China is turning to AI to fix its lack of doctors in the country.
First reported by the MIT Technology Review, about 131 tech companies are working to integrate AI into China’s healthcare sector as there are currently only 1.5 doctors for every 1,000 people. The Chinese government is currently seeking to push for the usage of AI in their sectors for efficiency and to make up for manpower.
One hospital will run an AI algorithm for its routine lung scans starting next month. The algorithm was developed by Beijing startup Peredoc, and will be installed in 20 more hospitals in the near future. And Chinese doctors themselves are helping to develop programs; a prosthodontist named Peijun Lv is working with Tsinghua University to “develop an AI program that can design dentures”. And Peng Liu, a lymphoma doctor is also collaborating with researchers at Tsinghua to create an algorithm that detects blood clots caused by lymphoma treatment using ultrasound data.
The IDC reports that China’s AI market in the healthcare industry could be worth as much as 5.9 billion yuan ($930 million).
