Could artificial intelligence (AI) hold the key to the next great medical breakthroughs? After discovering a better way of treating a common, debilitating lung condition with a registered medication "hiding in plain sight", a team of Melbourne scientists believe it could.
Respiratory physician Professor Philip Bardin and his team at Hudson Institute of Medical Research recently identified that a commonly used treatment for lung fibrosis can be used to great effect in treating Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), avoiding many drawbacks of current treatments.
Prof Bardin, the Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Emeritus Director, Monash Lung Sleep Allergy & Immunology, says hundreds of current drugs could have benefits beyond their original uses, and AI is the perfect tool to identify them.
His team has published a commentary in the prestigious journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine suggesting that the ability of AI algorithms to sift rapidly through biological pathways, disease pathologies, clinical trial results, patient records and genetic data could be a game-changer.
