JOHOR BARU: The National Heart Institute (IJN) is planning to improve its service by looking into the usage of artificial intelligence, big data, and nanotechnology in its cardiovascular disease treatment.
IJN chief executive officer Datuk Dr Aizai Azan Abdul Rahim said that the institute is currently sitting on a "goldmine of data" that is waiting to be analysed and used to improve patients' health.
"We have treated more than five million patients since IJN was introduced back in 1992 and we have complete digital data from 2014 stored on our servers.
"For example, we can track how certain types of medication can affect our patients – does it improve their health? If it does, how can we make it better?
"If we have our own technology, we could also reduce our dependence on imported medication," he said after signing a memorandum of understanding between IJN and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) at Bangunan Canseleri Sultan Ibrahim here on Wednesday (June 21).
The initial cost to adapt to this new technology will be high, but in the long term, it could potentially be used to reduce the number of deaths and hospitalisations, which could benefit the country, he added.
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