In this segment of our DAIC Thought Leadership Series, which features one-on-one conversations with cardiovascular leaders, we're talking with Dr. Jeffrey Soble. He serves both as a practicing cardiologist at Rush University Medical Group’s Cardiology Intensive Care Unit, and CEO of Ascend Cardiovascular. In this video he addresses some of the challenges related to collaborating in complex cardiology settings, and provides insight into ways telepresence and augmented reality can be used — from a clinical perspective, using a holistic approach to structured reporting.

HIMMS is working to bring empirical knowledge and evidence of value and impact of digital maturity measured by the HIMSS maturity models and the Digital Health Indicator (DHI), which is a blueprint for digital health advancement. The maturity models provide prescriptive frameworks to healthcare organizations to help build their digital health ecosystems. DAIC spoke with Anne Snowdon, RN, PhD, FAAN, professor of strategy entrepreneurship, Odette Business School, University of Windsor, CEO of SCAN Health and Chief Scientific Research Officer, HIMSS Analytics, to find out more about these models, and what the latest scientific research is telling us.

Dr. Anne Snowdon is a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Odette School of Business, University of Windsor.  Currently, Dr. Snowdon is the Chief Scientific Research Officer for HIMSS, Vice Chair of the Board of the Directors for Alberta Innovates, and member of the Health Futures Council of Arizona State University (ASU).  She is an Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Windsor, the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University and the Centre for Innovative Medical Technology (CIMT), at the University of Southern Denmark.  Dr. Snowdon is leading a national Community of Practice to advance supply chain resilience across Canada, she has published more than 150 research articles, papers and cases, has received over $24 million in research funding, holds patents and has commercialized a highly successful booster seat product for children traveling in vehicles and is a Fulbright Scholar. She holds a PhD in Nursing from the University of Michigan, an MSc from McGill University, and BScN from Western University.  

Find more HIMSS23 coverage here

VIDEO: Moving Digital Transformation Forward in Healthcare

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

Related Digital Transformation Content:

Robocath Launches New Robotic Platform R-One+

VIDEO: Using Maturity Models to Measure Digital Health

VIDEO: Moving Digital Transformation Forward in Healthcare

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

New ACC President Defines Priorities for Year Ahead

Health That Connects + Tech That Cares at HIMSS 2023

ACC22: Transforming Cardiovascular Care

Successfully creating and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and analytic solutions in general requires a number of key factors, including data quality and a certain level of expertise. DAIC had a conversation with Julius Bogdan, a leading expert in Digital transformation, Data and analytics, and Artificial intelligence and machine learning, to learn more about the key components needed to create and implement AI and digital transformation solutions.

Julius is Vice President and General Manager, Digital Health Advisory Team for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). In that role, he leads sales, business development, product management, product marketing and advisory services teams across the continent on digital health transformation. He is responsible for the growth of the HIMSS Analytics portfolio adoption, channel strategy, and cultivating relationships across the provider, payer and public sector health landscape. He also serves on the advisory council of various start-ups and early stage firms in finance and healthcare on technology trends, architecture and market analysis.

Find more HIMSS23 content here 

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

Related Digital Transformation Content:

Robocath Launches New Robotic Platform R-One+

VIDEO: Using Maturity Models to Measure Digital Health

VIDEO: Moving Digital Transformation Forward in Healthcare

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

New ACC President Defines Priorities for Year Ahead

Health That Connects + Tech That Cares at HIMSS 2023

ACC22: Transforming Cardiovascular Care

This year at HIMSS, the theme is Health That Connects + Tech That Cares, and cybersecurity is indeed a part of this picture. ITN spoke with Lee Kim, who is the Senior Principal, Cybersecurity and Privacy at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), on cybersecurity and how healthcare is at risk. In the video, Lee also discusses the 2022 HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey, which reflects the opinions of healthcare cybersecurity professionals. You can more information about the survey results here.

