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New research that was published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology shows how artificial intelligence (AI) can potentially be used to predict an individual’s risk of heart diseases, like heart attacks or strokes, without the need for blood tests or other medical tests (Vincent, 2022). The predictions that are made by artificial intelligence appear to be as accurate as the predictions that are made with the currently available tools (Guardian, 2022). The software that has been developed works by analyzing the web of blood vessels (their width and how they bend) within the eye with the help of artificial intelligence.

The future of AI in healthcare

Artificial intelligence could potentially also be used to discover other kinds of diseases as well. For example, there are studies that predict artificial intelligence to be able to diagnose diabetes, skin diseases or even Alzheimer’s (Vincent, 2022). Google, for example, is developing a tool to help individuals identify their skin, hair, and nail conditions and/or diseases and has investigated the possibility of detecting lung cancer with the help of deep learning (Google, 2022). Examples like that of Google would be a really important development for patients all over the world because it means that there is a chance to create a highly effective way to diagnose people without it being invasive (Guardian, 2022). Furthermore, if artificial intelligence can be used to predict certain risks of getting a specific disease, it could potentially also be used to identify what is causing these diseases (HBR, 2019). If we could understand the causes of certain diseases, tools or medicine could be developed to prevent these diseases from affecting somebody’s life (HBR, 2019).

References

Google. (2022). AI imaging & diagnostics. Google Health. https://health.google/health-research/imaging-and-diagnostics/

Guardian. (2022, October 4). AI eye checks can predict heart disease risk in less than minute, finds study. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/oct/04/ai-eye-checks-can-predict-heart-disease-risk-in-less-than-minute-finds-study

HBR. (2019, November 8). Using AI to understand what causes diseases. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/11/using-ai-to-understand-what-causes-diseases

Vincent, J. (2022, October 7). AI tool can scan your retina and predict your risk of heart disease ‘in 60 seconds or less’. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/7/23392375/ai-scan-retina-predict-heart-disease-stroke-risk-machine-learning

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Yesterday, NASA has successfully crashed one of their spacecrafts into an asteroid in order to change its course. The spacecraft hit the asteroid, called Dimorphos, at roughly 22,530 kilometers per hour (Bardan, 2022). To give you an idea of the scale of this asteroid versus the spacecraft, see the picture below. This was the first-ever planetary defense test in case an asteroid would ever be endangering the existence of the earth (Strickland, 2022).

The technology

The spacecraft is called DART which stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. NASA has equipped DART with a camera which allows the spacecraft to identify the asteroid it needs to hit and with the ability to autonomously guide itself to impact the asteroid with the use of algorithms (Bardan, 2022). In the live stream you could clearly see that the spacecraft was approaching two asteroids and targeted the smaller one (Achenbach, 2022).

Future

The technology of NASA that was used in the DART mission shows how technology can be used to protect the earth in the future. There is a growing focus on planetary defense by different organizations like NASA because of the large number of asteroids that exist and the potential one could eventually find its way to earth (Chang, 2022). The fact that the spacecraft was able to operate autonomously, and successfully crash into the asteroid creates an opportunity for potential future asteroid deflection missions (Chang, 2022).

References

Achenbach, J. (2022, September 26). NASA crashes spacecraft into asteroid, passing planetary defense test. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/09/26/nasa-dart-mission-asteroid-crash/

Bardan, R. (2022, September 27). NASA’s DART mission hits asteroid in first-ever planetary defense test. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-dart-mission-hits-asteroid-in-first-ever-planetary-defense-test

Chang, C. (2022, September 26). NASA smashes into an asteroid, completing a mission to save a future day. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/26/science/dart-nasa-asteroid-dimorphos-contact.html

Strickland, A. (2022, September 27). NASA’s DART mission successfully slams into an asteroid. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/26/world/dart-mission-nasa-scn/index.html