The term artificial intelligence conjures in most people’s mind images of robots, industrial automatons, and virtual assistants.

However, AI is also working behind the scenes to revolutionise a multitude of industries, including healthcare. In fact, AI is already making invaluable contributions to healthcare, driving innovative projects from genomic testing and drug development to patient data management.

We are already seeing evidence of these technologies starting to aid the development of personalised medicines, help cut down waiting times, and reduce clinical variation. These pockets of innovation are a case in point that AI can be a real force for good in healthcare.

In 2020, for example, scientists announced they developed a new antibiotic thanks to AI, where more than one hundred million chemical compounds were analysed in a matter of days. The newly discovered compound was able to kill 35 types of potentially deadly bacteria and represents a major breakthrough in the fight against drug resistance.

AI is also providing assistance in the day-to-day operations of healthcare institutions, from improved accuracy in diagnosis and dispensing medications more efficiently.

The examples above are just the tip of the iceberg. With access to the right data and the right tools to store and analyse said data, AI can transform healthcare across the globe.

Healthcare IT leaders are sitting up and taking note. According to a recent report, the Asia Pacific market for AI in healthcare applications crossed USD 274 million in 2020, and is expected to grow at 48 per cent between 2021 and 2027.

Driving this growth is the fast-growing volume of data in the industry. For instance, the databases of hospitals, pharmacies and laboratories contain information from thousands of patients, such as medical records, prescriptions, procedures, administrative documentation and exams, and image captures.

As AI continues to drive research and development in healthcare, so too will the volume of data grow exponentially.

It is clear that AI will bring cheaper and more efficient healthcare services to the world. Unfortunately, many healthcare organisations are held back by aging IT systems and are not in a position to take full advantage of the technology.

Traditional data centres have done reasonably well in enabling healthcare practitioners to deliver effective patient care. However, they were never built with the intention of running today’s demanding data applications, to say nothing of the cutting-edge projects that lie ahead.

To keep pace, a modern IT infrastructure that places data at the heart of its implementation is a must. For example, a flexible consumption model that spans on-premise, hosted, and public cloud helps to align application workloads with the most effective infrastructure, resulting in higher efficiency and cost-savings.

Olympus, a leading manufacturer of medical devices, is one company that successfully plugged into AI by approaching their IT implementation with a focus on storage. When the company’s existing infrastructure failed to keep up with the growing volumes of imaging data and the fast pace of development, Olympus turned to Pure Storage’s all-flash storage performance and AIRI, the industry’s first full-stack AI-ready infrastructure.

As a result, Olympus developers can provision all the resources needed to build, test, and deploy applications on demand and can go to market faster with new AI solutions that have the potential to transform the market.

Similar successes were achieved by Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH), the largest medical center in Taiwan. In 2018, CGMH established its Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, building on its massive collection of clinical and medical data.

By adopting Pure’s all-flash storage and AIRI, system learning time was shortened from seven days to just one day, increasing computing efficiency by seven times. In addition, the single storage platform supports the computing power of over 10 AI servers.

Technology is just one part of the equation. As data and AI technologies become increasingly important in healthcare, staff will also have to be equipped with the necessary skill-sets like data analytics to maximise their impact, whether they are doctors or administrators. Education, support and collaboration will be key to truly feel the benefits of this technology.

Global healthcare organisations deserve a modern data experience that removes complexities and antiquated systems, and replaces them with fast, flexible and agile solutions. For more information, please read our brief.