Cubans boost the use of Artificial Intelligence for predicting and treating cardiovascular diseases 

The first preliminary results of using Artificial Intelligence in predicting and treating cardiovascular diseases were the focus of a meeting this week between the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and health experts and scientists.

The research, underway for two years, is the result of collaboration between specialists from the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, the University of Havana, the Havana Science and Technology Park, BioCubaFarma entities such as Combiomed, and other institutions.

The project, called Cardent, is one of three being developed by Cuban experts and scientists in fundamental areas such as movement disorders and tremor analysis, including Parkinson's disease, senile diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases, and another dedicated to multimodal X-ray imaging.

Dr. Ernesto Estévez Rams, professor at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Havana and a distinguished member of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, explained that these initiatives constitute scientific and innovation projects to develop technologies based on data analysis and AI, leading to improved medical services and clinical technologies, in accordance with the current state of the art internationally.

In a preview of the presentation of the project's preliminary results, the eminent cardiologist Juan Prohías Martínez, PhD, head of the National Cardiology Group, noted that these diseases have been the leading cause of death in Cuba for over 20 years, and the second leading cause of years of potential life lost, after cancer. They are also the leading cause of premature mortality in people between 30 and 69 years of age.

Prohías Martínez emphasized the transformative impact that Artificial Intelligence (AI), despite being a relatively recent technology, will have on the early diagnosis of these diseases, the prediction of events, and the generation of algorithms for personalized medical treatments.

It was the consensus among the President and health experts and scientists that these technologies do not replace specialists; however, physicians are now obligated to master AI.

In his presentation, Estévez Rams detailed the impact of AI on the classification, monitoring, and modeling of cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, he emphasized the impact AI is already having on medicine.

He mentioned the work being done to equip Cuba with its own technologies in areas such as signal reconstruction, AI-based filtering, coding, and data analysis, among others.

Our goal, he commented, is not to be users of technologies, but to be developers of our own technologies, including Artificial Intelligence.

Among Cuba's strengths for achieving results in this area, he highlighted, among many others, the robustness of our healthcare system, its international prestige, its participation in international health networks, including medical collaboration; as well as its capacity to gather relevant data on multiple health and disease topics, and its availability of world-class specialists in many areas of medicine.

The scientist emphasized the impact that the use of Artificial Intelligence will have on our healthcare system and, therefore, on improving the population's quality of life. It will allow us to reach a higher level in preventive healthcare, the development of new devices, and the creation of new services, he stressed.

In addition to these and other opportunities that the National Health System is opening up with the accelerated introduction of AI, based on its own projects, Estévez Rams insisted on the need for a training strategy that includes training doctors and technologists in the use of AI and its application in their daily practices, training health support staff, incorporating elements of AI into the curricula of medical schools, and its integration into training processes.

ARBOVIRUSES UNDER CONTROL

Regarding the current situation of arboviruses, Dr. Carilda Peña García, Vice Minister of Public Health, reported that the endemic channel for Febrile Syndrome in the country is progressing successfully, with a decrease in cases in the last week and no province reporting an increase. Confirmed and suspected cases of both dengue and chikungunya continue to decline.

This trend was confirmed by Dr. Raúl Guinovart Díaz, Director of Science and Technology at the University of Havana, when he presented the mathematical models used to interpret the behavior of arboviruses in the country.

He reiterated that progress is being made in definitively controlling the epidemic wave, although he urged continued vector control efforts to prevent a resurgence during the summer.