The nurse-patient relationship is being re-shaped by the proliferation of technology
When Gillian Lemermeyer decided at age 17 to become a nurse, she was following in her mother’s footsteps, so she expected her mom to be thrilled when she told her the news. “I was surprised when she grew very serious,” Lemermeyer remembers. “She said, ‘Okay, but do you understand what it means to be looking after…
AI-powered portable ultrasound system makes scans and diagnoses accessible from anywhere
Imagine if family doctors, nurses, technicians – even ski patrollers – could use handheld ultrasound devices to screen for everything from hip dysplasia to wrist fractures to heart disease from anywhere. A new approach to scans developed at the University of Alberta pairs the accessibility of portable ultrasound with an artificial intelligence app that can…
Having trouble spotting trends in endless spreadsheets? Visual analytic tools can help
With its vast volumes, big data is useless without the analytic and presentation functionality of visual analytical tools. Think how difficult it is to spot anomalies or trends in endless rows of spreadsheet data. Visual analytic tools solve that overload problem. Big data is an in-vogue topic in the information technology world. Many executives see…
Machine learning model has potential to be developed into an accessible and cost-effective tool
University of Alberta researchers have trained a machine learning model to identify people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with 80 per cent accuracy by analyzing the text those people wrote. The model could one day serve as an accessible and inexpensive screening tool to support health professionals in detecting and diagnosing PTSD or other mental health…
Algorithm scans pathology, radiology reports for information to aid researchers in improving outcomes
Every time you enter a phrase or a sentence into Google search, algorithms kick in using a technique called natural language processing to understand what you really want to know and then find you an answer. Now University of Alberta researchers will use a similar approach to develop a computer program that can “read” doctors’…
Canada’s economy has transitioned from the resources under our feet to the resources between our ears
The first month of a new year is named January after the Roman god Janus, who had two faces – one looking backward and the other looking forward. Janus illustrates humanity’s ambition that the first month of the new year is a time to take stock of the past and make plans for the future.…
A rejected patent application nearly derailed years of research, but support from experts saved the day
In 2015, University of Alberta cancer researcher Jack Tuszynski learned that his patent application for a promising chemotherapy treatment for people suffering from metastatic bladder cancer had been rejected by the U.S. Patent Office. “That was it. I thought, ‘We can’t proceed, we’re done, we spent almost a decade working on this and it’s a no go,’”…
Researchers are using AI to create customized soundscapes that could help patients relax and sleep
A music professor and his interdisciplinary research team are aiming to reduce stress in intensive care patients with soothing soundscapes. Based on machine learning, the “smart” sound system would read physiological feedback such as heart rate, breathing and sweat gland response to customize calming sounds for individual patients, said principal investigator Michael Frishkopf, professor in…
Staying one step ahead of illicit drug makers
An international team of researchers is using artificial intelligence to predict new illegal drugs before they hit the streets – which could help save lives and fight crime. “We are anticipating what street drugs, or novel psychoactive substances, will appear before they are made or before they enter communities,” said team member David Wishart, University…
Computing scientists developing AI to combat pandemic by taking advantage of health data
How many new COVID-19 cases will be in the ICU three weeks from today? University of Alberta scientists are using the wealth of public health data on COVID-19 to build AI-powered tools to help project and combat the pandemic. “Our team is using ideas from epidemiology and machine learning to develop tools to forecast the…