doctor, liability would sit with the company. IBM's Watson at MD Anderson Cancer center did not work out real well for them. In other words, using AI in the realm of medical dia…

This seems like an easy question to answer. The liability lies with the user until they seek the professional advice of a doctor. Say a user decides to self-diagnose and damages themselves (either through inaction or self-medication or whatever). What difference does it make whether they diagnosed themselves by browsing symptoms on wikipedia or using an advanced diagnosis AI on their phone?

It's plausible that providing an advanced diagnosis AI on the phone (unlike purely passive information e.g. wikipedia) falls under existing laws that regulate medical services, and would make the provider liable for violating these regulations even if noone has damaged themselves yet.

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#107

Post by jszymborski » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 1:37 PM UTC

acveilleux wrote: post #105

jszymborski wrote: post #102

(Breast) Cancer biopsies, with histology and outcome reports. While it isn't my research project, I've been trying to use computer vision and some naive AI to identify early breast cancer lesions in images from mouse tissue with mixed success, but it's something that can be very much accelerated with a large human dataset with outcomes. (If you work in the field and what to help/hire me with/for something like this,…

You're probably aware, but CAD is a staple of modern mammo interpretation workflows. Products like Hologic ImageChecker CAD.

Yup :) though I'm more interested in biopsies information, because they give a better understanding of cellular architecture, and if they're stained against markers, the molecular biology of the cancer.

Mammogram analysis is an essential first-line, but I think doctors need better insight in treatment options and finer stratification. An early Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia, for example, is usually treated as pre-pre-cancer, but we might be able to identify a subtype of these lesions that progress on to more aggressive stages.

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#108

Post by jmmcd » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 2:14 PM UTC

tyfon wrote: post #103

robbiemitchell wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seeing a doctor can be expensive and inconvenient (another form of expensive).

I can understand inconvenient, but expensive? Even in the US where you actually have to pay for medical stuff, it can't be more than $10 or so for a quick consultation?

Dunno about the US, but in Ireland it is EUR60 for a 10-minute GP visit.

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#109

Post by pbnjay » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 2:14 PM UTC

snovv_crash wrote: post #77

Health and doctor visit information which has been cross-correlated with food purchases and exercise type and frequency. Right now we have no way of determining which interactions lead to which conditions, so we generalise based on the 3 inputs independently, when in reality it is perfectly normal to eat more when doing lots of exercise, or need doctor visits when doing exercise with inadequate nutrition.

We are working on this from another angle - sequencing plants to map out nutrient biosynthesis pathways. Then determining how those nutrients affect human health.

With that info we can start doing "personalized nutrition" such as (totally made up): "If you have a Diabetes, then you should eat more Broccoli and Radishes because they have nutrients that mediate sugar uptake"

Re: Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?

#110

Post by awjr » Wed, Apr 05, 2017, 2:31 PM UTC

Did some investigation into prescription data however prescription data is usually aggregated at surgery level. Also the reason for prescribing the drug (even at high general level) is not recorded. If prescription data was available at LSOA level (http://www.datadictionary.nhs.uk/data_dictionary/nhs_busines...) then you would be able to study epidemiology and potentially identify urban/rural areas where certain diseases are prevalant.