Artificial Intelligence in Public Health: Current Trends and Future Possibilities

Dear Colleagues,

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are witnessing a growing scientific interest in the development and application of artificial intelligence in the health domain. Research in this area is strategic for the development of health systems and is inextricably linked to the development of digital health, both as regards the collection, -monitoring and management of information, and as regards the management of hospital and connected government information systems. Think, for example, of the opportunities presented by wearable monitoring, big data, and robotic surgery. The applications of artificial intelligence have received growing interest in many sectors, such as: organ, functional tissue and cell diagnostics;  care robotics, assisting in interventions, rehabilitation and supporting the communication and assistance of disabled people; the biomedicine sector, from genetics to modeling; and precision and personalized biomedicine.

A statement by Henry Ford reported that "real progress happens only when the advantages of a new technology become available to everybody".

The consolidation of technologies based on artificial intelligence in the health domain is intended to bring benefits to everyone, from the stakeholder to the patient, in the form of equity of care. 

Artificial intelligence in the future will have a strong impact on: 

• The prevention of the onset of diseases in the individual and in society
• The provision of personal care and assistance.
• Society trends regarding diseases and the impact of biological and behavioral factors.
• Organization of hospital activities with regard to treatment, diagnostic and decision-making processes.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, on the one hand, big data will help us to predict diseases on an individual and collective basis and to identify and correct population behaviors; on the other hand, wearable technologies will allow us to monitor and collect individual medical information and to calibrate the care process. The integration of artificial intelligence with virtual reality and augmented reality will allow us to create both virtual medicine services that citizens can access in a simple and direct way, and robotic surgery applications that are increasingly effective and safe.

This Topic is very broad, and ranges from scientific development to applications in the health domain, and it also includes ethical and training issues.

This Topic invites authors to contribute on aspects of the research on, development, and application of artificial intelligence in current applications in the health domain and in future scenarios of use.

In this Topic, original research articles, reviews, commentaries, opinions, viewpoints, communications and brief reports are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Artificial neural networks
• Deep learning
• Care robotics
• Natural language processing
• Social intelligence
• Virtual reality
• Augmented reality
• Medical decision making
• Disease monitoring, prediction, diagnosis, and classification
• Patient monitoring
• Hospital organization
• Diagnostic imaging
• Digital pathology
• Digital radiology.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Daniele Giansanti
Dr. Giovanni Costantini
Topic Editors