Episode 16: Highlights from the European Congress of Radiology 2023

Every year in the beautiful cultural city of Vienna, there is conference known as ECR, the European Congress of Radiology. This is a chance for the movers and shakers in medical imaging to get together to exchange ideas, make pitches, and launch new products.

In recent years, AI has become more and more prominent at ECR, to the point where it is now quite rare to find an exhibitor not talking about AI.

I wanted to briefly sample some of the most interesting companies, to give an overview of where medical AI is right now. What are they working on? What stage are they at? How is it going?

Here is a series of ten  short interviews, my highlights of ECR 2023. In order, you’ll hear from GE Healthcare, Koios, Siemens Healthineers, Qure.ai, Samsung, Esaote, Agfa, Canon, Carestream and Varex.

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/plg98pnyUew

Today I am joined by Matt McBride, the CEO of Mend, and we discuss the challenges that doctors and patients face when it comes to effective communication, and how AI systems can be used to bridge the gap.

A study by Accenture found that many Americans are unhappy with the communication channels they have with their healthcare providers. This has the potential to contributes to distrust and even ignorance about best care practices by patients and doctors. Matt asks the question: how can we better utilise the technology we have to bridge patient-doctor relationships.

Matt shares insights into the specific ways in which Mend's technology is helping doctors and patients communicate more effectively. Through this journey, we also cover important factors of the ethical considerations around using AI in healthcare, and how Mend is working to ensure that patient privacy and autonomy are always respected. And finally, how might data bias be mitigated for the highest standard of care across a range of subjective issues? 

Matt McBride MBA, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mend, a health communications company that utilises AI and med tech to streamline patient-doctor information sharing. He has extensive experience in the healthcare technology sector bridging business acceleration and medical optimisation.

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/JS93808r-W4

Janette Phi’s journey into healthcare technology is a personal one, driven by a medical issue her son experienced in his youth. Driven by her own story, she asks how medical normalisation and precision healthcare work together to bring the correct care to correct patient - with the potential to save lives.

Join me, Dr Felix Beacher, and in Episode 14 of our podcast, we welcome Janette Phi, the Chief Business Officer of ThinkCyte. Janette shares her insights on how to grow a company and the challenges she has faced in leading ThinkCyte to success. We dive deep into the world of single-cell treatment, looking at how understanding one cell can help build medical frameworks of the whole body. We ask how doctors weigh the relationship between personal and general treatment, the growing field of precision medicine, and the importance of improving information sharing within the medical community. Join us as we explore new frontiers in using artificial intelligence to fight against cancer and bring well-needed healthcare to those who need it.

Who is Today's Guest?

Janette Phi is Chief Business Officer at ThinkCyte and is responsible for leading global business development and commercial activities. Phi brings over 30 years of technical and business experience with advanced scientific technology companies. She has served as CBO for IntelliCyt (acquired by Sartorius), COO for Xcell Biosciences and CCO for Applied Cells and ONI.

She holds a B.S. in Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA with an emphasis in Marketing & Finance from Santa Clara University

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/JS93808r-W4

In today’s episode we explore the hardware and components that build the foundations of Med Tech and make AI viable within medical practices.

Join myself, Dr Felix Beacher as I talk to Sub Bhattacharya, Head of Healthcare & Sciences at AMD, as he discusses the hardware perspective of medical AI. We talk about the latest advancements in healthcare technology, including the role of semi-conductors and processors in the technology that makes hand-held diagnostic devices available. Discover how the integration of AI technology is transforming healthcare delivery and research, and gain valuable insights into the future of medical AI.

Whether you're a medical professional or simply curious about the intersection of technology and healthcare, this episode offers a fascinating look at the evolving capabilities and feats of engineering in the world of healthcare technology. Don't miss this expert discussion on the cutting-edge intersection of healthcare and technology.

Sub Bhattacharya has extensive experience as the Head of AMDs healthcare and Sciences department. He brings 20+ years of leadership roles in business development, strategy, marketing, product management to build bridges between healthcare technology and semiconductors.

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/JS93808r-W4

In this episode, we sit down with Tom Lawry, the author of "Hacking Healthcare" to discuss the challenges of getting medical AI adopted in the real world. Lawry is an expert in healthcare automation, and he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.

We start off by discussing the importance of finance and funding in the healthcare industry and how it can be a barrier or influence to the adoption of AI for quality of care. Lawry shares his insights on how to overcome this obstacle and get medical AI solutions into the hands of patients and providers. Behind this, we discuss the operationalisation and efficiency of data and how.

We also discuss the role of Healthcare Policy and AI regulation. Lawry shares his thoughts on how policymakers and regulators can support the development and deployment of AI solutions in healthcare while ensuring patient safety and privacy.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of healthcare and AI. Lawry’s insights and expertise provide valuable guidance for healthcare providers, policymakers, and innovators seeking to improve the quality of care through automation and technology.

Tom Lawry serves as Director of Worldwide Health for Microsoft. In this role he works with providers and life science organizations in planning and implementing innovative analytical solutions that improve the quality and efficiency of health services delivered around the globe.

