Your Phone Can Tell If You Are Depressed – The Medical Futurist Newsletter

Vocal biomarkers, a VR therapy for back pain and future professions in healthcare. If you had access to a large language model that could help predict the outcome of specific questions, what would you use it for? The Center for AI Safety developed [a superhuman AI forecasting bot]( for exactly that purpose. I also [shared]( a great futures method you can start using today, it’s called the 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥. It's a simple brainstorming method to help you think about the possible consequences of an idea or event. It works on the principle of causal relationships, assuming that every action or occurrence can lead to a series of subsequent effects. Give it a try! I hope you will find the newsletter useful! Best regards, Berci Bertalan Meskó, PhD The Medical Futurist ['SMALL LANGUAGE' AI DETECTS DEPRESSION IN KOREA]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Vocal biomarkers on the rise! In South Korea, there is a new mental health diary app using generative AI (a small language model!) that can screen for depression. The algorithm analyses a user's speech patterns and provides near real-time insights into their mental state with 90% accuracy. [READ MORE]( WHY DO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT? Three trends collide in this one announcement: - small language models so users can use the service even without internet - vocal biomarkers - mental health diagnostics. [HIGHMARK BECOMES FIRST COMMERCIAL INSURER TO COVER APPLIEDVR'S RELIEVRX]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Health insurer Highmark Health becomes the first in the US to cover AppliedVR 's FDA-cleared virtual reality offering to treat chronic low back pain! I tested AppliedVR's technology about 8 years ago and it looked impressive back then. "𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑉𝑅𝑥, 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑔𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎 𝟧𝟨-𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠, 𝑎𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑦 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠." [READ MORE]( WHY DO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT? For a health insurer to cover it just like a biomedical treatment or a digital therapeutic is a huge win not just for the company but for the VR developer community too. It could open the way to many other similar offerings, including drug-free options that empower patients to self-manage their pain. [TOP 20 DIGITAL HEALTH TRENDS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Digital technology could help transform unsustainable healthcare systems, provide cheaper, faster, and more effective solutions for diseases – and could lead to healthier individuals living in healthier communities. In this book, we analyze the top 20 trends shaping the future of healthcare, and what they all look like in practice. [ENROLL HERE]( [7 FUTURISTIC PROFESSIONS IN HEALTHCARE YOU CAN STILL PREPARE FOR]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Those who don’t adopt those disruptive digital health technologies will be replaced by those who do so. So let’s see 7 of those new professions that are practical enough that people going into their careers could start specialising towards. [READ MORE]( WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Thinking about potential jobs in the future might help the current workforce better retrain themselves. It can also help employers prepare for the special skills and environments required by these unique professions. [ONE IN FIVE GPS USE AI SUCH AS CHATGPT FOR DAILY TASKS, SURVEY FINDS]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Based on a survey of over 1000 British primary care physicians, one in five uses generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help with tasks such as writing letters for their patients after appointments. "𝟤𝟪% 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑠.𝐴 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝐴𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠, 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑡𝐺𝑃𝑇, 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑏𝑦 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒." [READ MORE]( WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? What's surprising to me is that it's only one fifth and not more. Large language models can be amazingly useful if physicians are good at prompt engineering. Every medical association and college of physicians should have already been released guidelines and practical recommendation. [REGULATORY RESPONSES AND APPROVAL STATUS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MEDICAL DEVICES WITH A FOCUS ON CHINA]( --------------------------------------------------------------- A new study published in npj Digital Medicine analyzed how regulatory bodies respond to artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled medical devices. They focused on China and shared interesting observations. "𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑀𝑃𝐴’𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝐼 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒." [READ MORE]( WHY DO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT? It seems that, just like in the study we published there about the US system, radiology and cardiology stand out. Regarding technology types, CT scans, X-ray, ECG and fundus photographs are the most common targets for AI. Also, the FDA sometimes seems to be months slower (even 20 months) than the Chinese regulators. [WITHINGS SLEEP RX MAT RECEIVES FDA 510(K) CLEARANCE]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Great news from Withings as its Sleep Rx Mat, a contactless device under the mattress, receives FDA 510(k) clearance for diagnosing sleep apnea at home. "𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑅𝑥 𝑀𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠, 𝑎 𝑝𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑜𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠." [READ MORE]( WHY DO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT? I've been using it for years paired with their smartwatch to make the smart sleep alarm even sharper. This could be a boost to better diagnosing sleep apnoe. 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