Find more HIMSS23 content here 

2022 HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey Report Results Published

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Related Digital Transformation Content:

Robocath Launches New Robotic Platform R-One+

VIDEO: Using Maturity Models to Measure Digital Health

VIDEO: Moving Digital Transformation Forward in Healthcare

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

New ACC President Defines Priorities for Year Ahead

Health That Connects + Tech That Cares at HIMSS 2023

ACC22: Transforming Cardiovascular Care

At TCT 2022, Jane Leopold, MD, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Director, Women's Interventional Cardiology Health Initiative; and Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, presented on Precision Cardiovascular Medicine. She spoke with DAIC about some of the goals of precision medicine and how this data can be used.

Related TCT 2022 Coverage:

VIDEO: 3-Year Follow-up of the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 Trial

VIDEO: Unique Features of Coronary Artery Disease in Women

Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s (CRF) TCT 2022 in Review

Photo Gallery Highlighting TCT 2022

Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s (CRF) TCT 2022 in Review

TCT 2022 Honors Recipient of Thomas J. Linnemeier Young Investigator Award

TCT 2022 Announces Winner of Shark Tank Innovation Award

Educational Leaders Join Forces on Educational Opportunities

Top TCT 2022 Award Recipients announced by Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF)

Dr. Simon Dixon, MBChB, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak, the Dorothy Susan Timmis Endowed Chair of Cardiology, and a professor of medicine at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, spoke at the 2021 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting about a study Beaumont performed to lower radiation dose in the cath lab by more than 50%.

Using a new angiographic collimation technology from ControlRad, it helped cut radiation dose to interventional cardiologists by 57%. The device collimates the area of interest where the physicians are working, and reduces the dose significantly to peripheral areas in the image. This reduces exposure to ionizing X-ray radiation scatter from the imaging system. It is one of two new radiation protection systems used at Beaumont.

The ControlRad device, approved for commercial cath lab use by the FDA in December 2020, is retrofitted to X-ray equipment in the catheterization lab. It creates a type of aperture that collimates the image area being viewed. By using a touch pad attached to the table side rail, the cardiologist controls the aperture to narrow or widen the field of view on the X-ray, which in turn reduces the amount of radiation used to produce the images. It works with gloves on.

For the study, cath lab workers wore radiation-detecting badges near their thyroid and inside their lead apron during procedures. Another badge was placed on a wall inside the lab. The study detected a 55% to 57% decrease in radiation exposure at the thyroid position of the main cardiologist, or lead operator, and a 49% decrease in radiation exposure to the cardiologist assisting, or operator 2. The badge on the wall detected a 38% decrease in radiation exposure, reflecting the dose savings to other cath lab staff further away from the imaging system.

Beaumont is also using the the Protego system, which places a barrier wall between the imaging equipment and the operator and staff in the cath lab. While it does not protect the patient from radiation during their procedure, it is designed to allow staff to work in the cath lab without wearing a heavy lead apron.

Find links to all the TCT 2021 late-breakers

Find more TCT news

The vendor MediCardia demonstrated smart software to aggregate cardiology patient data from numerous locations into one place at the 2021 Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference. This enables one dashboard view of the patient's relevant cardiac history, prior exams, imaging, ECGs, labs and procedures. It also uses artificial intelligence (AI) to pull key data elements about the patient to automatically create risk assessments based on current guidelines in a graphical format.

The interactive system also allows the cardiologist to adjust parameters in the patient risk score to immediately show the patient any impact on their score. This includes if they stopped smoking, began taking statins, etc. The dynamic graphics of the system are also designed to be more engaging with a patient during consultations, rather than plain white pages of reports.

MediCardia HeartChart is a cardiology-focused virtual care platform that serves as a unified and common interface for EHRs and remote technologies including wearables, consumer home medical devices, and implanted cardiac rhythm devices. 

Related HIMSS CVIS and PACS Content:

Read about more advances in PACS and enterprise imaging at HIMSS 21.

VIDEO: Example of Epsilon Strain Imaging Deep Integration With Siemens CVIS

Photo Gallery of New Technologies at HIMSS 2021

VIDEO: Importance of Body Part Labeling in Enterprise Imaging — Interview with Alex Towbin, M.D.

VIDEO: Coordinating Followup for Radiology Incidental Findings — Interview with David Danhauer, M.D.

Jass Brooks, vice president of global strategic marketing, Biosense Webster, explains four over-arching electrophysiology (EP) trends at the 2021 Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) meeting. The vendor is working on developing, or has introduced, new technologies in each of these four areas.  She said the key technology trends include:

   • Pulsed field ablation (also called electroporation) as a new way to ablate cardiac tissue without damaging underlying structures like the esophagus. 

