Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just the future of medicine--it is already here, and over time it will transform nearly every area of medical practice, according to experts. AI involves machine learning, where computers get smarter at seeking patterns or connections the more data is input; natural language processing, where computers learn to read and analyze unstructured clinical notes or patient reports; robotic process automation, such as chat bots; diagnostic capabilities such as IBM's Watson; and even more processes that help with patient adherence and administrative tasks. "AI is impacting health care at every level, from the provider to the payer to pharma," according to Dan Riskin, MD, CEO and founder of Verantos, a health care data company in Palo Alto, California, that uses AI to sort through real world evidence. "AI is utilized in a multitude of ways depending on the health care ecosystem," added Athena Robinson, PhD, chief clinical officer at Woebot Labs, a digital therapeutics company in San Francisco. "Some folks think of augmented systems, such as transactional bots that you call to schedule an appointment."

The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, a division of the Northwell Health system, has developed an artificial intelligence tool to gauge when hospitalized patients need to be woken up during the night. By letting patients sleep, the health system can speed up patients' recovery and discharge them faster. It can also help avoid causing delirium in patients, noted Theodoros Zanos, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Feinstein Institutes' Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine. "It actually is a critical piece of a person getting better in the hospital," Zanos told Fierce Healthcare. "We know that sleep disruption can essentially slow down recovery."

Vital sign (VS) monitoring disruptions for hospitalized patients during overnight hours have been linked to cognitive impairment, hypertension, increased stress and even mortality. For the first time, a team at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research developed a deep-learning predictive clinical tool to identify which patients do not need to be woken up overnight – allowing them to rest, recover and discharge faster. The study's results, based on 24.3 million vital sign measurements, were published today in Nature Partner Journals Digital Medicine. A team, led by Theodoros Zanos, PhD, in close collaboration with Jamie Hirsch, MD, collected and analyzed data from multiple Northwell Health hospitals between 2012 and 2019, which consisted of 2.13 million patient visits. They used this vast body of clinical data from the patient visits – respiratory rate, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, body temperature, patient age, etc. – to develop an algorithm that predicts a hospitalized patient's overnight stability, and if they could be left uninterrupted overnight to sleep.

You might not know many micro-drones by name, but there's a chance you know Zano. Unfortunately, that's because it was one of the more controversial Kickstarter failures of recent times. Zano raised over $3 million in late 2014, before being shown at CES 2015. The promise was simple, a palm-sized drone with the self-flying and photography smarts of something much bigger (and much more expensive). The problem is, just 12 months later, the product was already delayed, the company had spent all its funding and the creditors moved in to liquidate the assets, leaving thousands of backers high and dry.

Eagerly anticipated "selfie drone" the Lily Camera, which promised to be able to follow owners around and automatically photograph them, has been cancelled by its designers. The drone secured at least $34m of pre-orders since going on sale on the manufacturer's website in June, but the costs of development continually outpaced the speed with which Lily could raise funds. Lily's founders, Antoine Balaresque and Henry Bradlow, informed customers that due to failures to secure financing in order to manufacture and ship products, they would be forced to shut down the company and offer refunds to customers. They said: "We have been delighted by the steady advancements in the quality of our product and have received great feedback from our Beta program. At the same time, we have been racing against a clock of ever-diminishing funds."