PERSONALHEALTHNEWS.CA A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET
so differently to treatment?
Today’s medical landscape
The current standard in medi-
cine is a “one treatment fits all”
approach. “Right now, treatment
plans include guidelines on how
to manage the average patient.
The plans are infrequently
stratified into groups, let alone
tailored to individuals,” explains
Dr. Heather Ross, Division Head
of Cardiology at the Peter Munk
Cardiac Centre, Director of the
Ted Rogers Centre for Heart
Research, and Loretta A. Rogers
Chair in Heart Function. “This
can be problematic for heart
disease patients, particularly
women,” Dr. Ross continues,
“since the guidelines are based
on clinical trials where women
are underrepresented.”
When prescribing a treat-
ment plan for heart disease,
there is a wealth of data,Why Some Women Respond
to Treatment, but Others Don’t
Imagine this scenario.
Two women, both 45-years-
old and leading a similar
lifestyle, arrive at the hospital
severely fatigued and exhibiting
shortness of breath. They are
both found to have heart failure;
a condition where your heart is
not effectively pumping blood
throughout your body.
A diag nosis of hear t fai lure is
severe for anyone, but treatment
is designed to manage the symp-
toms. In this case, one woman
responds well to the treatment
and is able to be discharged from
the hospital the next day, while
the other woman continues to
experience shortness of breath
and has to be transferred to the
intensive care unit. Despite a
heightened level of care, the
woman’s kidneys begin to fail.
Soon, other organs follow suit.
She dies w it hin a matter of days.
Why did the women respondHeart disease is different for everybody. The Peter Munk Cardiac
Centre is using artificial intelligence to figure out why.
The Peter Munk Cardiac
Centre is using artificial
intelligence to provide
personalized cardiac
care. Support this at
inaheartbeat.ca.Dr. Heather Ross at the Peter
Munk Cardiac Centre, where
they are at the forefront
of integrating artificial
intelligence in medicine.
Photo: Tim Fraserimaging, laboratory testing,
and medical history that should
be taken into account to have a
better chance of success. The
problem is the sheer volume of
data and time-sensitive nature
of treatment which make it
impossible to interpret the data
in a meaningful way. Without
assistance, the amount of data
available now exceeds the cap-
acity of the human mind. That’s
where artificial intelligence
comes in.Tomorrow’s medical
future
The team at the Peter Munk
Cardiac Centre is learning more
about the intersection of arti-
ficial intelligence and cardiac
care. A r t ificia l intel l igence ta kes
a tremendous amount of patient
data and uncovers patterns the
human brain cannot see.
“We currently ignore somedata because it’s so complex,”
notes Dr. Cedric Manlhiot,
Director of the Cardiovascular
Data Management Centre at
the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart
Research. “For example, right
now, after an exercise test,
clinicians focus on a handful
of data points out of the thou-
sands that are generated by the
test. We have created an artifi-
cial intelligence algorithm that
interprets the data that has trad-
itionally been left out. For the
first time, clinicians are now
provided with unique insights
allowing them to select the most
appropriate therapy for each
individual patient,” he explains.
The future of artificial intelli-
gence does not stop at developing
a more responsive treatment
plan, however. “By mak ing sense
of the personalized data that is
available, we will be able to offer
patients the right treatment at
the right time, before heart dis-
ease occurs,” says Dr. Carolina
Alba, a Cardiologist and Scien-
tist at the Peter Munk Cardiac
Centre. By developing special-
ized algorithms, cardiologists
can move towards preventative
monitoring as opposed to react-
ive treatment.
Thanks to advancements
in artificial intelligence, a new
scenario is possible. In it, two
women visit their doctor’s office
for a routine check-up and their
physicians calmly explain that
based on their age, sex, ethnic
background, genetic compos-
ition, tests, and medical history,
they are both at risk of heart
disease. Undeterred, the phys-
ician proceeds to develop a
personalized treatment plan for
each woman that successfully
prevents the disease from devel-
oping in their lifetime.Mediaplanet