Diagnose, Monitor, Treat: How AI’s 3-Pronged Approach Can Help to Propel Progress in MS
Using artificial intelligence (AI) effectively may help to revolutionize the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as optimizing understanding of the immune-mediated disease.
In the
It involves effectively, and efficiently, using and focusing on
AI is already hard at work in other disease states. For example,
Within kidney cancer,
In addition, Bayesian Health recently published
However, a chief roadblock in correctly, and effectively, using AI for treating MS is thrown up by what
“Persistent challenges in the current approach for treating MS include that the underlying etiology of MS has yet to be characterized and a lack of reliable biomarkers,” stated Lev Gerlovin, vice president, Life Sciences Practice, CRA, in an interview with The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®). “It is also difficult to make a timely and accurate diagnosis of MS because there are many possible causes of neurological symptoms. MS symptoms are also variable and unpredictable and can change over time, presenting challenges in monitoring patients and disease progression.”
Other conditions, too, are often
“Symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary in type and severity from one person to another, and symptoms can change in the same person over time,” stated Logan Wright, associate in the Life Sciences Practice at CRA, via an email exchange with AJMC®. “Common symptoms of MS include fatigue, numbness and tingling, blurred or double vision, weakness, poor coordination, imbalance, pain, depression, and problems with memory and concentration, which can mimic symptoms of other neurological disorders such as migraine, fibromyalgia, and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders.”
And according to
Throw in several common
However, none of these challenges have stopped AI from making inroads within MS.
AI is already being tested to gauge the potential of several biomarkers, such as
As a chemical messenger in the body, the
C. Light Technologies is also using its eye-tracking technology to assess neurodegeneration via fixational eye motion mapping and predict MS disease progression. “With a device sensitivity down to 1 micron of movement, C. Light captures novel eye motion data to create a unique digital fingerprint of neurodegeneration,” the company wrote
As recently as 2017, the yearly cost for medicines to treat MS averaged $70,000 without insurance coverage,
When asked to predict how the use of AI may impact costs in the MS space, Thomson stated following initial start-up expenses, “the benefits will accrue over time. For example, a more efficient drug development process may help reduce costs for manufacturers and lead to more tailored treatment and better clinical outcomes, which may reduce treatment costs for both patients and health care systems. And if AI applications are delivered via telehealth versus an in-person visit, patient costs, including co-pays, may also be reduced.”
Having the potential to reverberate across the MS space, affecting not only drug developers and manufacturers, but patients, caregivers, and medical teams, too, AI needs to be both efficient and efficacious, Gerlovin, Wright, and Thomson concurred.
“AI has the potential to enhance the ways in which we diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases, including MS,” Gerlovin concluded. “Effective application of these technologies could lead to improved clinical outcomes at reduced costs, better patient care, and provide a platform for
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