From Research to Reality - AI's Role in Healthcare

>> Gelareh: Got an idea that keeps you up at night or one that makes people say, hm, that will never work.

>> Dave: Perfect. That's what we talk about here on Innovation Fuel. So let's get that conversation started. Welcome back to Innovation Fuel. Hey guys, we're here. We've got exciting journey ahead of us today. We've got some really interesting things. We're talking about AI and AI in healthcare. But AI and healthcare, Gelareh has been around for a long period of time and only recently because of what we've been exposed to with generative AI, we're now seeing it. And you even actually had a personal experience with Nava?

>> Gelareh: Yes, AI is here for 40 years and data, is here for a long time. The problem is how we can use that one. So, for example, Nava and I went to the hospital and she had to do EEG. And I had some questions with the technicians about what's the age range of using EEG? Is a criteria, is related to gender, is related age or any races. You can say these things, except you don't have those data. And I was like, why you don't have that data means you are creating a lot of data, a lot of data right now just by looking at this EEG. No, we cannot use that data. I don't know how to use it either. So for me was like, oh my God, how's possible? Because that can help a lot of predictions about health of a patient. As you said, generative AI became more accessible for any individuals. But pure AR and AI by itself or data modeling, why is not incorporated in our healthcare?

>> Dave: Well, hey, AI is great for getting us our Amazon products, but it's not, hey, it still has some challenges and it has some challenges, regulatory challenges, some things around involvement the customer. Who is the customer, where does these things lie and how do we collect.

>> Gelareh: This information and data? Privacy.

>> Dave: And we look at the privacy and so I think we might have someone today that actually is wrestling with this today.

>> Gelareh: Yes, we have Dr. Meriam Abedi the founder of Aplicare. AI. She's here to explain her product and her journey from scientist to an entrepreneur.

>> Dave: Hello, Dr. Abedi Let's start at the very beginning before we get into AI and the business. What initially led you to explore the intersection of healthcare and artificial intelligence?

>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: From 2017 to 2021, I had the opportunity to do my postdoctoral research at the University of Montreal in Quebec. By the end of my postdoctoral research I got the idea to explore scientific entrepreneurship because I had this unique mix of expertise in informatics, AI and data analysis. Especially with time series data like continuous vital science. So during my postdoc I had the chance to work with doctors and web device company. But I wanted to take it a step further, see my research make a real world impact more. Not just writing papers and programs but truly supporting doctors and approving patient journeys by the end to turn my expertise into something that could create value. But here is the thing. I didn't have any business skill and I didn't know where to start.

>> Gelareh: I just want to know that what particle incidents or insight that highlighted that need for AI driven digital healthcare.

>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: First about my expertise because I got this expertise that combine AI and healthcare. Then it come from my personal experience because when I had this expertise in continuous data monitoring and the importance of continuously monitoring vital signs data the patient and from my personal experience my grandfather died with stroke and he had diabetes. But when I see that continuous monitoring can help even see these patterns and size before stroke happens because in general population are not aware about the signs and symptoms and wearable devices can help to detect these signs to be able to intervene before stroke happens.

>> Gelareh: And is your product is a new system or it's a whole new product or is already built up and something.

>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Is there having getting insights from continuous data is something that is emerging. I am using scientific approach so I am looking at paper what is going on? What is new technologies is still not implemented in health care really so it's still in research stage and it takes time to really in real world application. So it's really an emerging field.

>> Dave: One of the biggest insights you've discovered so far that have started to shape this perspective around AI how it can be effectively used in this, this sort of world.

>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: It's because I have this unique mix of expertise on AI, informatics and healthcare. So I was confident that I am able to develop a product, an AI system that can really have an impact on Patriot Journey and could help doctors.

>> Gelareh: During your research have you saw similar products while you're working with doctors?

>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Yes, very similar. Having this idea of wanting to explore continuous vital signs Data is an emerging opportunity and there is a lot of research about it. So we can predict death in ICU, we can predict hypoxemia, we can predict health outcome. So there is a lot of opportunity that we can explore and it really depend on the data and the healthcare.

>> Gelareh: Professional need but they are not incorporated in our healthcare system. And why is that?

>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Because the journey to commercialize AI in healthcare take time. We not need FDA approval. Even the data availability is a real challenge.

>> Gelareh: Because of this all the regulations that's a problem.

>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: I will just formulate about the data, electronic health record, collect data. But these data are not aimed to develop AI models. So they are often shaped more by workflow constraint than by actual medical need. So we face problems like missi ng and incomplete data issue with interoperability data not being collected consistently so that make the patient trajectory modeling available and the there is also ethical and privacy concerns. We had to navigate all these challenges while developing a solution that really feeds the active needs of the healthcare system.

>> Dave: So it's almost the balance of the UI and the UX. Like the UI mentioned, user integration of this element. Like the data is coming, the information. But how does it then apply to the scenario and those scenarios and how are we going to adopt those scenarios?

>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Definitely because right now that exists and having insights from data is something that is going to shape the future of health care. But the implementation really is implementing this kind of solution. Need to have this stakeholder all joined around the table to be able. So there is a data scientist, the AI expert, the healthcare professionals, the healthcare institution, the government. They need to be around the table to be able to develop this kind of solution.

>> Dave: So with that in mind, what are the challenges you face? Because that's a lot of pieces and a lot of pieces having to be on the same page.

>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: The first challenge is, was at the beginning of my entrepreneurship journey. I am a technical entrepreneur and I had a solution but I was still looking for the right problem to solve test minimum viable product and show that it truly addressed a real issue in a specific market. So my goal was to figure ou