Main applications of AI in COVID-19 pandemic

In this worldwide health crisis, the medical industry is looking for new technologies to monitor
and controls the spread of COVID19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. AI is one of such technology
which can easily track the spread of this virus, identifies the high-risk patients, and is useful in
controlling this infection in real-time. It can also predict mortality risk by adequately analyzing
the previous data of the patients. AI can help us to fight this virus by population screening,
medical help, notification, and suggestions about the infection control [2-3]. This technology
has the potential to improve the planning, treatment and reported outcomes of the COVID-19
patient, being an evidence-based medical tool. Fig. 1 shows the general procedure of AI and
non-AI based applications that help general physicians to identify the COVID-19 symptoms.
The above flow diagram informs and compares the flow of minimal non-AI treatment versus
AI-based treatment. The above flow diagram explains the involvement of AI in the significant
steps of treatment of high accuracy and reduces complexity and time taken. The physician is
not only focused on the treatment of the patient, but also the control of disease with the AI
application. Major symptoms and test analysis are done with the help of AI with the highest of
accuracy. It also shows it reduces the total number of steps taken in the whole process, making
more procurable in nature.
 Fig. 1. General procedure of AI and non-AI based applications that help general
physicians to identify the COVID-19 symptoms.

I) Early detection and diagnosis of the infection

AI can quickly analyze irregular symptom and other ‘red flags’ and thus alarm the
patients and the healthcare authorities [5]. It helps to provide faster decision making,
which is cost-effective. It helps to develop a new diagnosis and management system
for the COVID 19 cases, through useful algorithms. AI is helpful in the diagnosis of
the infected cases with the help of medical imaging technologies like Computed
tomography (CT), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of human body parts.
II) Monitoring the treatment
AI can build an intelligent platform for automatic monitoring and prediction of the
spread of this virus. A neural network can also be developed to extract the visual
features of this disease, and this would help in proper monitoring and treatment of the
 affected individuals [6e8]. It has the capability of providing day-to-day updates of the
patients and also to provide solutions to be followed in COVID-19 pandemic
III) Contact tracing of the individuals
AI can help analyze the level of infection by this virus identifying the clusters and
‘hot spots’ and can successfully do the contact tracing of the individuals and also to
monitor them. It can predict the future course of this disease and likely reappearance.
IV) Projection of cases and mortality This technology can track and forecast the nature
of the virus from the available data, social media and media platforms, about the
risks of the infection and its likely spread. Further, it can predict the number of
positive cases and death in any region. AI can help identify the most vulnerable
regions, people and countries and take measures accordingly.
V) Development of drugs and vaccines: AI is used for drug research by analyzing the
available data on COVID-19. It is useful for drug delivery design and development.
This technology is used in speeding up drug testing in real-time, where standard
testing takes plenty of time and hence helps to accelerate this process significantly,
which may not be possible by a human [6]. It can help to identify useful drugs for the
treatment of COVID-19 patients. It has become a powerful tool for diagnostic test
designs and vaccination development [9-10]. AI helps in developing vaccines and
treatments at much of faster rate than usual and is also helpful for clinical trials
during the development of the vaccine.
VI) Reducing the workload of healthcare workers Due to a sudden and massive increase
in the numbers of patients during COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals
have a very high workload. Here, AI is used to reduce the workload of healthcare
workers [15]. It helps in early diagnosis and providing treatment at an early stage
using digital approaches and decision science, offers the best training to students and
doctors regarding this new disease [19]. AI can impact future patient care and
address more potential challenges which reduce the workload of the doctors.
VII) Prevention of the disease With the help of real-time data analysis, AI can provide
updated information which is helpful in the prevention of this disease. It can be used
to predict the probable sites of infection, the influx of the virus, need for beds and
healthcare professionals during this crisis. AI is helpful for the future virus and
 diseases prevention, with the help of previous mentored data over data prevalent at
different time. It identifies traits, causes and reasons for the spread of infection. In
future, this will become an important technology to fight against the other epidemics
and pandemics. It can provide a preventive measure and fight against many other
diseases. In future, AI will play a vital role in providing more predictive and
preventive healthcare

1.Haleem A, Javaid M, Vaishya. Effects of COVID 19 pandemic in daily life. Curr Med Res Pract 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmrp.2020.03.011.