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/JS93808r-W4

Join me, Dr Felix Beacher, In this episode, we'll delve into the crossroads of AI and health informatics, guided by our expert guest Professor Mark Braunstein, Professor Braunstein shares his expertise in the field of health informatics and reflects on his book “Health Informatics on FHIR: How HL7's New API is Transforming Healthcare”. We explore the role of health informatics in enabling information exchange and standardization in healthcare and address how the landscape is changing through the use of FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standards. With the implementation of these standards, healthcare data can be easily shared and analysed, enabling the development of more effective AI applications.

We discuss the challenges and opportunities that arise from using AI in health informatics, including issues of data privacy and security, ethical concerns, and the impact on healthcare professionals and patients. This is not an episode to miss, tune to 30 minutes of cutting-edge content!

An author and thought-leader in the field, Dr. Braunstein is a professor of health informatics for the School of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he teaches Introduction to Health Informatics, a popular graduate seminar, both on campus and as part of the OMSCS program.

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/JS93808r-W4

In this episode of the podcast, we sit down with none other than ChatGPT itself for a fascinating conversation about the intersection of AI and healthcare. With a touch of humour, we explore the ways in which GPT-3 has the potential to assist healthcare tasks such as medical documentation, clinical trial analysis, and drug discovery.

We dive into the world of GPT medical and how it is being used for symptom-checking by patient and doctor alike. We also discuss CPT-3’s model use in start-ups like Babylon Health and Informatica. As we delve deeper into the world of healthcare informatics, chatGPT walks us through how NLP models such as BERT, RoBERTa, and ELMo, are affecting the future of healthcare. We also consider the ethical implications of using AI in healthcare, including the potential for dehumanization and the importance of maintaining a human touch in patient care. Tune in to explore the exciting possibilities of GPT-3 in healthcare and beyond.

ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI. It uses machine learning to generate human-like responses to text-based prompts, such as questions or statements. Essentially, it is a computer program that can "chat" with humans and respond in a way that resembles human conversation.

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/JS93808r-W4

Join me, Dr Felix Beacher, and this weeks guest, Eric Olson, CEO of Consensus, as we discuss the role of clinical science search engine Consensus. We ask how accessibility is driving innovation in the field of medical research and how these search engines are designed to help researchers find relevant scientific literature quickly and easily. Olson describes consensus as a bridge between platforms like Google Scholar and Chat GPT.

We also explore the development of these search engines and the complex algorithms that make them so effective in organizing and presenting scientific research. How does the platform account for ethical considerations such as author biases, potential misinformation, or conversely correctly displaying amateur research papers that meet search criteria. You'll gain valuable insights into the way technology is shaping the future of medical study and research.

If you're interested in the latest advances in scientific research and the tools that are driving innovation in the field, then tune in to discover more about the clinical science search engine start-up, Consensus.

Eric Olson is a data science professional, with a Master's in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University. Olson came up with the idea for Consensus after spending years as a die-hard amateur science consumer and wanting access to better evidence-based information at the click of a button. Prior to Consensus, Eric worked at the sports entertainment company DraftKings, where he served as an Analytics Specialist building predictive machine learning models to better understand the user base.

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/JS93808r-W4

Join me, Dr Felix Beacher, for a new episode as I sit down with Madhuri Sebastian, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Enterprise Imaging at Philips. Madhuri is a healthcare technology expert with over 20 years of experience in medical imaging.

Sebastian’s specialism takes us through integrated diagnostics and medical imaging. We discuss how integrated diagnostics lets clinicians build advanced profiles and subsequent care for patients through vast bioinformatic and genomic data. We also cover shared data and interoperability, which is how different healthcare systems and devices communicate with one another. She discusses the challenges that come with this, particularly in the context of bridging fractured data systems that exist within healthcare. Finally, Sebastian also discusses the advancements echocardiograms imagery and cardiology treatments that have been made possible through AI in med tech.

Madhuri Sebastian is the GM and Head of Data Management & Interop Solutions at Philips, based in Boston. Madhuri joined Philips in July 2021, having extensive previous experience as VP of AI Clinical Partnerships. She has partnered with major academic institutions in operational and workflow analytics.

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/JS93808r-W4

100 years ago the x-ray machine was invented. 100 years from now who knows how much further technology will take us? In this episode of our podcast, join me, Dr Felix Beacher, as we explore the future of medical AI with Mircea Popa, CEO of Medicai, a company at the forefront of developing AI-powered medical imaging solutions.

Popa shares his insights on the tight parameters for diagnosis and how AI can be trained to detect subtle differences in medical imagery. We also discuss the challenges of integrating AI technology into the current healthcare system and the potential path to provide patient care. How do business negotiate different cultures between start-up hustle and the slow pace of safety and caution within the medical field. If you're interested in the future of healthcare, the role of AI in medicine, and the potential benefits of decentralisation in healthcare, this episode is a must-listen.

Mircea Popa is an entrepreneur responsible for two very successful start-ups in the healthcare world, SkinVision and, more recently, Medicai, an AI medical imaging Cloud Network. He brings a wealth knowledge bridging business and healthcare solutions.

Original music by Felix Beacher: https://youtu.be/JS93808r-W4