Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Towards More Objective and Efficient Healthcare

In recent years, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine has seen exponential growth – ranging from assisting healthcare professionals to providing more accurate disease diagnoses. According to Dr Arnas Karužas, scientist at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Hospital (LSMU), cardiologist, founder of start-up Ligence and a member of the SustAInLivWork project, AI has the capability to analyse vast amounts of data, aiding in disease diagnosis and offering more effective patient prognosis evaluations.

Rapidly evolving AI technologies are becoming indispensable assistants in the medical field, particularly in complex diagnostic procedures. For instance, certified AI tools can be used to obtain a second medical opinion, which significantly reduces the risk of errors.

“More and more examples of AI applications in real clinical practice are emerging, such as automated tools for the assessment and analysis of radiological examinations, automated diagnosis of urgent clinical conditions like stroke, and interpretation of various diagnostic parameters,” says Karužas.

He further explains that AI introduces a higher degree of objectivity and standardisation into medical practice, proving advantageous in assessing various risks and predicting patient outcomes. “A wide spectrum of diseases can be diagnosed with the help of AI, particularly those that require imaging, laboratory, or genetic testing for accurate assessment,” notes Karužas.

Human Contact Will Not Be Lost

While there are various opinions regarding the use of AI in healthcare, with many prioritising the human contact between doctor and patient, Karužas assures that it will not be lost.

“I believe AI will actually create opportunities to enhance human contact between doctors and patients, as it can help to significantly reduce the amount of mechanical work typically done by doctors. AI can become a crucial assistant, enabling doctors to focus more on analytical work and providing essential added value to the patient,” he says.

The researcher also observes that the relationship between AI technologies and healthcare professionals is already showing noticeable improvement.

“It is particularly important that there is an increasing understanding of what AI and new technologies are and their significance. I believe that further education on innovations and a greater number of prospective randomised studies will allow healthcare professionals to place greater trust in new technologies and AI,” Karužas asserts.

Research Focused on Cardiovascular Disease Diagnostics

To foster public trust in AI technologies and strengthen innovations both nationally and internationally, a team of researchers from four Lithuanian and two foreign universities is realising the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Living and Working with Artificial Intelligence (SustAInLivWork) project.

Together with LSMU, Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Vytautas Magnus University (VMU), Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH), Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), and Tampere University (TAU), the project’s research will place a strong emphasis on cardiovascular disease diagnostics. Karužas highlights that these diseases are currently the leading cause of death globally.

“AI and innovative technologies can aid in the early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases and provide more accurate and safer patient examinations. The diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease and heart failure are among the main areas currently being developed, and we hope to create essential solutions for daily clinical practice that will benefit both doctors and patients,” says Karužas.

SustAInLivWork project is co-funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme Grant Agreement No. 101059903 and under the European Union Funds’ Investments 2021-2027 (project No. 10-042-P-0001).