MEDICAL EXPRESS - HEALTH INFORMATICS

1. My robot therapist: The ethics of AI mental health chatbots for kids

   Mental health care can be difficult to access in the U.S. Insurance coverage is spotty and there aren't enough mental health professionals to cover the nation's need, leading to long waits and costly care.

2. AI is for the birds: How machine learning can help predict and manage avian flu outbreaks

   The active and ongoing global spread of avian influenza virus has impacted more than 14 million birds in Canada and 160 million in the U.S..

3. AI model shows high accuracy in heart attack detection

   An artificial intelligence (AI) model trained to detect blocked coronary arteries based on electrocardiogram (ECG) readings performed better than expert clinicians and was on par with troponin T testing, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.25) on March 29 in Chicago. The results were simultaneously published in the European Heart Journal. The findings suggest that the freely available open-source AI model could help physicians more quickly identify patients who require urgent treatment for a heart attack.

4. AI dental assistant reads X-rays with near-perfect accuracy

   The Ateneo Laboratory for Intelligent Visual Environments (ALIVE) and international researchers have developed a deep learning model that aims to revolutionize dentistry, with the capability to identify tooth and sinus structures in dental X-rays with an accuracy of 98.2%.

5. Electronic provider alerts improve treatment rates of valvular heart disease

   A new method of alerting clinical care providers holds promise for increasing treatment and improving survival for patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS), a valvular heart condition that can be deadly when left untreated.

6. Gen AI's potential to transform global medical care—and the 'tension between the perfect and good'

   When it comes to widespread global health problems, ChatGPT and its like may not be the first solution that comes to your mind.

7. Using AI to calculate the heart's biological age predicts increased risk of mortality, cardiovascular events: Study

   While everybody's heart has an absolute chronological age (as old as that person is), hearts also have a theoretical "biological" age that is based on how the heart functions. So, someone who is 50 but has poor heart health could have a biological heart age of 60, while someone aged 50 with optimal heart health could have a biological heart age of 40.

8. New 3D technology could soon bring surgeons closer to patients in Africa's most remote regions

   Charles Owusu Aseku has traveled across Ghana and beyond in search of care for the large growth of tissue called a keloid on his neck since 2002. The 46-year-old was growing increasingly frustrated after two unsuccessful surgeries and a trip to South Africa that ended with just a consultation.

9. AI in colonoscopy: Study finds increase in polyp detection but minimal cancer risk impact

   A team of Norwegian researchers, through international collaboration, found that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) during colonoscopy increased the detection of polyps by about 8%, but the risk of cancer was minimally affected.

10. AI can serve up ideas for healthy meals in a snap, but they come with a side of caution

    For anybody who's struggled to pull together a grocery list or plan a week of family meals, the promise of assistance from artificial intelligence is downright appetizing.

11. AI meets oncology: New model personalizes bladder cancer treatment

    Leveraging the power of AI and machine learning technologies, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine developed a more effective model for predicting how patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer will respond to chemotherapy. The model harnesses whole-slide tumor imaging data and gene expression analyses in a way that outperforms previous models using a single data type.

12. Neuroscientists unveil digital 'translator' for brain studies

    UCLA Health researchers have helped to develop a new digital toolbox to create a "common language" for brain network studies, potentially accelerating new discoveries and treatments for neurological and psychiatric conditions.

13. Global population data is in crisis—here's why that matters

    Every day, decisions that affect our lives depend on knowing how many people live where. For example, how many vaccines are needed in a community, where polling stations should be placed for elections or who might be in danger as a hurricane approaches. The answers rely on population data.

14. AI learns to 'speak' genetic 'dialect' for future SARS-CoV-2 mutation prediction

    It's been five years since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. As SARS-CoV-2 shifts to endemic status, questions about its future evolution remain. New variants of the virus will likely emerge, driven by positive selection for traits such as increased transmissibility, longer infection duration and the ability to evade immune defenses. These changes could allow the virus to spread among previously immunized populations, potentially triggering new waves of infection.

