Mediaboss Marketing

CLEVELAND, Ohio The Cleveland Clinic and the NFL Players Association are working together to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the diagnosis of neurological diseases and guide treatment, the health system and players union announced Tuesday.

The joint initiative seeks to use technology to identify neurological diseases like Parkinsons and Alzheimers and determine how they might progress. The goal is to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to inform interventions and treatment, said principal investigator Dr. Jay Alberts from the Clinics Lerner Research Institute. Alberts is also vice chair for innovation for the Clinics Neurological Institute.

The opportunity we have here is that were going to be looking at a tremendous amount of data, Alberts said. By looking at all of that data and then using machine learning we are going to be able to work together and create these interesting, impactful models.

The Clinic/NFLPA initiative will use data from 60,000 of the Clinics neurological patients, who will remain anonymous, to develop algorithms related to cognitive impairment. The goal is to use the technology and a patients short-term clinical data to predict their long-term outlook.

The research will provide insight for prevention and treatment programs for current and former football players, the news release says.

This partnership with Cleveland Clinic is an exciting extension of our unions ongoing commitment to advancing the physical and mental health of our player members, NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said in the news release. As the physician community learns more about neurological disease through the resulting clinical decision-support tools, the better informed we will be in providing education and safety initiatives for professional football players.

Artificial intelligence refers to a collection of technologies, and experts believe they have the potential to improve health care. One type of AI called machine learning uses algorithms to find patterns in large amounts of data. It can use those patterns to make predictions -- for example, Spotify uses machine learning to recommend a song you might like based on other songs youve listened to previously.

That could mean better treatment for patients. For example, Clinic researchers are currently studying whether aerobic exercise could slow the progression of Parkinsons. If AI and machine learning could help diagnose Parkinsons early on, physicians could prescribe a specific exercise regimen to help the patient, Alberts said.

We can actually start using different interventions or different approaches, and be much more prescriptive, Alberts said.

The partners also envision the models being used to help provide better health care in rural and underserved communities. A doctor in a rural area may see only three or four Parkinsons patients, but the project could provide valuable insights into how to treat them, Alberts said.

The Clinic and NFLPA also plan to work with other partners to create a research network to evaluate and create phased research projects. The network will publish any request for proposals for further projects that could further advance the understanding of neurological diseases and their progression.

Were hoping we can attract others universities, or even startups or established companies, to come in and work with us on data sets, or even bring new data to the table, and think about how we can create better and stronger models, Alberts said.

For years, studies have focused on the risk of neurological disease that football players face through brain injuries such as concussions. A 2012 study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found NFL players are at a higher risk of death from brain diseases like Parkinsons, Alzheimers and ALS.

The effort is not focusing on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease that has been linked to brain injuries that occur in football and other contact sports. That is due to the fact there is less available data on CTE, and AI and machine learning improve with large amounts of data, Alberts said.

The rest is here:
Cleveland Clinic, NFLPA to use artificial intelligence to improve diagnosis and treatment of neurological dis - cleveland.com