The transformative power of AI has come into focus over the past year. But in Durham, North Carolina, AI has driven innovations in health care for a long time.
Durham is part of North Carolina's renowned Research Triangle, home to more than 600 life sciences companies. Roughly 24,000 people in the region work in the life sciences industry, which generates nearly $10 billion in economic output for the area.
Researchers in the Triangle have leveraged AI to achieve medical breakthroughs. Dr. Weifan Zheng, an associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at North Carolina Central University, uses AI to find new uses for existing drugs. Working with researchers, Dr. Zheng uses AI to comb through biomedical literature and clinical data to discover potential relationships between medicines and diseases. His work is helping to accelerate the discovery of new drugs and find new uses for existing ones so patients can get the medicines they need.
Clinicians are also reimagining patient care with AI that increases the efficiency of medical documentation and aids in diagnoses using medical imaging. Dr. Kristalyn Gallagher, section chief of breast surgery at University of North Carolina School of Medicine, works with AI to improve surgery outcomes for patients with breast cancer. Dr. Gallagher uses AI analytics to help predict whether cancerous tissue that is usually invisible to the naked eye has been fully removed. This technology decreases the likelihood that patients need to return for a second or third surgery and could equalize health outcomes for hospitals with fewer resources and specialists.
An AI-powered technology called Sepsis Watch, created by the Duke Institute for Health Innovation, is already in use in Duke's hospital system. This groundbreaking tool uses AI to identify patients most at risk for sepsis and helps nurses and physicians quickly connect these patients to care in realtime. Since Duke began using this tool, the hospital system has seen a dramatic 27% decrease in sepsis-related deaths.
The Research Triangle is also home to a strong culture of entrepreneurship, and many health care start-ups are embracing the power of AI. One of these is medical technology start-up Gradient Health, which is accelerating automated AI diagnostics by providing health care providers, research organizations, and companies with bulk access to organized medical images that are needed to train and validate AI. Automated diagnostics contribute to making health care more equitable and accessible to everyone, a goal that the broader tech industry supports. Prioritizing health equity, especially in data inputs to the tools and inpatient access to AI-enabled life-saving technology is critical. Throughout the business community, leaders underscore the importance of public-private partnerships and information-sharing with institutions to benefit AI development and application.
Across the region, the health care industry has already begun harnessing the potential of AI and is leading the way in the development of new applications. From pharmacology to surgery to clinics, AI has already improved our health care throughout the health system. The Research Triangle will surely be at the forefront of the next wave of innovation.
