TEHRAN – The National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Tehran will host the first international artificial intelligence (AI) symposium on education, research, diagnosis, treatment, and production in the health sector.

The event will be held on November 5 with a focus on the role of AI in education and research, AI in diagnosis and treatment, and AI in health products and business, IRNA reported.

Currently, the most common roles for AI in medical settings are clinical decision support and imaging analysis.

Providing quick access to the information or research related to each patient, clinical decision support tools help health service providers to make decisions about treatments, medicines, mental health, and other needs.

In medical imaging, AI is used to analyze CT scans, X-rays, MRIs, as well as other images for lesions or other findings that a human radiologist might fail to notice.

Other applications of AI in health include disease diagnosis, personalized treatment, clinical trial efficiency, and rapid growth in the pharmaceutical field.

AI crucial to address diseases

In August, Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarqandi emphasized the importance of AI, telemedicine, and mobile health in managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Developing a smart healthcare system and increasing public awareness through preventive education and the promotion of health literacy are the key points in the future of the healthcare system, IRNA quoted Zafarqandi as saying. The adoption of modern technologies is unavoidable, so these tools can be employed to reduce costs and facilitate access to services, he added.

The official made the remarks while addressing the first session of the national committee for the prevention and control of NCD.

In January, the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology and Tehran University of Medical Sciences signed a memorandum of understanding to use artificial intelligence for medical treatment purposes.

The agreement, which was inked on January 11, aims to promote the targeted support of the knowledge-based ecosystem in the field of health with a focus on omics and genomics studies, cell therapy in endocrinology and metabolism, person-centered medicine with artificial intelligence tools for prevention, prediction, diagnosis, and treatment, and finally innovation in the commercialization of products and services, ISNA reported.

Statistics have shown noticeable cost savings, about 40 percent, using artificial intelligence in health care in advanced countries. In some specific cases, like breast or lung cancers, artificial intelligence can lower healthcare costs by 80 percent. Hence, a knowledge-based economy should aim to utilize AI to save healthcare costs, IRIB quoted Mostafa Qanei, the secretary of the Biology Development Headquarters, as saying.

MT/MG