15. First trial of therapy chatbot suggests AI can provide 'gold-standard' mental-health care

    Dartmouth researchers conducted the first clinical trial of a therapy chatbot powered by generative AI and found that the software resulted in significant improvements in participants' symptoms, according to results published in NEJM AI, a journal from the publishers of the New England Journal of Medicine.

16. Open-access machine learning model enhances transplant risk assessment in myelofibrosis patients

    A machine learning model generated by a team from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) outperformed standard statistical models in identifying and stratifying transplant risk for patients with myelofibrosis, according to new research published in Blood.

17. AI is as good as pathologists at diagnosing celiac disease, study finds

    A machine learning algorithm developed by Cambridge scientists was able to correctly identify in 97 cases out of 100 whether or not an individual had celiac disease based on their biopsy, new research has shown.

18. Dengue fever on the rise: What to know about the mosquito-borne illness in Florida

    The U.S. is on alert for dengue fever during the busy spring break season as cases of the mosquito-borne illness continue to rise globally.

19. Experts recommend lower age for colorectal cancer screening

    Colorectal cancer is no longer a disease of older people. People in their 50s, 40s and younger are increasingly being diagnosed with cancers of the colon and rectum. Incidence rates increased by about 2% per year in people younger than 50 during the past decade, according to the American Cancer Society. In 2019, 20% of colorectal cancers were in people aged 54 years or younger, up from 11% in 1995.

20. From weight to wellness: New database could transform obesity research

    A new medical database automatically compiles the medical records of obese patients and those suffering from obesity-related diseases in a uniquely comprehensive and reliable manner. The initiative, led by Kobe University, offers valuable insights into health promotion and drug development.

21. AI's perceived burden hinders health care adoption, study finds

    The potential benefits of AI for patient care may be overlooked if urgent steps are not taken to ensure that the technologies are effective for the clinicians using them, a new white paper argues.

22. Could your next therapist be a robot?

    When faced with a problem, it's increasingly common for us to ask a chatbot. Within seconds of posing the question, you have an answer.

23. AI analysis of health care records reveals key factors in autism diagnosis

    Without clear and effective biological tests for autism based on genes, brain or blood measurements, diagnosis today still largely depends on clinical assessment. The standard way of doing this is by observing how the individual meets the criteria for autism listed in gold standard manuals like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5).

24. LLMs like ChatGPT are ready to teach medical ethics, researchers argue

    Perhaps no profession has stricter ethical standards than medicine, and ethics is considered essential in the education of any respected medical school. A new essay by researchers at Hiroshima University (Japan) provides a framework for how large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can be incorporated into ethics education for medical programs.

25. Drosophila analysis tool opens up neuroscience research to resource-limited settings

    A simple, freely available analysis tool and hardware for analyzing fruit flies allows opportunities for researchers in low-income settings or out in the field to screen for genes and nerve circuits underlying complex social behaviors.

26. Software tool can find aging cells that contribute to disease and health risks

    For human health, prematurely aging cells are a big problem. When a cell ages and stops growing, its function changes, which can cause or worsen cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and other chronic diseases. But these cells are also like needles in a haystack, difficult to identify by traditional scientific measures.

27. Multimodal multitask foundation model enhances lung cancer screening and beyond

    Lung cancer is one of the most challenging diseases, making early diagnosis crucial for effective treatment. Fortunately, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming lung cancer screening, improving both accuracy and efficiency.

28. New AI model predicts gene variants' effects on specific diseases

    Cedars-Sinai investigators have developed a novel artificial intelligence (AI) model, named DYNA, that accurately distinguishes harmful gene variations from harmless ones, potentially enhancing physicians' ability to diagnose diseases. The new tool could pave the way for more precise personalized medicine and targeted therapies.

29. AI can help doctors give intravenous nutrition to preemies

    Artificial intelligence can improve intravenous nutrition for premature babies, a Stanford Medicine study has shown. The study, which was published in Nature Medicine, is among the first to demonstrate how an AI algorithm can enable doctors to make better clinical decisions for sick newborns.

30. Study confirms accuracy of blood test for early Alzheimer's detection in Asian populations

    A study in Alzheimer's & Dementia has demonstrated the high accuracy of plasma p-tau217 as a blood-based biomarker for detecting abnormal brain beta-amyloid (Aβ) pathology, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD).