Microsoft to open new division for medical AI research

Microsoft is planning a new healthcare division at its Cambridge research facility to develop artificial intelligence (AI) software for the health industry, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The company has appointed Iain Buchan, a former professor in public health informatics at the University of Manchester, to lead the medical division, the newspaper says.

He will be tasked with assisting Microsoft’s Healthcare NExT initiative, which collaborates with other organisations in the health industry to integrate new technologies into medical products and services, and also researches high-tech solutions for medical professionals.

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Buchan says technology developed at the facility, including AI software and cloud computer systems, could be used to “act quickly and prevent problems before they need urgent medical attention.”

For example, The Daily Telegraph says the division plans to develop “monitoring systems that can help keep patients out of hospitals and alert them in a timely manner about problems”, as well as conduct “large studies into diseases such as diabetes.”

AI programmes that can be integrated with the healthcare industry are being worked on by multiple companies and research centres.

Last week, Engadget reported that AI software is being developed by a team of researchers from the University of Bari in Italy to detect signs of Alzheimer’s disease up to ten years before symptoms appear.

There’s also an AI programme that researchers from several universities in California are building that may be able to identify the diseases through an eye test, says Digital Trends.