   • The introduction of 3D/4D intra-cardiac echo (ICE) imaging to better guide procedures.

   • High-density electromapping systems that create more accurate maps of the electrical activity in the heart and can do so faster than previous generation mapping systems.

   • The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into EP systems to speed workflow.

Key among this company's new product introductions at HRS 2021 was the Octaray high-density electro-mapping catheter, which enables faster mapping with a larger number of points. This enables more detailed maps of the heart's electrical activity and may imporve ablation procedure guidance and outcomes. Recent changes to the Carto electro-mapping system now enables integration of this new technology.

Biosense Webster also introduced the Nuvision 4-D intra-cardiac echo (ICE) ultrasound catheter with imaging support from GE Healthcare Vivid Ultra Edition ultrasound systems. This moved ICE beyond 2-D imaging to real-time 3-D and 4-D imaging inside the heart to enable better procedural navigation and visualization of the catheters within in the heart.

Find additional HRS 2021 late breaking trials

Find more EP device news

Find more HRS 2021 conference news

Tom Jones, M.D., director, cardiac catheterization laboratories, Seattle Children’s Hospital, explains some of the new technologies being used to treat congenital heart disease. He discusses the recent trial he served as principle investigator for the new Harmony transcatheter pulmonary valve, the development of a bioresorbable transcatheter septal occluder device, development of large bioresorbable stents for use in pediatric cases, and use of virtual and augmented reality to better understand and guide very complex congenital heart procedures. Jones also explains a patient case where a 3-D printed heart and vessels from the patient helped the heart team understand all the options and how to tackle a valve replacement in a child with a single ventricle.

Jones shared some of these advances in congenital heart intervention sessions at the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2021 meeting. 

Recent Technology Advances in Congenital Heart:

FDA Clears First Device to Treat Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Congenital Heart Disease 

VIDEO: Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Has Good Outcomes at 1 Year — Interview with Tom Jones, M.D.

Medtronic Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Demonstrates Positive Early Clinical Outcomes at One Year

FDA Expands Indication for Melody Transcatheter Valve for Failed Surgical Valves

VIDEO: Use of Virtual Reality to Aid Congenital Heart Disease — Interview with David M. Axelrod, M.D.

Bioresorbable Pulmonary Valve Replacement May Enable Cardiovascular Regeneration

VIDEO: Transcatheter Closure of Holes in the Heart — Interview with Ziyad Hijazi, M.D.

Nemours Children's Health System Uses 3-D Printing to Deliver Personalized Care

Children's Hospital Los Angeles Cardiologist Creates Modified Stent for 18-month-old Using Printed 3-D Model

PolyVascular Awarded $2 Million Small Business Innovation Research Grant to Bring the First Polymer-Based Heart Valve for Children to Clinical Trials

Bioresorbable ASD Occluder Prepares to Enter U.S. Clinical Trial

FDA Approves Abbott's Amplatzer Piccolo Occluder

Critical Need for Pediatric Electrophysiology Devices is Focus of Medical Device Competition 

Lab-created Heart Valves Can Grow With the Patient

SCAI Issues Position Statement on Adult Congenital Cardiac Interventional Training, Competencies and Organizational Recommendations

Abbott Receives European CE Mark for Two Pediatric Heart Devices

ASE Releases Guidelines for Transesophageal Echo in Congenital Heart Disease

Find more congenital heart disease (CHD) content

Ernest Garcia, Ph.D., MASNC, FAHA, endowed professor in cardiac imaging, director of nuclear cardiology R&D laboratory, Emory University, developer of the Emory Cardiac Tool Box used in nuclear imaging and past-president of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC), explains the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in cardiac imaging. He said there is a tsunami of new AI applications that are starting to flood the FDA for market approval, and there are several examples of AI already in use in cardiac imaging. He spoke on this topic in a keynote session at the 2020 ASNC meeting.

