A new web app from Google uses A.I. for a health purpose
It’s nothing new, you have a symptom, and you search on Google instead of asking the doctor. It’s less embarrassing and you hope to find a solution quickly and easily by yourself.
Google found that it gets 10 billion searches about skin conditions each year. So, one of the most symptoms searched is related to that. However, skin diseases can be tricky to identify on your own hence Google developed Derm Assist: a web app that can identify skin conditions from a photo. You can’t use it yet but it will be ready to be launched in Europe by the end of this year.
But how does it work? You spot a rash, a lesion, or a strange mole on your skin, then you snap a few photos of it, you upload those pictures on Derm Assist and Google’s artificial intelligence and machine-learning capabilities analyze the photos, and look for a match in a database of 288 skin conditions. The app will present some different possible skin conditions you might have with an accuracy rate of up to 97%.
Derm Assist only needs 3 photos to match you with a few possible skin conditions, but to get more precise results, you can fill out an optional questionnaire to provide more detail about your skin condition.
Of course, Google says this is not a diagnostic tool, but rather a way to help narrow down the number of possible skin diagnoses. It must be said, however, that Google is not the first to make an app like this, others like Aysa, Miiskin, and SkinVision have been around for a few years. So, Google, to stand out, made it as a web app to allow anyone to use it through a browser without installing anything but it’s also aiming to have the largest skin library as well.
The company also showed interest in teaching the A.I. to be able to identify different skin colors to allow people all over the world to use Derm Assist, especially for those where medical information is not easily accessible.
To allay any privacy concerns, Google says data will stay private and encrypted, and they won’t use the information and photos you provide for advertising purposes.
Anyway, before you use the app, you have to sign a consent form allowing Google to collect your personal data, but you can remove them from Derm Assist when you want. You can also opt to donate your photos and data to Google to use them to improve the tool and contribute to research studies.
Inevitably, Artificial Intelligence is also moving into the medical field and will allow people to quickly have an answer about daily concerns regarding their health so that they could inform their doctor when there’s more certainty of a real problem. Moreover, people will be able to handle most of the minor problems by themselves. This could make save money for the healthcare system and make people more aware of medical problems.
Source cnet.com
