Science Fiction Turned Reality: Recent AI and MedTech Developments Transforming Patient Outcomes

Since the AI boom took place several years ago, artificial intelligence has been everywhere. It almost feels like every billboard, ad, job description, and even LinkedIn post mentions the powerful tool and the numerous ways it can better our lives.  

It's safe to say there are differing views on the subject. Some are fully AI resistant and are afraid of the robots taking over, while others embrace every aspect of it in both their working and personal lives.  

But whether you’re a fan of using it or not, it’s undeniable that artificial intelligence is having a tremendous impact on life sciences and healthcare. As well as accelerating drug discovery and development, it’s streamlining clinical trials, automating tasks, helping to design personalized therapies – and overall, increasing the pace at which medical breakthroughs happen.  

Below we’ve featured three recent ways that AI and machine learning has made concepts that sound like science fiction become a reality. Even those who are totally against AI can likely accept that they’re quite remarkable.   

AI Models are Building New Antibiotics  

Antibiotic resistance has long been one of humanity’s greatest fears and is a real threat to modern medicine. One particular concern regarding this problem is that discovering new antibiotics is incredibly difficult and time consuming, with complex biology, high costs and low returns. New approaches are desperately needed. 

In recent years, machine learning models have been helping to accelerate antibiotic discovery by quickly identifying patterns and distilling countless possibilities into much smaller numbers. But in August of this year, something even more exciting occurred.  

Scientists have used generative AI models to design entirely new antibiotics against multidrug-resistant bacteria.  

According to Fierce Biotech, the models (trained on a library of 40,000 chemicals) were able to build ‘never-before-seen' antibiotics that killed two of the most notoriously antibiotic-resistant bacteria on the planet.  

These two compounds, NG1 and DN1, both eliminated multidrug-resistant gonorrhea. But even more impressively, DN1 could kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is arguably the most famous of all the resistant pathogens.  

First BCI Device Lets Patient Control iPad with Thoughts  

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are a fascinating development in the world of medical technology. By creating a direct communication pathway between the brain’s electrical activity and an external device, people are beginning to control tech devices with nothing more than thoughts.  

While this is a concept that sounds massively futuristic, it’s already happening. People with neuromuscular disorders such as ALS, speech deficits or paralysis are regaining their independence and communicating with friends and family once again. 

In August, Synchron – a medical device company based in Brooklyn, NY – linked their brain-computer interface technology to an iPad for the first time. This has allowed a patient with ALS to control and navigate the device using just his thoughts (as well as Apple’s built-in accessibility features). 

As reported in a recent statement, Synchron’s CEO Tom Oxley has said: “This is the first time the world has seen native, thought-driven control of an Apple device in action. [The patient]’s experience is a technical breakthrough, and a glimpse into the future of human-computer interaction, where cognitive input becomes a mainstream mode of control.” 

This demonstration marks a major (and hugely exciting) advancement in both BCIs and assistive technology.  

Robot Performs Surgeries without a Human Operator  

In July, an AI-powered, voice-controlled robot performed its first autonomous surgery on a lifelike patient.  

Researchers at John Hopkins University orchestrated a controlled, ex vivo study where the robot successfully performed eight separate gallbladder removal surgeries without any human intervention – all with 100% accuracy.  

It was noticed that the system could recover on its own from initially incorrect instrument placements and react correctly in real-time to unplanned events. It could also adapt to the natural variations in anatomy between simulated patients.  

As said by Axel Krieger, a Johns Hopkins medical roboticist, “this advancement moves us from robots that can execute specific surgical tasks to robots that truly understand surgical procedures.” What was once a futuristic concept has now been proven to be possible.  

Meet takes pride in helping life sciences organizations build teams that contribute to life-changing medicines and medical devices. From clinical stage scale-ups to well-established companies, we help to place the people that create trial wins and exciting advancements that improve global health outcomes.     

If you’re in the AI or Med Tech space and looking to expand an important team or take the next pivotal step in your career journey, please reach out to us today. Alternatively, read our top tips on how to build effective global Med Tech teams.