Smart system helps doctors with medical diagnosis

A smart medical system which evaluates and assists diagnosis of cerebro-cardiovascular disease through computational hemodynamics and artificial intelligence technology has been put into clinical research and practice in the city.

Medical experts were told of the advance at the Oriental Conference of Interventional Neuroradiology in Shanghai on Saturday.

"Cerebro-cardiovascular diseases account for 46 percent of death cases in China, let alone the wide prevalence of complications and disability, seriously impacting public health and life quality," said Changhai Hospital's Liu Jianmin, president of OCIN and OCIN Club for Innovations.

The club has set up a joint lab for cerebrovascular hemodynamics with ArteryFlow, the system developer, to enhance the study of precise diagnosis and treatment.

Usually, doctors make an evaluation based on imaging results and their experiences while making decisions on treatment plans and choosing proper medical appliances like a stent, according to Liu.

"Clinical guidance suggests that a patient with 70 percent of narrowness on the main brain or cerebral arteries should receive intervention, while each patient's condition varies," Liu said.

"For patients with the same level of narrowness, they may need different treatments. Doctors need more evidence for individualized treatment.

"The system offers a useful tool, which helps doctors decide the proper time and measures for intervention."

Through the system, doctors can visualize how blood flows in the arteries, where arteries are under risk, such as thin walls, blocked vessels and strong blood impact, and how serious the risks are.

These are important for doctors to make their treatment plan, which is conducted based on level of risks. Such a tool can help improve the efficiency of evaluation and overall ability of doctors, especially young doctors and those in the grassroots.

"Heart and brain negative events can take place any time and anywhere," Liu said. "So the adoption of such tools can help achieve a same high-quality diagnosis and treatment no matter when and where the patient is sent to the hospital."

In addition to supporting the treatment of patients with symptoms, the technology also can be used for risk forecast during health checkups and checks for people who haven't shown symptoms.

Through big data, blood flow stimulation and AI technology, the system can precisely tell the risk of vascular diseases such as intra-cranial aneurysm, stroke and heart attack to support decision making through evidence-based practices.

"For instance, when 100 people with high risk of cerebro-cardiovascular diseases are screened, the system can help identify the five persons who need immediate intervention," Liu said. "While the rest are given guidance on lifestyle changes and medication to prevent stroke, heart attack and other negative events."

Experts said high-risk people should undergo screening and hemodynamics for cerebro-cardiovascular disease prevention and control. High-risk factors include an age over 50, smoking, obesity, hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia.

"Any person with two such factors are considered as high-risk," Liu said.