IBM’s Watson technology will be able to see by combining Watson’s advanced image analytics and cognitive capabilities with data and images obtained from Merge Healthcare’s medical imaging management platform. The planned acquisition will help to advance Watson beyond natural language and as a result, Watson will have the ability to see.
According to John Kelly, Senior Vice President, IBM Research and Solutions Portfolio, “As a proven leader in delivering healthcare solutions for over 20 years, Merge’s platform is a tremendous addition to the Watson health platform. Healthcare will be one of IBM’s biggest growth areas over the next ten years”.
Today, medical images are by far the largest and fastest growing data source in the healthcare industry. Researchers at IBM estimate that images account for at least 90 percent of all medical data but they also present challenges such as:
- The volume of medical images can be overwhelming to even the most sophisticated specialists and radiologists. Some hospital emergency rooms can work with as many as 100,000 images a day
- Tools to help clinicians extract insights from medical images remain very limited requiring most analysis to be done manually
- Although the most powerful insights come at the intersection of diverse data sets, medical images remain largely disconnected from mainstream health information
IBM plans to leverage the Watson Health Cloud to analyze and cross reference medical images against numerous lab results, EHRs, genomic tests, clinical studies, and other health-related data sources representing 315 billion data points and 90 million unique records.
Insights generated by Watson could help healthcare providers in fields including radiology, cardiology, orthopedics, and ophthalmology to find more personalized approaches to diagnose, treat, and monitor patients.
Cutting edge image analytics projects underway in IBM Research’s global labs suggest additional areas where progress can be made such as using Watson to filter clinical and diagnostic imaging information that will help clinicians identify anomalies and form recommendations. This could help reduce physician viewing loads and increase physician effectiveness.
Kelly sums up by saying, “Watson’s powerful cognitive and analytic capabilities coupled with those from Merge and other major strategic acquisitions will enable IBM to partner with healthcare providers, research institutions, biomedical companies, insurers, and other organizations. Giving Watson eyes on medical images unlocks entirely new possibilities for the industry.”