Related Artificial Intelligence in Cardiology Content:

VIDEO: Machine Learning for Diagnosis and Risk Prediction in Nuclear Cardiology — Interview with Piotr J. Slomka, Ph.D.,

Artificial Intelligence Applications in Cardiology

VIDEO: Artificial Intelligence May Improve Cath Lab Interventions — Interview with Nick West, M.D., Abbott CMO

How Artificial Intelligence Will Change Medical Imaging

VIDEO: Artificial Intelligence for Echocardiography at Mass General — Interview with Judy Hung, M.D.

VIDEO: ACC Efforts to Advance Evidence-based Implementation of AI in Cardiovascular Care — Interview with John Rumsfeld, M.D.

VIDEO: Overview of Artificial Intelligence and its Use in Cardiology — Interview with Anthony Chang, M.D.

For more AI in cardiology content

Nick West, M.D., chief medical officer for Abbott, explains the details from a survey of 1,400 patients, physicians and healthcare executives in an effort to understand the high-level issues regarding the use of technology in medicine, the gaps in communication, and patient perceptions to guide future technology development. 

Four high-level observations emerged from our study:

1. Patients are frustrated by the level of care they’re receiving – they understandably want a personalized healthcare experience “tailored for me,” across the care continuum.

2. Physicians lament the lack of time they have to spend with patients, their limited visibility into patient adherence to treatment and lifestyle changes, and challenges with other key factors that influence the quality of care they can provide.

3. Administrators are pressured to deliver patient satisfaction and reduce costs across multiple departments.

4. Diagnostic and data-driven technology holds the promise to move care from a point-in-time, intervention-only focus to a more holistic “whole patient” view by improving the accuracy of
diagnosis, appropriate interventions as required, and evidence-based post-procedural care.

Read more about the survey in the article "Emerging Technology and Data Key to Closing Treatment Gaps to Improve Cardiovascular Care."

See Part 2 of this video where West describes the how AI might be used in interventional cardiology in the VIDEO: Artificial Intelligence May Improve Cath Lab Interventions.

This is a tutorial video on how to perform an artificial intelligence (AI) automated cardiac ejection fraction measurement using the GE Healthcare Vscan Extend point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) system and the LVivo EF app, developed and licensed by DiA Imaging Analysis. This FDA-cleared app enables an automated edge detection of left ventricular endocardium and calculates end-diastolic, end-systolic volumes and ejection fraction, using apical 4-chamber view.

the LVivo EF app was showcased by GE Healthcare in its virtual booth at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) 2020 virtual meeting. POCUS imaging has emerged as a primary imaging modality for bedside assessment of COVID-19 patients in 2020.

Related ASE News and POCUS Content:

VIDEO: Automated Cardiac Ejection Fraction for Point-of-care-ultrasound Using Artificial Intelligence

LVivo EF Comparable to MRI, Contrast Echo in Assessing Ejection Fraction

GE Highlights New Echocardiography Technologies at ASE 2020

Other ASE news and video

Todd Villines, M.D., FACC, FAHA, MSCCT, explains how artificial intelligence (AI) might be used in the near future to automatically calculate CT calcium scoring and radiomic feature assessments. This was a key take away during the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) 2020 virtual meeting. 

Villines is the Julian Ruffin Beckwith Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Virginia, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cardiovascular CT (JCCT),  and SCCT past-president.

AI is already commercially used to improve CT image reconstruction to increase the diagnostic quality of the images, especially from low-dose scans. AI is now being applied to automate time-consuming tasks in CT image reads, such as manually calculated calcium scores and automated contouring and quantification of anatomy and function of the heart.

Another area that is seeing a lot of research in in radiomics, where AI is being used to sift through thousands of CT scans to look for subtle imaging traits that may indicate the early development or worsening of disease. These subtle changes may not be evident to radiologists reading the scans, but AI software can identify similarities in patients as a trend and alert researchers to look at that specific trait as a potential imaging biomarker.

Other Key Trends and Technology at SCCT:

Top 9 Cardiovascular CT Studies in Past Year 

VIDEO: Photon Counting Detectors Will be the Next Major Advance in Computed Tomography

VIDEO: Increased Use of Cardiac CT During the COVID-19 Pandemic

VIDEO: Key Cardiac CT Papers Presented at SCCT 2020

Low-attenuation Coronary Plaque Burden May Become Next Big Cardiac Risk Assessment

Impact of Cardiac CT During COVID-19

VIDEO: Artificial Intelligence to Automate CT Calcium Scoring and Radiomics

Regina Druz, M.D., FASNC, a member of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) Board of Directors, chairwomen of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Healthcare Innovation Section, and a cardiologist at Integrative Cardiology Center of Long Island, N.Y., explains the rapid expansion of telemedicine with the U.S. spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2).

