Artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine, current applications and future role with special emphasis on its potential and promise in pathology: Present and future impact, obstacles including costs and acceptance among pathologists, practical and philosophical considerations. A comprehensive review

Authors

Zubair Ahmad, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Shabina Rahim, Aga Khan University
Maha Zubair, Aga Khan University
Jamshid Abdul Ghafar, French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children (FMIC), Kabul, AfghanistanFollow

Document Type

Review Article

Department

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Abstract

Background: The role of Artificial intelligence (AI) which is defined as the ability of computers to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence is constantly expanding. Medicine was slow to embrace AI. However, the role of AI in medicine is rapidly expanding and promises to revolutionize patient care in the coming years. In addition, it has the ability to democratize high level medical care and make it accessible to all parts of the world.
Main text: Among specialties of medicine, some like radiology were relatively quick to adopt AI whereas others especially pathology (and surgical pathology in particular) are only just beginning to utilize AI. AI promises to play a major role in accurate diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancers. In this paper, the general principles of AI are defined first followed by a detailed discussion of its current role in medicine. In the second half of this comprehensive review, the current and future role of AI in surgical pathology is discussed in detail including an account of the practical difficulties involved and the fear of pathologists of being replaced by computer algorithms. A number of recent studies which demonstrate the usefulness of AI in the practice of surgical pathology are highlighted.
Conclusion: AI has the potential to transform the practice of surgical pathology by ensuring rapid and accurate results and enabling pathologists to focus on higher level diagnostic and consultative tasks such as integrating molecular, morphologic and clinical information to make accurate diagnosis in difficult cases, determine prognosis objectively and in this way contribute to personalized care.

Comments

Pagination are not provided by the author/publisher

Publication (Name of Journal)

Diagnostic Pathology

Recommended Citation

Ahmad, Z., Rahim, S., Zubair, M., Ghafar, J. A. (2021). Artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine, current applications and future role with special emphasis on its potential and promise in pathology: Present and future impact, obstacles including costs and acceptance among pathologists, practical and philosophical considerations. A comprehensive review. Diagnostic Pathology, 16(1), 24.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_pathol_microbiol/1321

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.