A UT Southwestern doctor is using AI research to speed up Alzheimer's diagnosis process
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – In the last year, we've heard a lot about artificial intelligence, or AI. Advancements in this field are progressing at a rapid pace, and this is especially true for the medical industry.
One UT Southwestern Medical Center doctor's research and findings may one day change the way we detect Alzheimer's Disease.
Dr. Ihab Hajjar is a neurology professor who specializes in this field. He's been researching AI to speed up the diagnosis process.
Specifically, he's using technology that captures subtle changes in a patient's voice. It could help diagnose the disease before symptoms begin to show.
"So what we did is we took a group of people who are considered impaired, or having memory problems, and a group of people who are healthy," he said. "We asked the computer, or program, can you tell us if there's a difference between the two groups?"
Hajjar and other researchers showed the participants a picture and asked them to describe it.
"There were some clear discrepancies or differences between the two groups that if you were to listen to them, we may not be able to recognize those differences but because the computer takes all the information and sets it at a fast rate, it was able to detect those differences," he said.
Hajjar says if confirmed with larger, more in-depth studies, this technology could provide primary care providers with an easy-to-perform screening tool.
"I think if it continues to grow and continues to show promise as it did in our study, yes that will be a game changer," he said.
Read more about his work here.