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Microsoft is stepping up its healthcare game using artificial intelligence (AI).
Teaming up with Mass General Brigham and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the tech leader aims to perfect AI models for medical imaging. The partnership, announced on July 24, will focus on researching how AI-powered algorithms and apps help health professionals interpret scans, create reports, classify diseases, and analyze data, according to a Microsoft press release. The goals are to increase the accuracy of medical imaging, reduce patient wait times for imaging results, relieve physician burnout, and supplement staff shortages.
“Together, we are not only advancing medical imaging, but also helping deliver more accessible and better-quality patient care in a very resource-constrained environment,” Peter Durlach, corporate VP of Microsoft’s health and life sciences division, said in the release.
The company said AI models will be built on Microsoft’s Azure AI platform and extend the Nuance suite of radiology applications. Microsoft bought Nuance, an AI healthcare transcription service, in 2021 for $16 billion, making it one of several major investments the tech giant has made in AI and healthcare in recent years.
Respect my privacy. As AI’s applications grow, so do concerns about ethics and privacy.
AI systems require huge amounts of sensitive patient health information to be stored in data repositories, often on one or more cloud servers. Even when data is de-identified—meaning identifying information like names or Social Security numbers are removed—there is evidence that AI is becoming advanced enough that it can actually re-identify patients from anonymous datasets.
Microsoft tried to address those concerns earlier this year by partnering with healthcare systems including Mass General Brigham to create a “healthcare consortium” called the Trustworthy and Responsible AI Network, or TRAIN. The group aims to increase healthcare professionals’ trust in AI and ensure the technology is used accurately and safely, according to a March release.
“AI has the potential to transform how healthcare is delivered and received. However, we must embark on this journey with responsibility to our patients, our care teams, and the public,” Rebecca Mishuris, chief medical information officer and VP of Mass General Brigham, said in the release.