The Indian health sector has seen significant developments through the help of artificial intelligence (AI), experts said. Progress was felt particularly in the cancer treatment and detection segment.
India's health space has started benefiting from the implementation of AI in treating cancer patients, Senior Correspondent at Entrepreneur India, Madhurima Roy, wrote. It is expected that this particular segment will drive growth in the country's overall health sector.
"Over the course of last few years, we have seen a rise in startups in the healthcare sector. Part of the reason could be the ability to innovate in that sector. It is one of the most promising fields for a startup to scale and meet the needs of populous nations like ours," Senior Director, Engineering and Leader of NetApp Excellerator, Ajeya Motaganahalli, said.
Motaganahalli noted that Machine Learning and analytics have helped Indian hospitals achieve quality levels of efficiency. He added that patients are now being serviced better and AI-led startups have helped significantly in carrying out a number of diagnostic tests.
CEO of Good work Labs, Vishwas Mudagal, explained that artificial intelligence could help in detecting cancer easier and earlier. The firm is helping other Indian companies to produce tools that will improve cancer detection. He said an algorithm is being used to predict whether a patient is vulnerable to the disease or not.
Mudagal is expecting that Deep Learning will pave the way for easier cancer diagnosis in the future. While detection is being carried out these days, Mudagal believes Deep Learning processes in AI can establish a breakthrough in diagnosing cancer in the coming years.
In India, there is often an inadequate number of doctors that tend to patients. Industry experts predict that AI can help solve this problem by increasing a doctor's productivity. This, in turn, will provide patients with a more efficient and dependable health environment.
Niramai CEO, Dr. Geetha Manjunath, pointed out that rural villages in India sometimes see doctor visits only once in three months. Manjunath said medical aides can cater to the health community better through the help of artificial intelligence tools created for decision-making tasks.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has started promoting artificial intelligence in various industries. According to Analytics Insight, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) has been mandated to push through with plans for the National Program on AI.
The mandate is part of India's initiative that seeks to develop innovations for various industries to help spur growth in the economy. Two of the major sectors that the initiative will focus on is agriculture and healthcare.
