TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A University of Arizona doctor is leading efforts to bring artificial intelligence into veterans' health care.
Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences at U of A Health Sciences, recently testified on Capitol Hill about the need to speed up biomedical innovation at VA hospitals. His focus: using AI to detect and treat sleep disorders like sleep apnea.
"It’s about harnessing biomedical research and bringing it to veterans to help improve their health," Dr. Parthasarathy said.
Dr. Parthasarathy, who has worked with veterans for more than a decade, said modern medicine has become too complex for doctors to manage alone. AI tools can help doctors catch issues earlier by analyzing large amounts of data quickly.
At the university, Dr. Parthasarathy and his team have already embedded an AI-based tool into their electronic medical record system to help primary care doctors screen patients for sleep apnea, a condition closely linked to PTSD, depression, heart disease and stroke.
Only about one in four people with sleep apnea are ever diagnosed. In Tucson, veterans make up about 10% of the population, making this technology especially important for the local community.
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