The Benefits of Computer Vision Technology for Healthcare Applications

Developments in computer vision technology are changing the healthcare industry. Coupled with AI, the technology can have a disruptive effect on the industry. Computer vision solutions already in use are proving to be efficient, which will inevitably lead to more research and development. In other words, computer vision technology is just getting started.
 
Medical institutions have always looked for new and better ways to treat patients. The development of computer vision technology is only going to accelerate the pace of evolution.
 
In 2021, using computer vision has become an integral part of hospital operations. Its primary application is to help analyze medical scans. This can sometimes save a patient’s life since early discovery makes it possible to treat nearly lethal diseases.
 
Computer vision solutions incorporate AI to look for patterns in thousands of MRI scans and other images. In some cases, these machines can notice disease patterns that would otherwise be ignored.
 

Key Applications of Computer Vision Technology
 

Image Analysis
Computer vision can act as an additional pair of eyes to complement a doctor’s efforts. In some cases, computer vision can notice patterns in an image that might be invisible to the human eye. Doctors are tasked to analyze more and more images every year. Computer vision can speed up the process and improve the quality of diagnosis as well.
 
With the support of computer vision companies and their products, human workers can perform more tasks in a given amount of time. Working with computer vision frees up doctors’ time to focus on providing the best care for their patients. However, as developed as the technology is, we can’t depend on it coming up with diagnoses on its own. Doctors are still an integral part of the equation, at least for now.
 
However, the technology is fast-developing. Studies have shown that currently computer vision is capable of detecting skin cancer as accurately as a certified professional can. Solutions for detecting other types of cancer are being developed as well. Once they’re deemed reliable enough, image analysis can be performed using computers alone. This will be a truly revolutionary change in the industry.
 
Tracking the Evolution of Diseases
Computer vision technology can be used to observe the development of various conditions. It allows doctors to measure different stages of a disease, observe the effect of medicine, and possibly even predict the root cause of the illness. This analysis can be used for the development of new drugs or coming up with better ways to treat disease.
 
More Accurate Diagnosis
Diagnosis tends to be more accurate when doctors are working with the aid of computer vision. Better diagnosis means better treatment. This is crucial because timely detection of tumors and other threatening conditions might make a difference between life and death.
 
Preventing Human Error
As surprising as it may seem, modern hospitals are still plagued with simple human errors that can cost millions. For instance, there are still cases of misidentifying patients and treating them with wrong methods and medicine.
 
Facilities equipped with facial authentication systems can effectively resolve this problem. This type of computer vision technology can accurately detect cases of misidentification and allow you to make corrections in the database as well.
 
Preventing Injuries
Healthcare workers and patients are often susceptible to avoidable injuries or illnesses. Individuals employed in the hospitals are almost twice as likely to get injured when performing their job, compared to the average of all workers. Computer vision can detect and prevent some of these injuries. For instance, computer vision can detect when someone falls and alert the hospital staff about the accident.
 
Sometimes the staff forget to use the necessary safety equipment or properly sterilize the tools. This can add to the number of accidents in the hospital. Startups are working on computer vision systems that can detect these errors and remind the staff to follow the protocol. Some hospitals use computer vision technology that can identify fire and smoke faster than the traditional detectors as well.
 
Providing Data Security
HIPAA is a law that makes health organizations responsible for the privacy of their patient’s healthcare data. The hospitals can face serious consequences if the data security is compromised.
 
Modern computer vision systems can be hosted offline, without any connections to outside data centers. This way, hospitals have more control over the security of their data.
 

Startups Working to Provide Computer Vision Solutions
 

Spanish startup ADAS 3D is working on computer vision systems that can process and transform MRI and CTA 2D images into 3D files that can be analyzed by doctors. The software allows better diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases by visualization and quantification of the data. It also reduces the time necessary to make a more accurate diagnosis.
 
A US startup called Iterative Scopes is working to allow gastroenterology doctors to make a more accurate diagnosis as well. Their software can analyze images and detect even the smallest fractions of cancer cells or the presence of tumors that may not be visible to the human eye.
 

Benefits of Using Computer Vision in the Hospital
 

More Consistent Results
Patients treated with the help of computer vision technology tend to experience lower readmission rates. Once they’ve left the hospital, their treatment is finished and they don’t have to go back. This is largely achieved by the utility of computer vision for image analysis and human error prevention.
 
Prevention of Insurance Claims
By preventing human errors and improving the overall quality of the medical service, computer vision solutions can reduce the risk of insurance claims.
 
Reduced Cost of Labor
Computer vision solutions can often complement the work of healthcare workers and make their labor more efficient. In the future, some of the tasks are going to be outsourced to computer vision technology. 
 

Conclusion
 

Computer vision technology is already widely used in the healthcare industry. Still, many healthcare services are performed using traditional methods. Innovations in computer vision will reveal new applications for it, which are bound to be disruptive.
 

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Henry Bell is the Head of Product at Vendorland. He is a business technologist driving transformative growth through digital technology strategies. Bell is a highly analytical and collaborative problem solver with outstanding cross-functional skills in product leadership, application management, and data analytics.