[2] Bai HX, Hsieh B, Xiong Z, Halsey K, Choi JW, Tran TM, Pan I, Shi LB, Wang DC, Mei J, Jiang XL. Performance of radiologists in
differentiating COVID-19 from viral pneumonia on chest CT. Radiology 2020. https://doi.org/10.1148/ radiol.2020200823.

[3] Hu Z, Ge Q, Jin L, Xiong M. Artificial intelligence forecasting of COVID-19 in China. arXiv preprint arXiv:2002.07112. 2020 Feb 17.

[4] Ai T, Yang Z, Hou H, Zhan C, Chen C, Lv W, Tao Q, Sun Z, Xia L. Correlation of chest CT and RT-PCR testing in coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China: a report of 1014 cases. Radiology 2020. https://doi.org/10.1148/ radiol.2020200642.

[5] Luo H, Tang QL, Shang YX, Liang SB, Yang M, Robinson N, Liu JP. Can Chinese medicine be used for prevention of coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID-19)? A review of historical classics, research evidence and current prevention programs. Chin J Integr Med 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-020-3192-6.

[6] Haleem A, Vaishya R, Javaid M, Khan IH. Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in orthopaedics: an innovative technology to
embrace. J Clin Orthop Trauma 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcot.2019.06.012.

[7] Biswas K, Sen P. Space-time dependence of coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. arXiv preprint arXiv:2003.03149. 2020 Mar 6.

[8] Stebbing J, Phelan A, Griffin I, Tucker C, Oechsle O, Smith D, Richardson P. COVID-19: combining antiviral and anti-inflammatory
treatments. Lancet Infect Dis 2020 Feb 27.

[9] Sohrabi C, Alsafi Z, O’Neill N, Khan M, Kerwan A, Al-Jabir A, Iosifidis C, Agha R. World Health Organization declares global
emergency: a review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Int J Surg 2020 Feb 26.

[10] Chen S, Yang J, Yang W, Wang C, Barnighausen T. COVID-19 control in China € during mass population movements at New Year.
Lancet 2020. https:// doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30421-9.

[11] Bobdey S, Ray S. Going viraleCOVID-19 impact assessment: a perspective beyond clinical practice. J Mar Med Soc 2020 Jan
1;22(1):9.

[12] Gozes O, Frid-Adar M, Greenspan H, Browning PD, Zhang H, Ji W, Bernheim A, Siegel E. Rapid ai development cycle for the
Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: initial results for automated detection & patient monitoring using deep learning ct image analysis. arXiv
preprint arXiv:2003.05037. 2020 Mar 10.

[13] Pirouz B, ShaffieeHaghshenas S, ShaffieeHaghshenas S, Piro P. Investigating a serious challenge in the sustainable development
process: analysis of confirmed cases of COVID-19 (new type of coronavirus) through a binary classification using artificial intelligence and
regression analysis. Sustainability 2020 Jan;12(6):2427.
 [14] Ting DS, Carin L, Dzau V, Wong TY. Digital technology and COVID-19. Nat Med 2020 Mar 27:1e3.

[15] Wan KH, Huang SS, Young A, Lam DS. Precautionary measures needed for ophthalmologists during pandemic of the coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID19). Acta Ophthalmol 2020 Mar 29.

[16] Li L, Qin L, Xu Z, Yin Y, Wang X, Kong B, Bai J, Lu Y, Fang Z, Song Q, Cao K. Artificial intelligence distinguishes COVID-19
from community-acquired pneumonia on chest CT. Radiology 2020 Mar 19:200905.

[17] Smeulders AW, Van Ginneken AM. An analysis of pathology knowledge and decision making for the development of artificial
intelligence-based consulting systems. Anal Quant Cytol Histol 1989 Jun 1;11(3):154e65.

