2023-09-12 16:47:01
Helping diabetic patients, almost 500 million worldwide, thanks to the innovation of artificial intelligence in the medical field. This is the work that Greta Preatoni, researcher at the Neuroengineering laboratory of ETH, the Federal Polytechnic of Zurich, is carrying out. One of the ‘brains’ who will be a guest on 30 September in Milan at ‘Synapse’, a conference on artificial intelligence organized by Bending Spoons. “I am working in the laboratory led by Stanisa Raspopovic which follows various projects with AI, previously I followed the research that led to MyLeg, a start-up that aims to create wearable technologies that ‘restore’ the sense of touch artificially, which then became MyNerva. Today – she explains to time.news Salute – however I am focused on the use of artificial intelligence to reduce chronic pain in diabetic neuropathy. This is thanks to a better calibration of neurostimulation”.
According to the Italian Society of Endocrinology, approximately 30-50% of patients with diabetic neuropathy develop pain, which is most frequently a spontaneous burning pain in the feet. “Today, thanks to AI, it is possible to personalize the intervention on the patient and the algorithms help to reduce the time of calibration for therapy, which are often long and difficult, and therefore also improve the sensation of pain. We are also working – continues the scientist – to an algorithm capable of separating the psychological ‘part’ of pain from the nervous one”. In addition to Greta Preatoni, two other Italians also work in the team, Noemi Gozzi and Federico Ciotti.
Are we facing a revolution in the field of diabetes? “If AI is used correctly, the benefits are high – replies Preatoni, who has been working in Switzerland since 2019 – I am skeptical in thinking that there will be a complete revolution in the approach to patient treatments, but the idea of going further and further towards individualized therapy”.
What are the limits to overcome to bring ‘medicine 2.0’ to the patient’s bedside? “The impact of AI is on time – he clarifies – while a doctor can take days to make a difficult diagnosis because he has to delve deeper and perhaps compare notes with other colleagues, a ‘computer’ can take a handful of seconds. But it is necessary to collect the data in a structure – he concludes – that networks the many lines of research in this field, otherwise we have small numbers that are limited in the medical field”.
#improves #pain #relief