Hello, friends! Today, we're in for a fun ride as we sit down with the very brilliant Dr. Pierre Elias, a visionary at the crossroads of healthcare and technology. Dr. Elias is here to take us on a journey through the intersection of artificial intelligence and healthcare. So, let's dive right into this intriguing conversation.
A Visionary in the Medical Arena
It's an honor to introduce you to Dr. Pierre Elias. A wizkid in the field of cardiology, he spends a solid chunk of his time – around 20% to be exact – caring for patients at Columbia University. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Dr. Elias wears multiple hats - he's an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, managing the Cardiovascular and Radiologic Deep Learning Environment (CRADLE) Lab. And if that weren't enough, he's also the Director of AI innovation at New York Presbyterian, a healthcare system encompassing the broader New York area.
The Inspiration
Welcome to Dr. Elias’ world, where medicine is aided by technology to create something powerful. His vision is simple but profound: both providers and patients deserve better technological solutions. Dr. Elias drives this point home with a touching image he shows people– a drawing [as seen below] that was given to a doctor by a patient's daughter. It shows a mother seated at an examination table with her daughter on one side, and a physician immersed in his computer on the other. It's a stark reminder of technology's power to both assist and isolate.
Pixels with a Purpose: A New Chapter in Medicine
Dr. Elias guides us through the field of medical imaging, where AI models are reshaping healthcare's landscape. He notes the contrast between AI's potential and human interpretation's limitations. He advocates focusing AI innovation on areas where machines outperform humans. He represents this point with two examples. First, the very lines below appear unparallel or wonky to the human eye but actually are parallel - machines are pretty good at detecting these patterns.
The second example feels like it’s out of a science fiction novel: AI exceeds human abilities by detecting subtle facial color changes to identify irregular heartbeats. As you can tell by now, Dr. Elias aims not for marginal but transformative improvements through AI in healthcare.
AI: Beyond Boundaries of Expertise
Dr. Elias has this awesome take on AI that blows traditional expertise out of the water.
Here is an example that had me scratching my head: Dr. Elias notes that AI is better at spotting vascular heart disease using more cost-effective ECGs, than the more expensive echocardiograms often reserved for symptomatic patients.
While a regular cardiologist might miss irregular heartbeat on ECGs, AI models are significantly better at it. Dr. Elias is interested in revamping those tests that aren't the greatest yet cheap and easily accessible. His brilliance lies in understanding that it’s way better to substantially improve widely available and affordable ECGs type tests than marginally improve the more expensive options like the electrocardiograms.
AI: Beyond Myth, into Reality
We asked Dr. Elias what he thought about the concept of synthetic data. While it was interesting to him, he notes the importance of understanding real clinical data. With that said, there are certain exceptions though. He gives the example of the transformative potential of companies like Subtle Medical, which use lower-resolution PET scans or MRIs to "hallucinate" up into higher-resolution images, allowing for faster procedures with reduced radiation exposure.
Meet the Maestro: Dr. Elias
Before we wrap up this conversation, I wanted to thank Dr. Elias from the bottom of my heart for making time in his busy schedule. His medical journey began at Duke University School of Medicine, leading him to a residency and fellowship at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He's picked up a number of awards including the prestigious Emerging Generation Award and The Most Innovative Junior Researchers in the country. If that wasn’t enough, Dr. Elias did a brief stint as a data scientist at Lumiata and had a role in developing Google's Knowledge Graph for Health.
You can read the transcripts of the entire interview here.
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