Of chilli crab, healthcare and the age of AI in radiology

What do chilli crab and artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare have in common? Well, both excite Kimberly Powell, Vice President of Healthcare at NVIDIA.

She confessed to an enthusiastic gathering of some of Singapore's finest minds in technology that she is a foodie at heart who loves stingray, crayfish and satay, among other popular Singaporean dishes.

More than 100 developers, researchers and technopreneurs came to hear Powell talk about AI for healthcare at SGInnovate, a watering hole for championing deep learning initiatives in Singapore.

She recalled how the journey to AI in radiology began with a few radiologists at Massachusetts General Hospital to what is now the age of AI in radiology.

“We have made a huge amount of progress and applications of all kinds of radiology within the last 10 years,” Powell said.

Her talk was followed by a series of questions: Do you see AI applications in counselling/health coaching? Would the cost of healthcare increase with technology used? 

When asked about the role Singapore can play in the development of AI, she said that Singapore should capitalize on what it is fantastic in – implementing technology and creating proofs-of-concept.

The next day, Powell hosted a media roundtable and gave an update on the NVIDIA Clara platform, an open, scalable computing platform for developers to build and deploy medical imaging applications into hybrid computing environments to create intelligent instruments and automated healthcare workflows. She also touched on how AI is improving quality access and the cost of healthcare around the world.

“I was impressed by how many healthcare stakeholders have already embraced AI and GPU based healthcare, with more coming online due to NVIDIA — not just as a result of its advanced technology, but also its efforts in outreach and education,” said Joy Tang, Editor of Tech Trade Asia.

Powell’s last public presentation in Singapore was at EmTech Asia, where she spoke on how AI is improving quality, access and the cost of healthcare. Held at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, the conference on emerging technologies and their impact drew more than 800 participants from around the world.