AI Helps Fuel New Era of Medical Self-Testing

AFP/APP

Las Vegas: Beyond smart watches and rings, artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to make self-testing for major diseases more accessible — from headsets that detect early signs of Alzheimer’s to iris-scanning apps designed to help spot cancer.

“The reason preventive medicine doesn’t work right now is because you don’t want to go to the doctor all the time to get things tested,” said Ramses Alcaide, co-founder and CEO of startup Neurable.

“But what about if you knew when you needed to go to the doctor?”

Connected rings, bracelets and watches — which were on display in abundance at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas — can already monitor heart rate, blood pressure and glucose levels, with varying degrees of accuracy.

These gadgets are in high demand. A recent study published by OpenAI showed that more than 200 million internet users check ChatGPT every week for information related to health topics.

On Wednesday, OpenAI even launched a chatbot that can, with user consent, draw on medical records and data collected by wearable devices to inform its responses.

Using electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, Neurable has developed a headset that records and deciphers brain activity.

The linked app compares this data with the user’s medical history to identify deviations that could signal a potential problem, Alcaide said.

“Apple Watch can pick up Parkinson’s, but it can only pick it up once you have a tremor,” Alcaide explained. “Your brain has been fighting that Parkinson’s for over 10 years.”

With EEG technology, “you can pick these things up before you actually see physical symptoms. And this is just one example.”

Detection Before Symptoms

Some experts, however, have expressed reservations about the capabilities of such devices.

“I don’t think that wearable EEG devices are reliable enough,” said Anna Wexler, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies consumer detection products, though she acknowledged that “AI has expanded the possibilities of these devices.”

While Neurable’s product cannot deliver an actual diagnosis, it can issue warnings. It can also detect signs of depression and early development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Neurable is working with the Ukrainian military to evaluate the mental health of soldiers on the front lines of the war with Russia, as well as former prisoners of war, to help detect post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

French startup NAOX has developed EEG earbuds connected to a small box to help patients with epilepsy.

Rather than detecting seizures — which are “very rare” — the device identifies “spikes,” quick and abnormal electrical shocks in the brain that are “much more difficult to see,” said NAOX chief of innovation Marc Vaillaud, a doctor by training.

The device, which has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration, is designed to be worn at night to collect several hours of data.

NAOX is working with Rothschild and Lariboisière hospitals in Paris to better understand links between these brain spikes and Alzheimer’s disease, which have been highlighted in scientific research.

Advances in AI and technology more broadly have enabled the miniaturization of cheaper detection devices — a stark contrast to the bulky machinery once confined to hospitals and clinics.

IriHealth is preparing to launch a smartphone extension costing about $50 that scans a user’s iris.

The gadget relies on iridology, a technique that claims iris colors and markings reveal health conditions but is generally considered scientifically unreliable.

However, the founders of IriHealth — a spin-off of biometrics firm IriTech — believe their device can effectively detect anomalies in the colon, and potentially the lungs or liver.

Company spokesman Tommy Phan said tests showed the device was 81 percent accurate among patients already diagnosed with colon cancer.