5 Takeaways from the AI for Healthcare Virtual Conference Udacity

As 40% of people infected with COVID-19 are asymptomatic, if a patient is imaged for an unrelated health concern and doctors can identify COVID-19, we'll be in a much better position. In addition to identifying COVID-19 by viral detection and antibody response, we can also suspect viral infection indirectly through resting heart rate. Dr. Eric Topol explained in the "AI for Healthcare Keynote" that for a flu-like illness, the resting heart rate marker allows us to predict illness throughout the country from a wearable device like a Fitbit or Apple watch. Dr. Topol states that heart rate rises before a fever is present, so even if someone doesn't get a fever or experience symptoms, we can still detect that their body is fighting a virus. "Resting heart rate, with the analytics of AI for healthcare, can predict where an outbreak is likely to happen and that's a topic that doesn't get enough respect because people just think test, test, test and they don't understand that digital surveillance with AI can be very useful," said Dr. Topol. Pulse oximetry in wearable devices can also help us detect the virus's damage to the lungs. Dr. Topol thinks that the way to get ahead of this virus is simple: equip everyone with a wearable device that has a pulse oximeter and collects resting heart rate and body temperature. "Here we are in the US spending trillions of dollars. What we should be thinking about is: what can we arm each person with, so that we can help protect them?"