Healthcare AI Guy Weekly | 8/6

Our Picks ✨

Highlights if you’ve only got 2 minutes…

1/

Elon Musk’s Neuralink implanted in second patient

Elon Musk shared on Lex Fridman's podcast that Neuralink has implanted its brain-computer interface device in a second patient with a spinal cord injury. This follows the first implantation in Noland Arbaugh, a quadriplegic accident victim. Despite challenges with the first device, which has only 15% of its channels operational, Arbaugh can still read and play video games. The second implantation reportedly went "extremely well," with 400 out of 1,024 electrodes functioning. Neuralink plans to implant devices in up to eight more patients this year, signaling progress in their FDA-authorized trials. (link)

2/

AI reprograms brain cancer cells

Researchers at USC have discovered a groundbreaking way to fight glioblastoma, the deadliest brain cancer, using AI. They've managed to reprogram cancer cells into dendritic cells that activate the immune system in mice, turning the tumor against itself. This innovative approach, combined with immune checkpoint therapy, boosted survival rates by up to 75% in mouse models. With human trials on the horizon, this research could pave the way for revolutionary treatments not only for glioblastoma but also for other challenging cancers. It's a promising step toward making cancer a thing of the past. (link)

3/

AI matches doctors in diagnosis but struggles with explanation

AI is making significant strides in patient diagnosis but struggles to explain its reasoning. A study in npj compared GPT-4V with human physicians on 207 image-based diagnostic challenges. Both scored similarly, with GPT-4V achieving 81.6% accuracy and physicians 77.8%. GPT-4V outperformed physicians in closed-book tests but fell behind when physicians could use outside resources and notes. Although GPT-4V performed well, the rationale was often flawed, with error rates up to 27% in image comprehension. Even though AI's diagnostic capabilities are impressive, it still lacks the ability to reliably justify its decisions, highlighting the ongoing importance of human judgment in healthcare. (link)

Tools & Partnerships 🔧

Latest on business, consumer, and clinical healthcare AI tools and partnerships…

TOOLS

• AI predicts bowel cancer recurrence risk: A study from the University of Leeds found that AI could help predict the risk of bowel cancer returning in patients, potentially assisting doctors in identifying high-risk cases and avoiding unnecessary chemotherapy. (link)

• AI dentist completes first human procedure: An autonomous robot dentist performed the world's first human dental procedure, preparing a tooth for a crown in about 15 minutes — significantly faster than human dentists. (link)

• Patients can't tell the difference between real and AI messages: JAMIA published an interesting study that explored the iterative process of prompting an LLM to answer in-basket messages. Researchers found that after multiple prompt updates, patients couldn’t distinguish clinician- from AI-generated in 76% of messages. (link)

• OpenAI begins ChatGPT Voice rollout: OpenAI has begun a limited rollout of its hotly anticipated ‘Advanced Voice Mode’ for paying ChatGPT Plus users, offering natural, real-time conversations and the ability for the AI to detect and respond to emotions. (link)

• Infinitus announces AI eBV+ for patients covered by commercial insurance: Infinitus Systems, the healthcare AI company that automates the collection of data traditionally gathered via manual phone calls, announced a fully digital, instant electronic benefit verification offering for patients covered by commercial insurance seeking access to specialty medications. (link)

• John Snow Labs unveils no-code AI testing tool: The healthcare AI company released an update to its Generative AI Lab that allows users to test custom language models. (link)

PARTNERSHIPS

• Oschner + DeepScribe: Ochsner Health inked an enterprise-wide agreement with DeepScribe to roll out its AI medical scribe across its 46-hospital system for 4,700 providers. (link)

• Providence + Xsolis: Providence is expanding an AI platform that creates medical necessity scores to predict the level of care patients will need to 28 hospitals. The health system first deployed Xsolis' AI and predictive analytics software at eight hospitals in Oregon and plans to bring it to more facilities. (link)

• Carta Healthcare + MedAxiom: The AI-driven health data platform is being leveraged by the cardiovascular organizational performance solutions company with the goal of making data abstraction processes more efficient, high quality, and cost-effective. (link)

Deal Desk 💸 

Spotlight on latest capital raises, M&A, and investments…

FUNDING

• Outpace Bio, a Seattle, Wash.-based company developing an AI-powered protein design for battling tumors, raised $144M in Series B funding. RA Capital Management led the round and was joined by Qatar Investment Authority, Surveyor Capital, Sheatree Capital, Black Opal Ventures, and others. (link)

• Healx, a Cambridge, England-based AI-powered biotech for rare diseases, raised $47M in Series C financing. R42 Group and Atomico led the round and were joined by Balderton, Jonathan Milner, Global Brain, and others. (link)

• Perceptive, a Boston, Mass.-based dental robotics company, raised $30M in seed and Series A funding. PDS Health, Dr. Ed Zuckerberg, Innospark Ventures, and others led the round. (link)

• MedScout, an Austin, Texas-based revenue acceleration platform for medtech and life science businesses, raised $15M in Series A funding. Fulcrum Equity Partners led the round and was joined by Stage 2 Capital and LiveOak Ventures. (link)

• Noze, a Montreal, Canada-based leader in breath-based diagnostics, secured a $5M equity investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (link)

• Orchid, a Wilmington, Del.-based AI-powered clinical notes platform designed for mental health cases, raised $1.5M from Y Combinator and others. (link)

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

• AvaSure + Ouva AI Tech: AvaSure acquired Ouva’s smart room solutions to enhance its acute virtual care portfolio following a successful partnership to weave Ouva’s AI capabilities throughout the AvaSure platform. (link)

Other Relevant News 🔍

News, podcasts, blogs, tweets, resources, etc…

• Doctors are pushing back against automatic denials from insurers by allowing AI tools to write their appeals (link)

• Health systems' game plans for AI integration (link)

• Google looks to AI, hospitals to reverse healthcare fortunes (link)

• CMS can already regulate AI safety in hospitals (link)

• Utah's new AI Office zeroes in on genAI in mental healthcare (link)

Visuals of the Week 📸

Funny memes, cool pics, and interesting data from around the web…