Druz spoke on the unprecedented expansion of telemedicine in the U.S. under COVID-19, seeing more use in the last two months, as opposed to the past two decades. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) previously only reimbursed for Telehealth in rural areas it determined had a shortage of doctors. However, in early March 2020, CMS dropped the geographic requirements and allowed Telehealth usage across th country as a way to mitigate person-to-person contact and keep vulnerable, older patients at home for routine check ups with doctors.

Druz has subspecialty certifications in nuclear cardiology, adult echocardiography and cardiac computed tomography (CT) and explains how Telehealth can be used to pre-screen patients and get patient sign off on procedures prior to coming in for an exam, helping speed the process in the hospital and limit personal contact.

Concerns about the rpaid spread of COVID-19 also has driven many radiology departments to convert to wider use of teleradiology to allow more radiologists to work from home and reduce person-to-person contact within the hospitals. 

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopt a $200 million telehealth program to support healthcare providers responding to the
ongoing coronavirus pandemic on April 2, 2020. Read more from the FCC.

CMS Expand Medicare Telehealth Benefits During COVID-19 Outbreak, including dropping requirements for rural health locations only, opening telehealth for use across the United States.

Watch the related VIDEO: Use of Teleradiology During the COVID-19 Pandemic — an interview with John Kim, M.D., chairman, Department of Radiology, THR Presbyterian Plano, Texas, and chief technology officer at Texas Radiology Associates.

Recommendations from Druz are also included in the Best Practices for Nuclear Cardiology Laboratories During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
 

Related COVID-19 Content:

VIDEO: Imaging COVID-19 With Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) — Interview with emergency physician Mike Stone, M.D.,

VIDEO: How China Leveraged Health IT to Combat COVID-19 — Interview with Jilan Liu, M.D., CEO for the HIMSS Greater China

Study Looks at CT Findings of COVID-19 Through Recovery

Experts Stress Radiology Preparedness for COVID-19

ACR Recommendations for the Use of Chest Radiography and CT for Suspected COVID-19 Cases

VIDEO: What Cardiologists Need to Know about COVID-19 — Interview with Thomas Maddox, M.D.

The Cardiac Implications of Novel Coronavirus

An interview with Ehtisham Mahmud, M.D., FSCAI, chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, executive director of medicine, Cardiovascular Institute, director of  interventional cardiology and cardiac cath lab at UC San Diego Medical Center, and president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). He explains the how cardiology departments in the U.S. are now postponing cardiovascular procedures due to novel coronavirus (COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2) containment efforts and new guidelines from Medicare calling for delay of all elective procedures in the country. 

Mahmud explains how patients are being prioritized, with acute myocardial infarction patients or others with acute, life-threatening conditions, or at high risk for a near term hospital admission, will still receive cardiac catheterizations, cardiovascular surgery or structural heart procedures for MitraClip and transcatheter aortic replacement (TAVR) under certain circumstances. All other procedures are being postponed until further notice based in the spread and infection rates of COVID-19. He said most hospitals, including his own, are moving to telehealth visits via phone or online to continue clinic work with patients, including those with chronic conditions such as heart failure.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced March 18, 2020, that all elective surgeries, and non-essential medical, surgical and dental procedures should be delayed during the coronavirus outbreak. This move is three-fold. 
   1. It is to help with containment efforts by reducing patient and family travel to hospitals, which are at the center of the COVID-19 outbreak. 
   2. Delaying procedures will help preserve and inventory of personal protective equipment (PPE), hospital beds and ventilators and other medical supplies. 
   3. With the start of social distancing and the shut down of all large gatherings, this has severely impacted blood drives and other blood donations, so the nation's blood banks have severely limited supplies.

“The reality is clear and the stakes are high — we need to preserve personal protective equipment for those on the front lines of this fight,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma.

