AI In Healthcare: Researchers have developed an AI system that can easily identify patients with masked hypertension. It can pick up on signs that are invisible to doctors.
AI systems can detect signs of hypertension that escape doctors.
AI In Healthcare: Millions of people worldwide suffer from hypertension. This can lead to heart disease, stroke, and kidney problems. About 10 percent of people with hypertension suffer from masked hypertension. This means that blood pressure appears completely normal during a checkup, but in reality, it is high. Doctors often fail to detect this, which results in patients not receiving timely treatment. Now, AI systems can address this problem. In the case of this disease, AI will detect risks that doctors often miss.
What is the method to detect masked hypertension?
The most common way to diagnose this condition is with a wearable device that monitors blood pressure throughout the day. This method is accurate, but it is not widely used. Wearing this device all day can be cumbersome and expensive. Consequently, the condition remains undiagnosed in most patients.
AI can provide a solution.
A study at the University of Arkansas offers hope for a solution to this problem. Researchers at the university have developed an AI system that can detect masked hypertension using standard health data. The system was trained using information from a large study conducted in South Africa, African-PREDICT. This information allows the AI program to recognize patterns associated with masked hypertension. When tested, it accurately identified 83 percent of cases of masked hypertension. It's remarkable that it doesn't require any special equipment.
The entire game may change like this in the future.
Another advantage of this system is that it can process more information simultaneously. In comparison, doctors rely on limited indicators. This allows the system to identify hidden risks that doctors typically miss. In the future, this tool could be used in health record systems, allowing doctors to detect this disease during routine patient check ups. This will speed up patient screening and help them get treatment sooner.
