Artificial intelligence (AI) is a science by which we can simulate intelligent machines like computers and other digital assistants to mimic human intelligence. AI has many subsets, like deep learning, NLP, ML, robotics, and more. ML uses statistical methods to identify past human behaviour patterns to make a decision that was not fed into the system. Hence with the increase in the depth of the data, their prediction and decision-making improve. In the late 1970's a British company developed the CT scan device to obtain clear tomographic image; this diagnostic technique won a Nobel Prize. Since then, IP has found special applications in the medical field. This chapter attempts to give an overview of the most challenging and useful application of machine learning for image processing, which has led to the elimination of human errors and achieving perfect and precise decision-making. The compassion, caring, and human touch can never be replaced in patient care, but the intervention of machine learning in image processing gives superior insights for better decisions and improved health care.
Top1. Introduction
The development of science and technology has had a profound impact on human life. Since their evolution, human has tried to discover and invent various tools to make their life easier. Starting from the tools of the Stone Age to the invention of the wheel, man has improved on his own inventions to bring rapid changes in life. These inventions have led to improved productivity and efficiency by better products, less waste and use of fewer resources, improved health and longevity by the development of new medicines, treatments and technologies, and better communication and information with the latest and developed technology. It surely has had a negative impact on nature, the environment, and society due to changes in lifestyle affecting the health or use of lethal weapons.
But as Einstein said: “Science is a powerful instrument. How it is used, whether it is a blessing or a curse to mankind, depends on mankind and not on the instrument. A knife is useful, but it can also kill.” Harping on the constructive uses of science and technology, our lives have been positively affected by its growth and development. From making our lives easy, fast and more secure, to saving our efforts and money, the inventions of technology have completely changed the world over the past 200 years. It has changed the way we communicate, travel, do our daily chores and has also touched positively on our Healthcare systems.
The life expectancy has almost doubled. It provides new knowledge that helps generate new ideas for further advancements. Access to new knowledge has enhanced literacy, improved critical thinking, and developed problem-solving skills, all leading to innovation-driven Science and Technology. Amongst the various innovations, the innovation of the internet revolutionized the computer and communication world.
Over the last few decades, the Internet has brought about a drastic change in our lifestyle. It has changed our social life, education system, shopping habits, healthcare, personal grooming, sports, beauty, fashion, jobs & employment, and games and in the very near future, it is very likely to influence every other thing in our life. The Internet made available humongous data through a network of private, public, educational, institutional and government networks. There was large data available to be used, but available data needed to be sorted to identify patterns and relationships. This requirement of extracting usable data from a sea of available data led to the development of the process of data mining. Data Mining involves exploring large databases and analyzing such information to form meaningful patterns and predict trends.
The most meaningful applications have been found in financial Analysis, sales and marketing predictions, higher education, criminal investigation, customer relationships, engineering, and biological data analysis. Biological data Analysis or bioinformatics (Dhanalakshmi & Sathiyabama, 2020) as it is called helps predict the effectiveness of medical treatment and track chronic disease and high-risk patients. It helps reduce the human efforts required and increases the accuracy of diagnostic prediction. While data mining predicts patterns and trends from the available data, Machine learning applications are developed on data mining programs that draw concepts and results from many fields like basic science, cognitive science, Artificial Intelligence, statistics, philosophy and more.
Ever since the invention of the computer and the internet, machines have been working as per data fed by man, but man has always wondered “what if” we can make machines learn on their own. If it can be programmed to learn on its own and improve automatically with learned experience. From a self-driving car, managing congestion by dynamic adjustment of traffic lights, grouping customer base based on buying habits, and providing crop yield estimation to identifying illness risk elements and prompting doctors on the prognosis based on the patient’s medical records, Machine Learning is proving its usefulness in a variety of crucial applications. Accurate diagnosis is a guiding light in the hands of the doctor, it saves the waste of precious time and wrong diagnosis and plays a crucial role in saving a patient’s life. It’s a beacon of hope for the patient as an informed and correct diagnosis helps develop a targeted treatment plan and prescribe suitable medication and therapy.