How big data, machine learning and apps are revolutionising healthcare

From advances in neurorobotics to automatic scheduling of tailored doctors’ appointments based on app data, technology is helping healthcare run smoother.

The technology sector has been reshaped by big data, machine learning, robotics, peer-to-peer learning and more, and the healthcare sector is catching up fast. Advances in smart pills, auto diagnostics, implantable drug delivery, and genome sequencing are transforming the way healthcare is provided – as is neurorobotics, the combined study of neuroscience, robotics, and artificial intelligence. 

We’re seeing contact lenses that detect the glucose levels of diabetes sufferers, blood test results processed at patients’ bedsides and 3D printing of replica body parts to help with surgical procedures. 

This new technology is also redefining the way healthcare businesses are run. The Women’s Health Clinic (TWHC) is a group of healthcare clinics staffed entirely by nurses. “We wanted to change women’s lives by delivering innovative, affordable and life-changing quality treatments, designed by women for women,” says finance director Mostafa Kamal. The nurses share profit from the treatments but in order to make this work, says Kamal, “TWHC had to adopt a radical and scalable infrastructure that is fit for purpose and has a low base cost.”