[18] Gupta R, Misra A. Contentious issues and evolving concepts in the clinical presentation and management of patients with COVID-19
infection with reference to use of therapeutic and other drugs used in Co-morbid diseases (Hypertension, diabetes etc.). Diabetes, Metab
Syndrome: Clin Res Rev 2020;14(3):251e4.

[19] Gupta R, Ghosh A, Singh AK, Misra A. Clinical considerations for patients with diabetes in times of COVID-19 epidemic. Diabetes
& Metabolic Syndrome. Clin Res Rev 2020;14(3):211e2.

Artificial Intelligence in healthcare

The complexity and growth of data in the healthcare sector means that Artificial Intelligence
(AI) is being used more and more in this area. Various types of artificial intelligence are
already used by customers and service providers, as are life sciences companies. The most
important application categories include diagnostic and treatment recommendations, patient
participation and compliance, and administrative activities. Although there are many cases
where AI can perform healthcare tasks as well or better than humans, implementation factors
will prevent extensive automation of healthcare professions over a considerable period of time.

In recent years, machines have surpassed human performance in many cognitive tasks. The
transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) extends too many industries. The effects of
AI in healthcare were very promising and could completely transform healthcare in the near
future. AI can be used in many health related areas, from hospital care and clinical research to
drug discovery and diagnosis prediction. The rapidly increasing availability and low costs of
high-performance computing resources are leading to the digital transformation of the
healthcare system. The use of innovative technologies in daily medical practice enables secure,
real-time access to data and big data analytics. This increases collaboration between specialists
and improves the overall quality of treatment. Large organizations use big data analytics to
diagnose disease. For example, IBM's Watson for Health helps healthcare organizations
analyze large amounts of health-related data to improve diagnosis [51]. An obstacle to data
 analysis is the heterogeneity of medical information, e.g. medical journals, symptoms, test
results, treatment cases. Therefore, big data technology used with novel artificial intelligence
methods should provide doctors with diagnostic tools. Watson may review, store and process
the medical data mentioned above. Another example of successful collaboration between
technological innovators and medical institutions is Google's Deep Mind Health [52].
Researchers and clinicians work with patients to solve real-world health problems by using
machine learning (ML) algorithms, such as neural network models, that mimic the human
brain. ML looks for hidden patterns in the data to identify patients at risk, segment regions of
interest, evaluate data, diagnose and make a decision, [54].

[51] Ibm is counting on its bet on watson, and paying big money for it, (2016)

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/17/technology/ibm-is-counting-on-its-bet-on-watson-and-paying-big-
money-for-it.html, Accessed 7th Sep 2020
[52]Deep mind health, (2019), https://deepmind.com/applied/deepmind-health/, Accessed 7th Sep 2020
[53] W.-H. Hu, D.-H. Tang, J. Teng, S. Said, R. Rohrmann, et al. Structural health monitoring of a prestressed
concrete bridge based on statistical pattern recognition of continuous dynamic measurements over 14 years,
Sensors, 18 (12) (2018), p. 4117
[54] J. Yang, G. Sha, Y. Zhou, G. Wang, B. Zheng, Statistical pattern recognition for structural health
monitoring using esn feature extraction method, Int J Robot Autom 33 (6).

AI in medical image analysis

In recent decades, medical imaging has become an integral part of medical care. Images
were widely used for the detection, verification, differential diagnosis and treatment of
diseases and in rehabilitation. The AI algorithms achieved significant results when processed.
Doctors analyze various digital medical imaging modalities, including X-ray, ultrasound (US),
computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission
tomography (PET), mammography, retinal photography, histology, morphology and
dermoscopy slides. Table 2 summarizes the data on the imaging modalities and their most
common uses. Reporting images is a time-consuming task and is performed primarily by
experienced radiologists and physicians. Image reading is subject to error due to variation in
 visual appearance of pathology and approaches to interpreting images. The potential fatigue of
human experts can also be responsible for an incorrect diagnostic decision. For example, the
sensitivity and specificity of mammography examinations were reported to be between 77-87%
and 89–97% respectively [55]. 

