Jasjit S. Suri: Introducer of Imaging Technology as a Part of Artificial Intelligence in the Healthcare Industry

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its related technologies are growing increasingly prevalent in business and society. It is not one technology but rather a collective. The introduction of AI in the healthcare department has also begun. These technologies have the potential to transform many aspects of patient care, as well as administrative processes within the pharmaceutical organization.

The complexity of data in healthcare means that AI can be increasingly applied to multiple areas. Many healthcare institutions and service providers have already employed AI in their general practices. The main factors for its application include diagnosis, treatment recommendations, patient engagement, and administrative activities.

Jasjit Suri, an American industrialist, innovator, chief technology officer, and scientist, has worked tirelessly to include AI in healthcare. Working in the field of biomedical engineering, industrial computer engineering, computer sciences, software and hardware engineering, clinical and regulatory engineering, and its management, Suri possesses a diversified amount of expertise. However, he generally keeps the focus of his work strictly revolving around the inclusion of AI in Biomedicine and Healthcare.

Many studies have suggested that AI can perform better than humans in certain healthcare tasks, such as diagnosing diseases. For instance, algorithms have successfully outperformed radiologists at spotting malignant tumors and guiding healthcare providers in how to construct cohorts for costly clinical trials. However, despite the many instances in which AI carried out healthcare tasks better than manual support, its implementation is still in the initial phase!

As we all know, the pandemic has become quite a hot topic, but very little is understood about the severity of the event. With the distorted functionality of many hospitals worldwide, many new diseases have emerged. However, the treatment procedure for these ailments can easily be supported with the help of AI. For example, undiagnosed myocarditis was the major cause of death before the pandemic. It generally occurs in young athletes as the heightened activities put an additional strain on a struggling heart, often resulting in a stroke. With the coronavirus still being prevalent, more young athletes are becoming vulnerable to different health disorders.

Being a biomedical engineer and medical imaging specialist, Suri believes that image-based AI can be used to characterize the tissue of a COVID-19 patient and classify the severity of the infection, reducing the time to identify an urgent cardiovascular problem before it's too late. As per Suri's knowledge, a cardiac MRI, once taken, can produce a complex three-dimensional image that must be viewed from multiple angles and in many different ways to make a diagnosis. Under this scenario, AI can be programmed to automate this process to read different features within an image to determine potential patient problems. The inclusion of AI in this situation will reduce the time from test to treatment.

Suri is the CEO of AtheroPoint, a medical imaging technology company that has developed software to provide a similar service for various ailments in different vascular anatomies like coronary artery disease, carotid artery disease, aortic disease, renal artery disease, and peripheral artery disease. Before the pandemic, the technique was already deployed in hospitals all across the world, making the diagnostic process of numerous ailments an easy and much faster process. Belonging to Global Biomedical Technologies Inc., Dr. Suri also provides services for ailments of the non-vascular category, i.e., diseases of thyroid cancer, liver cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and neurological cancer areas.

Suri also said, "We are able to quickly and remotely predict the cardiovascular/stroke risk and severity of blocked arteries and blood vessels using our newly-launched AI software."

By readily training the software to detect COVID-induced heart blockages, he thinks the software can immediately predict cardiac issues before their onset. The use of software in diagnosing cardiovascular issues related to COVID-19 is another milestone in Suri's accomplishments.

Besides AI, Suri has also contributed to machine learning, deep learning, and deep hybrid learning. He has published nearly 200 AI peer-reviewed National Institute of Health, National Library of Medicine, international publications, and four books on AI. In addition, his work in bias evaluation of AI systems and design of "Unseen AI" vs. "Seen AI" systems for COVID, Parkinson, and 10-year cardiovascular diseases (CVD) prediction is also appreciated worldwide.

Suri has over 50 US and European patents. He also managed operations in the healthcare medical device industry at CTO and COO levels and linked with several diagnostic centers around the globe. In honor of his inventions in the field of engineering in medicine, Suri received Life Time Achievement Award from Marquis. Global recognition of his leadership and overall excellence has also earned him Director General's President's Gold medal in 1980.                

Suri has heralded the use of some amazing and unique inventions that are changing the entire landscape of the medical world. There is no doubt that if inventors like Jasjit Suri are present in our healthcare industry, then the future of the medical world will witness a great boom.

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