This whole medical market is ripe for disruption but the tight regulations , data privacy laws etc is preventing this to reach escape velocity.
In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
31–40 of 48 posts
Re: In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
#32i think it'll be quite some time until ML and CV can do the breadth of diagnostics for all possible things.
my wife is an optometrist. just from looking at retinas, she finds brain tumors among other scary systemic problems. even if you have perfect vision, go in for an exam, it can literally save your life.
Re: In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Simple? Yes but there's absolutely value in this. In Pakistan I've never had an opthalmologist comment on my retina before, despite wearing glasses since I was a child. Not everyone has an opthalmologist brother, or is a machine learning engineer. You should have used this to your advantage to make something like this. How many startups make simple applications? Uber is a simple marketplace, as is Airbnb, and PayPal…
AI and ML should take mankind to a new level. This article describes something that opticians and optometrist have been doing for a long time with a more classic computing algorithmic approach.
What's wrong with simple; if simple works ?
Re: In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Adjust diet, exercise, statins, get a cardiology consult?
But if you’re already at the point where you are at risk and your eyes show it, isn’t it already too late to really do anything about it?
Weight loss and exercise are recommended to people that survive heart attacks.
Re: In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
But if you have AI, you do not need the optician/doctor. For example people in Poor countries have no access to such a person.
There are a few startups/companies that specialize in going to poor countries and using lens attachments on cell phones to do eye exams. They send in people who aren't doctors, take a picture of the eye, and email/upload the pictures to doctors who can analyze it for issues. IIRC, in those situations, the problem isn't the accessibility to a doctor, but rather the accessibility to someone who has a device capable of…
But it might make it cheaper and more consistent. It's the same advantage as automating anything else.
Re: In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Adjust diet, exercise, statins, get a cardiology consult?
But if you’re already at the point where you are at risk and your eyes show it, isn’t it already too late to really do anything about it?
Morbidity and mortality can be reduced with the prescription of beta blockers, aspirin, statins, and ace inhibitors. +\- clopidogrel. Being at risk isn’t fate: you have modifiable risk factors that can be mitigated (eg, weight, cholesterol, blood pressure.)
Additionally, CPR training of your immediate family can be - literally - lifesaving in the event you do have that heart attack.
Re: In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
#37Any optician can do exactly the same thing during a simple check of your eyes. In this case I can’t see the benefit of this type of screening. The tool used by the optician is just a cheap lantern, but only the tool needed by the computer is way more expensive.
Well, not really. The tool used by the optician is a $5 dollar lantern connected to a brain that had to go through a $300,000 dollar education.
Re: In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are plenty of Americans who don't have access to a "family doctor". Not everyone can afford or bothers to get an annual checkup. Same reason grocery stores often have a "check your blood pressure" kiosk, or offer flu shots. It's quick, it's convenient, and you reach people who would otherwise miss out. Sure, a doctor or nurse can check your BP or give you the vaccine, but there's a significant benefit to expand…
>but there's a significant benefit to expanded access. I agree that expanded access to diagnostic tools is great, but access to diagnostic tools is only part of the problem. Access to care following your diagnosis is just as, if not more, important. What are you going to do after this kiosk tells you that you have heart disease? The proper answer is: go see your doctor. But if you're someone who is in a situation whe…
> What are you going to do after this kiosk tells you that you have heart disease? The proper answer is: go see your doctor. But if you're someone who is in a situation where you don't have access to a family doctor, your situation has not improved.
First, this scan doesn't give you a diagnosis. It tells you you're at higher risk for a heart attack. There are free lifestyle changes that can be made to reduce that risk once it's known.
Second, lots of low to middle income folks have to decide what to spend money on. An annual routine eye exam might not meet the "must have" threshold. A "you might have a heart attack" might make it worth going to the doctor and paying the copay.
Re: In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are plenty of Americans who don't have access to a "family doctor". Not everyone can afford or bothers to get an annual checkup. Same reason grocery stores often have a "check your blood pressure" kiosk, or offer flu shots. It's quick, it's convenient, and you reach people who would otherwise miss out. Sure, a doctor or nurse can check your BP or give you the vaccine, but there's a significant benefit to expand…
AI will not fix your healthcare system. Pharmas will charge people as much as they want to access to this screening service. They have been doing this for decades.
Why would pharmaceutical companies be involved in this?
As you say, it's a super easy scan needing minimal equipment - a light and a camera. I can get a free blood pressure reading at my grocery store via an automated kiosk - no nurse or doctor required. This would likely be similar.
Re: In our eyes, Google’s software sees heart attack risk
#40What do you do after you discover you are at risk? Get your affairs in order?
It gives a high-risk group the ability to notify their friends and family and practice what to do in event of a heart attack. My mom frequently stays with me, but outside of "call 911" I don't really know what to do in teh event of a heart attack. Time lost is lives lost, so better preparation could quite literally save lives.
You could carry a defibrillator with you.