Forget everything you know about robots - the market is about to explode with growth. To date there has been much commercial success with floor cleaning and even window washing robots and both of these are huge markets. But they may be nothing compared with the next frontier of this amazing technology which will allow them to navigate around humans in operating rooms at hospitals. You see iRobot just got FDA approval for a new robot to do just that. The robot, also known as Remote Presence Virtual Independent Telemedicine Assistant (RP-VITA), received 510(K) clearance from the FDA and can be used for active patient monitoring in pre-operative, peri-operative, and post-operative situations.

Malaria causes about half a million deaths each year, and about half the world's population is at risk of contracting it. The disease is caused by the Plasmodium parasite and is transmitted by the bite of the infected mosquito. The big problem is that this organism is becoming increasingly resistant to the remedies that fight it. Therefore, the risk of this worsening condition has become much greater if new drugs are not developed. But it seems there are already signs of a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Situation: FDA has been grappling with regulation of rapidly advancing digital products, including artificial intelligence. While Congress and FDA have provided recent clarifications, regulatory questions remain. The Result: Both the 21st Century Cures Act and recent FDA activities provide important, but incomplete, insight regarding regulation of health products utilizing artificial intelligence. Looking Ahead: Digital health product manufacturers should recognize how recent regulatory changes may affect them, and that FDA is engaging industry to further refine its oversight approach. Artificial intelligence ("AI") can be broadly defined as a device or product that can imitate intelligent behavior.

Artificial intelligence hit some key milestones in 2017. At Facebook, chat bots were able to negotiate as well as their human counterparts. A poker-playing system designed by Carnegie Mellon professors mopped the floor with live opponents. There were even some potentially life-saving breakthroughs, like the machine vision system that can determine whether a mole is cancerous with more than 90 percent accuracy--beating out a group of dermatologists. From agriculture to medicine and beyond, plenty of startups are using A.I. in innovative ways.

Artificial intelligence is quickly evolving into a lifesaver. Two separate efforts in the commercial and academic arenas have inched us closer to taking a bite out of heart disease -- the world's no. 1 killer. A Stanford University team led by Andrew Ng and a Silicon Valley startup are tapping the power of AI to improve detection of abnormalities and increase the accuracy of diagnoses. Medical-device maker AliveCor, based in Mountain View, is building deep learning AI algorithms to enable people to monitor their heart rates using built-in sensors on the Apple Watch. They can even alert people to take an immediate EKG using an Apple Watch app and a specially designed band with a built-in sensor.

Around half of the world's population is at risk of contracting malaria and it causes around half a million deaths each year. However, the parasites that cause malaria are becoming more resistant to the drugs we currently use to combat them, meaning the global malaria risk stands to increase if we don't develop new drugs quickly enough. Well new research published recently in Scientific Reports finds that a common chemical used in everything from soap and toothpaste to clothing and furniture might be an effective treatment, and it was done with the help of AI. Many popular antimalarial drugs target a specific enzyme found in malaria-causing parasites, an enzyme important for the parasites' growth. So researchers used AI-powered Robot Scientist Eve to screen a slew of FDA-approved compounds to see how well they were able to inhibit that enzyme and it found that triclosan was able to inhibit the enzyme from two different species of malaria-causing parasites, including variants that had developed resistance to common malaria treatments. The researchers then tested triclosan against the enzyme in a number of different ways in order to confirm its effectiveness, and that, combined with previous research showing that the chemical can also inhibit an additional enzyme found in these parasites, led the researchers to conclude that triclosan may be a useful therapeutic with multiple targets.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of an algorithm which monitors patients' vitals to help predict sudden death from heart attacks or respiratory failure. The algorithm, named the Wave Clinical Platform, was developed by medical technology company ExcelMedical. The platform senses subtle changes in vitals and sends alerts up to six hours before a potentially lethal event could occur. The algorithm monitors patients continuously, a feat that is frankly impossible for human medical professionals to realistically accomplish. Resources in the healthcare industry are stretched thin, especially where staffing is concerned. Speaking to Digital Trends, ExcelMedical's Chief Strategy Officer Mary Baum said, "We do not have enough physicians or nurses, and we have an aging population who are sicker and who need more resources and services."

Artificial intelligence could help people live longer by detecting your internal age and designed a tailor-made medical regime, according to new research. Scientists developed a'simple and cheap' computer algorithm that can calculate people's biological age, and reveal whether certain lifestyle changes and medical products could increase the chance of living a long and healthy life. The formula, called Aging.AI, has provided accurate results for 130,000 individuals based on their blood samples. New research, led by the AI company Insilico Medicine, says artificial intelligence could determine a person's risk of developing age-related diseases like cancer and heart disease. Scientists created a formula that can calculate a person's risk of developing age-related diseases, and give medical advice based on those risks'The artificial intelligence is just as good at predicting your age as if you looked at a picture of the person and had to guess the person's age,' said Dr Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, a professor at University of Copenhagen's Center for Healthy Aging.

The center is only about a year old, but it has already built important capabilities. Its goal is not basic research, but improving clinical practice within the two hospitals and the healthcare system in general. According to the CCDS Executive Director, Dr. Mark Michalski, in order for this technology to actually affect care there are several key prerequisites: Industry partnerships: For-profit companies dominate both the medical technology and information technology industries, so it's important for a research center to have beneficial collaborations with external firms. Early in its short history, the CCDS established a ten-year collaboration with GE Healthcare, a major producer of medical imaging equipment that is now headquartered in Boston. This strategic partnership will focus on two major areas. The other area is to identify and develop applications that span radiology, pathology, and population health.

Artificial Intelligence: Arterys AI has not had a bad year yet. Between breakthrough technologies and soaring funding rounds, there was no shortage of strong candidates to choose from in 2017. Ambra Health CEO Morris Panner, JD, gave the nod to Arterys. The 10-year-old San Francisco, California, company both started and ended 2017 in style. In January, it received a first-of-its-kind FDA approval for its cloud-based technology, which applies AI and deep learning to medical imaging analysis.