Could Artificial Intelligence Help Us Predict the Next Epidemic?
Written by Julian, 27-06-2017
The medical startup AIME has successfully combined public health data and artificial intelligence to come up with a method of predicting the outbreak of epidemics before they even happen.
he Artificial Intelligence and Medical Epidemiology platform (otherwise known as AIME Inc) aims to aid in the prevention of diseases by using artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict the outbreak of epidemics. Set up in Malaysia by the epidemiologist Dr Dhesi Raja in collaboration with two computer scientists, Dr Peter Ho and Dr Choo-Yee Ting, their algorithm analyses a large set of data from different sources to determine the site of new outbreaks of dengue fever.
Dengue is an illness that a huge 40% of the population are at risk of contracting, and with a huge 390 million cases each year, according to statistics from the WHO. The virus's reach already stretches all the way from Central and South America, through Africa and Asia right over to Australia. And as temperatures rise, the number of cases is increasing.
Predicting Dengue Outbreaks With A.I.
The system developed by AIME analyses not only public health data, but other data from other sources, such as weather, wind speed, previous outbreaks and a location's proximity to large bodies of water - anything which might influence the behaviour of the mosquitoes that carry the disease. They also look at things like population density in the area, peoples' health records and their income level.
The project started in Malaysia and recently spread further afield, with the AIME team collaborating with NGOs and local governments in Brazil before the Olympic Games in 2016, to carry out a pilot programme and develop preventative strategies to halt the spread of zika and dengue.
Their system claims to be able to provide the exact geo location and date of the next dengue outbreak, up to three months in advance, and can recommend anti-dengue measures for the area within a 400-metre radius - including genetically modified mosquitoes and so-called fogging.
For more examples of how state-of-the-art technologies are helping tackle mosquito-borne diseases around the world, read about how SolarMal is battling mosquitoes with the power of the sun, and the acoustic sensors measuring mozzies' wingbeats in Indonesia. And get the lowdown on the link between poverty and disease in our comprehensive Knowledge article.
This article is a translation of the original which first appeared on RESET's German-language platform.