Watson could be your new doctor as the real one baffles

Watson doesn’t only understand your emotion; it can also save a life. Doctors at the Institute of Medical Science of the University of Tokyo reported that they have used IBM’s artificial intelligence system to diagnose a special type of leukemia in a 60-years old lady that had been incorrectly identified months earlier.

Doctors from the University of Tokyo are working jointly with IBM and others to carry out the medical research using a computer system that has artificial intelligence, known as Watson.

The patient, who was initially diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, was receiving two types of anti-cancer medicines. However, instead of improving, her condition worsened and she could’ve died of blood poisoning or other complications.

The doctors couldn’t understand why she wasn’t recovering. So they put data into Watson on genes of the patient in which genetic changes had happened at 1,500 points. With the help of the database of 20 million medical papers on cancer research, it took the system only 10 minutes to determine that the woman was suffering from another type of secondary leukemia. It then recommended the doctors to use another anti-cancer drug.

At present, multiple doctors diagnose such disease after studying patient’s genetic information and medical papers, which is quite difficult due to the vast amount of data. However, the artificial intelligence can store the information and study by itself to diagnose any disease accurately. Already IBM’s Watson has provided information and cure of 41 other patients, including diagnosis of a special type of leukemia in two of them.

Watson’s move shows how beneficial technologies are in our medical science. As artificial intelligence is everywhere now, those days aren’t too far when most of the fatal diseases will be cured by artificial intelligence.