Is the Next Key AI?-Utilizing AI with New Viruses-April 1: 16:20

Pandemic = A new coronavirus that is accelerating the global pandemic. Now we are fighting to stop the spread. Under these circumstances, attention is being focused on companies and research that are trying to fight against viruses using AI = artificial intelligence. Expectations are rising that AI will be effective in analyzing the genetic information of viruses, developing vaccines, and remotely treating infected people. (Taichi Soga, International Affairs Reporter)

Is AI the next key?

One of the companies that are attracting attention for AI-based medical care is the startup “BioFormis” based in Boston, the eastern United States. An engineer from Singapore started his business in Singapore in 2015, then moved to the United States and now has offices in Switzerland and India. According to a report from a US research firm, it is one of the most innovative companies in the digital health space.

Bioforms is developing a device that allows physicians to remotely monitor a patient's condition. The wristwatch-type machine worn by the patient has sensors that can detect more than 20 physiological signals such as heart rate changes, body temperature, and blood pressure. The measured data can be checked with a smartphone application and sent to medical institutions in real time via the Internet.

Here's how the analysis works. AI machine-learns data such as changes in physical condition until the symptoms of pneumonia appear in people who have been infected so far, and predicts and analyzes changes in physical conditions and signs of people who will show symptoms in the future. .

If AI can detect slight changes in physical condition, it may lead to detection even at an early stage that humans cannot notice. With the spread of healthcare professionals, including doctors, Kurdeep explains the benefits of telemedicine:

Kurdeep CEO
"Medical journals report that new coronaviruses are often infected four to five days before their symptoms begin to appear visibly, and that those infected Can transfer the virus to other people, such as doctors, but one of the symptoms, shortness of breath, is not known until you actually have the symptoms, and those symptoms appear immediately Rather, it's coming up, but it's important to find that gradual change. With AI, you can detect even these subtle changes. "

The Bioform wristwatch-type device has already been worn by 50 patients at a university hospital in Hong Kong, and will increase to around 1,000 in the future. In addition, it has been introduced at three hospitals in the United States, and it is negotiating with the Italian and German governments, which are increasing the number of infected people, for the introduction.

The company does not have access to patient data and cannot measure results on its own, but says it has already received "very positive" feedback from university hospitals in Hong Kong.

Kurdeep CEO
"The ultimate goal of this AI-based platform is to continuously monitor those who need to stay in their homes and quarantine remotely and find subtle changes before their symptoms appear. `` I think governments and authorities can transfer only those who really need it to specialized medical institutions and treat it, which can reduce human-to-human transmission. ''

The trial using AI continues

Utilizing AI and data analysis in fields such as medicine and physiology is called "bioinformatics." Research and analysis are flourishing as the infection spreads worldwide.

The Canadian startup company `` Blue Dot '' uses AI to analyze the movement of people from areas with a high infection risk from location information etc., predicts the area where infection is likely to spread next, and the Canadian government and Adopted by the Singapore government. Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau sent a compliment on Tuesday at a press conference, "Nine days before the WHO warning, the world's first identified spread of the new coronavirus was reached."

When she applied for the interview, she said she was unable to respond because she received inquiries from all over the world. ".

British research institutes use AI, which predicts the structure of proteins, developed by Deep Mind, a company that designed AI Alpha Go, which defeated the top chess players in the Go world. The virus infects by binding to a protein called `` receptor '' on the surface of human cells, so if the structure of the frequently changing virus can be analyzed quickly and accurately using AI, it will lead to early vaccine development there is a possibility.

Private companies are also active in China, which is focusing on AI development. In February, Baidu Research, a research division of search engine Baidu, released a free AI program that could predict the genome structure of a new coronavirus 120 times faster in 27 seconds than in February.

Alibaba, an online store that focuses on the cloud business, has released a program to analyze CT images using AI image recognition technology. The program, which uses deep learning technology, will be able to diagnose new coronaviruses with 96% accuracy.

Going forward "Open Research"

In the United States, where infections continue to spread, even the White House has started using AI. In the middle of last month (March), the company announced that it had started a project to release research papers and other documents in a machine-readable format with major IT companies such as Microsoft and the National Library of Medicine.

Since the discovery of the new coronavirus, more than 2,000 research papers have been published so far, bringing the total number of related articles to 30,000. This huge document could be read by AI.

In addition, the project raised ten issues regarding the new coronavirus, which has not been elucidated in detail, such as "the incubation period of the virus by age and gender" and "some risk factors such as the effects of smoking". For those who come up with the most appropriate answer, the competition is a form of rewarding. Asking for ideas in this competition is a common practice in Silicon Valley, USA.

Researcher Toshihiro Kamishima of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) explains the advantages of this initiative as follows.

Senior Researcher Kamishima: "It takes a lot of time for humans to read a large number of papers, and specialized papers can only be read by expert biologists and medical scientists, and cannot share knowledge with computer scientists who develop AI. Establishing a common platform may encourage each other's areas of cooperation, which may lead to the development of new treatments and the discovery of ways to prevent transmission. "

WHO declared a pandemic last month on the 11th of the month. At that time, the number of infected people was about 110,000, which has exceeded 700,000 as of 25th, and the number of people who have died has exceeded 4,000 to 30,000. With the pace of infection accelerating and the struggle with time being required, we will continue to cover how AI and human collaboration can help fight the virus.

Taichi Soga, International Affairs Reporter Joined in 2012 Joined Sapporo Bureau, etc. Current position Researched digital technology as a visiting researcher at Stanford University