[55] M.S. Bae, W.K. Moon, J.M. Chang, H.R. Koo, W.H. Kim, N. Cho, A. Yi, B. La Yun, S.H. Lee, M.Y. Kim, et al.,

Breast cancer detected with screening us: reasons for nondetection at mammography, Radiology, 270 (2) (2014), pp. 369-377

Patient engagement and adherence application

Patient commitment and adherence have long been considered the “last mile” problem of
healthcare, the final barrier between poor and good health outcomes. The more patients are
proactively involved in their own well-being and care, the better the results - utilization, financial
results, and member experience. Big data and artificial intelligence are increasingly addressing
these factors. Healthcare providers and hospitals often use their clinical experience to develop a
plan of care that they know will improve the health of an acute or chronic patient. However, this
often does not matter if the patient does not make the necessary behavioural adjustments, e.g. B.
Lose weight, make a follow-up appointment, fill prescriptions, or follow a treatment plan. Non-
compliance, when a patient does not follow treatment or does not take prescribed medications as
recommended, is a major problem. In a survey of more than 300 clinical and healthcare leaders,
more than 70% of respondents said that less than 50% of their patients were highly engaged, and
42% of respondents said that less than 25% of their patients were highly engaged [56]. If Greater
patient involvement leads to better health outcomes, can AI-based skills be effective in
personalizing and contextualizing care? There is a growing emphasis on using business rules
engines and machine learning to drive nuanced interventions throughout the continuum of care
[57]. News alerts and specific, relevant content that triggers action at critical times is a
promising research area. Another growing focus in health care is the effective design of
“electoral architecture” to shape patient behaviour in a more prospective way based on the
findings of practice. Using information provided by EHR systems, biosensors, watches,
smartphones, chat interfaces, and other tools, the software can tailor recommendations by
comparing patient data with other effective treatment routes for similar cohorts.
Recommendations can be shared with care providers, patients, nurses, call center agents, or care
delivery coordinators.

[56]. Davenport TH, Hongsermeier T, Mc Cord KA. Using AI to improve electronic health records. Harvard Business
Review 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/12/using-ai-to-improve-electronic-health-records. 

[57] . Volpp K, Mohta S. Improved engagement leads to better outcomes, but better tools are needed. Insights
Report. NEJM Catalyst, 2016, https://catalyst.nejm.org/patient-engagement-report-improved-engagement-leads-better-
outcomes-better-tools-needed. 

5. AI in precision medicine

Precision medicine is an emerging field for the prevention and treatment of disease. It takes
into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyle. In recent years, the
healthcare paradigm has changed [58]. The field of precision medicine has advanced rapidly
due to the development of AI algorithms that could analyze large amounts of genomic data to
predict and prevent disease. Traditional medicine applies uniform treatment to the entire
population, while precision medicine develops personalized treatment regimens for subgroups
of patients. Some factors may be more important to a particular subgroup. This motivates
clinicians and medical researchers to develop new approaches to subgroup identification and
analysis. This is an effective strategy for personalized treatment [60]. The original concept of
precision medicine included prevention and treatment strategies. These strategies take
individual variability into account by evaluating large data sets that include patient
information, medical images, and genomic sequences [61]. This approach allows clinicians and
researchers to predict which treatment and prevention strategy will work.

[58] F.S. Collins, H. Varmus, A new initiative on precision medicine, N Engl J Med, 372 (9) (2015), pp. 793-795

[59] Z.-G. Wang, L. Zhang, W.-J. Zhao Definition and application of precision medicine, Chin J Traumatol, 19 (5) (2016),

p. 249
[60] M.Z. Nezhad, D. Zhu, N. Sadati, K. Yang, P. Levi, Subic: a supervised bi-clustering approach for precision medicine,
2017 16th IEEE International conference on machine learning and applications ICMLA, IEEE (2017), pp. 755-760
[61] J.-G. Lee, S. Jun, Y.-W. Cho, H. Lee, G.B. Kim, J.B. Seo, N. Kim, Deep learning in medical imaging: general
overview, Korean J Radiol, 18 (4) (2017), pp. 570-584