Medical device leader Medtronic joins race to bring AI to health care
医疗设备领头羊美敦力(Medtronic)将AI引入医疗保健的竞赛
Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device company, is significantly increasing its investments into AI and other technologies, in what it says is an effort to help the health care industry catch up with other industries.
全球最大的医疗设备公司美敦力正在大幅增加对人工智能和其他技术的投资，该公司表示，此举是为了帮助医疗保健行业赶上其他行业。
While many other industries have embraced technology, health care has been slower. Studies reveal that only 20% of consumers would trust AI-generated health care advice.
许多其他行业已经接受了科技，医疗保健业却仍进展缓慢。研究显示，只有20%的消费者会信任人工智能生成的保健建议。
VentureBeat interviewed Torod Neptune, Medtronic’s senior vice president and chief communications officer, and Gio Di Napoli, president of Medtronic’s Gastrointestinal Unit, to discuss the company’s vision of the future of health care technology.
VentureBeat采访了美敦力高级副总裁兼首席传播官托洛德·奈普图恩(Torod Neptune)和美敦力胃肠部门总裁乔·迪纳波利 (Gio Di Napoli)，探讨了美敦力对未来医疗保健技术的愿景。
Digital transformation in health care
医疗保健数字化转型
Neptune spoke about Medtronic’s transition beyond traditional med tech to more innovative solutions using AI. He noted that health care technology — through its unusual scale and ability to harness data analytics, algorithms, and intelligence — plays a significant role in solving big problems in the AI field.
奈普图恩谈到了美敦力超越传统医疗技术，向使用人工智能寻求更多创新解决方案转型。他指出，通过人工智能不同寻常的规模、数据分析、算法和智能的能力，医疗保健技术在解决人工智能领域的大问题方面发挥着重要作用。
Artificial intelligence increases the detection of early cancer by 14% compared to normal colonoscopy, Di Napoli said. This is very important because “every percentage of increase in detection reduces the risk of cancer by 2%,” he said.
迪纳波利说，人工智能比正常结肠镜检查增加了14%的早期癌症检测。这一点非常重要，因为“检测每增加一个百分比，患癌风险就降低2%，”他说。
Building on Medtronic’s medical devices already serving millions (like its miniature pacemaker, smart insulin pump, and more), the company’s plan to make health care more predictive and personal led to the development of GI Genius Intelligent Endoscopy Module (granted USFDA de novo clearance on April 9, 2021, and launched on April 12, 2021).
美敦力的医疗设备（如微型起搏器、智能胰岛素泵等）已经为数百万人提供了服务，该公司计划使医疗保健更具预见性，满足个性化需求，由此开发了GI Genius智能内窥镜模块（2021年4月9号获得美国食品和药物管理局的重新许可，并于2021年4月12日发布）。
The GI Genius module is the first and only artificial intelligence system for colonoscopy, according to Medtronic, assisting physicians in detecting precancerous growths and potentially addressing 19 million colonoscopies annually. The company says the module serves as a vigilant second observer, using sophisticated AI-powered technology to detect and highlight the presence of precancerous lesions with a visual marker in real time.
据美敦力公司称，GI Genius模块是第一个也是唯一一个用于结肠镜检查的人工智能系统，可协助医生检测癌前病变，每年可进行1900万次结肠镜检查。该公司表示，该模块作为一个警觉的第二观察者，使用先进的人工智能技术，通过视觉标记实时检测并突出显示癌前病变是否存在。
Investing in innovative health care
在创新医疗保健领域投资
Medtronic has launched more than 190 health care technology products in the past 12 months. It also invests $2.5 billion yearly on research and development (R&D). Medtronic’s CEO, Geoff Martha, recently announced a 10% boost in R&D spending by FY22.
美敦力在过去的12个月里推出了190多种保健技术产品。它每年还投资25亿美元用于研究和发展。美敦力首席执行官杰夫•玛莎(Geoff Martha)最近宣布，到2022财年将把研发支出增加10%。
This enormous investment, the largest R&D increase in company history, underscores Medtronic’s focus on innovation and technology.
这笔巨额投资，是公司有史以来最大的研发金额增长，凸显了美敦力对创新和技术的关注。
The company says it plans to expand the number of patients it serves each year, with the goal being 85 million by FY25.
该公司表示，计划扩大其每年服务的患者数量，目标是到2025财年达到8500万人。
According to Di Napoli, “AI is here. And it’s here to stay.”
迪纳波利说，“人工智能就在这里。而且会继续使用下去。”
A new era of health care
医疗保健的新纪元
Speaking further about health care technology, Di Napoli says, “I can tell from my personal experience within the gastrointestinal business that there is a need for training and getting to know artificial intelligence as a partner and not as an enemy. And I think it’s critical for companies like ours to keep collecting data to improve our algorithms, to improve how our customers decide based on this data, and also improve patients outcomes with this.”
在进一步谈到医疗保健技术时，迪纳波利说：“从我在胃肠行业从事的个人经验中，我可以看出，有必要培训和了解人工智能，将其作为合作伙伴，而不是敌人。我认为，像我们这样的公司必须不断收集数据，以改进我们的算法，改善我们的客户根据这些数据做出决定的方式，并以此来改善患者的预后。“
Although data collection comes with security concerns and privacy issues, Di Napoli says that the company is in constant communication with the FDA to understand the process to put in place to protect sensitive data for the future.
尽管数据收集伴随着安全担忧和隐私问题，但迪纳波利表示，该公司一直在与美国食品及药物管理局(FDA)保持沟通，以了解为将来保护敏感数据而采取的程序。
Neptune believes that technology and data drive patient empowerment in a much more significant way, based on more comfortable user adoption over the last 20 months. He said, “I think the pandemic has enabled more comfort and consideration, and there’s a global shift and willingness to engage and adopt new technological solutions.”
奈普图恩相信，在过去20个月里，由于用户采用了更舒适的方式，技术和数据显著推动了患者的授权。他说：“我认为新冠疫情带来了更多的安慰和考虑，全球范围内出现了一种转变，愿意参与和采用新的技术解决方案。”