This will not only preserve equipment but also free up the healthcare workforce to care for the patients who are most in need. Additionally, as states and the nation as a whole work toward limiting the spread of COVID-19, healthcare providers should encourage patients to remain home, unless there is an emergency, to protect others while also limiting their exposure to the virus. 

Read Mahmud's SCAI President's letter The Evolving Pandemic of COVID-19 and Interventional Cardiology

Related Cardiology Related COVID-19 Content:

ACC COVID-19 recommendations for the cardiovascular care team

VIDEO: What Cardiologists Need to Know about COVID-19 — Interview with Thomas Maddox, M.D.

The Cardiac Implications of Novel Coronavirus

ESC Council on Hypertension Says ACE-I and ARBs Do Not Increase COVID-19 Mortality

VIDEO: Imaging COVID-19 With Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)

CT Provides Best Diagnosis for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Radiology Lessons for Coronavirus From the SARS and MERS Epidemics

Deployment of Health IT in China’s Fight Against the COVID-19 Epidemic

Emerging Technologies Proving Value in Chinese Coronavirus Fight

Radiologists Describe Coronavirus CT Imaging Features

Coronavirus Update from the FDA

CT Imaging of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Pneumonia

CT Imaging Features of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

Chest CT Findings of Patients Infected With Novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV Pneumonia 

Additional COVID-19 Resources for Clinicians:

   ACC COVID-19 Hub page   

   Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center with inteavtive map of cases in U.S. and worldwide 

   World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 situation reports

   World Health Organization (WHO) coronavirus information page

   U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) COVID-19 information page

   Centers for Disease Control (CDC) COVID-19 information page

   Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs) for healthcare providers regarding COVID-19 related payments
 

The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) is the world's gathering place for consumer technologies, with more than 175,000 attendees and more than 4,400 exhibiting companies. New healthcare technologies are among the top trends at CES. This video offers a quick look at the trends specific to healthcare technology.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the hottest technology trends across all product across the CES floor this year. There is also discussion by key note speakers that the internet-of-things (IOT) concept introduced at CES nearly a decade ago is now morphing into a new meaning for the interconnectivity-of-things. This can be seen in healthcare products shown here and across all types of consumer and business products. 

The device technology at CES include many examples of how integrated wearables can digitally enable healthcare. The future of healthcare will include system where consumers are continuously monitored with sensors, software and services that can pinpoint digital biomarkers — earlier warning signs that predict health events. This is the prediction of Leslie Saxon, M.D., executive director of the University of Southern California (USC) Center for Body Computing (CBC), is speaking as a panelist about digital health trends and challenges in the session “Proving the Impact of Transformative Technology.” 

Saxon is a board-certified cardiologist and digital health expert who understands how developing technologies can more accurately assess wellness and human performance among elite athletes, military personnel and patients. She explained this digital healthcare model of the future is a vast contrast to the current point-of-care model.

This is the LVivo auto cardiac ejection fraction (EF) app that uses artificial intelligence (AI) from the vendor Dia, displayed at the Radiological Society Of North America (RSNA) 2019. The user opens the app in a couple seconds the AI defines to myocardial border and calculates EF for left ventricle (LV). It is shown here integrated into the GE Healthcare VScan point-of-care-ultrasound system (POCUS).

The company also partners with Konica-Minolta to supply auto EF for ultrasound images on its cardio PACS.

Read more about the system from an ASE 2019 study 

This is an example of an augmented reality (AR) training system for transesophageal echo (TEE) created by the simulation company CAE. Rather than just looking at an overhead screen, this system allows the user to use a HoloLens visor to see the impact their probe manipulation has on the imaging and better shows the orientation of the ultrasound probe, the 2-D ultrasound image slice and the relation to the anatomy. It was displayed at the 2019 Radiological Society Of North America (RSNA) meeting.

Read more about this technology.

Find more technology news and video from the RSNA meeting

Piotr J. Slomka, Ph.D., FACC, research scientist in the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Program, Department of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai, and professor of medicine in-residence of the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. He explains how his team at Cedars-Sinai is working on intelligent patient risk prediction algorithms that will automatically extract information from medical imaging. He spoke on artificial intelligence (AI) development for medical imaging in sessions at the 2019 American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) annual meeting. 

Find more articles and video on AI