Boston Children’s Hospital developed an online resource, HealthMap, for monitoring outbreaks using real-time surveillance—and now that technology is being used to track the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, or COVID-19.
John Brownstein, the chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, discussed the technology on Bloomberg Markets. He noted that HealthMap uses AI and machine learning to read data from a variety of resources, including social media websites. That information helps track the spread of this fatal virus as it continues to affect more and more of the world’s population.
The goal of such a tool, Brownstein explained, is to “prepare governments and populations for the inevitable arrival of this new virus.”
“What’s challenging about public health issues like the emerging coronavirus is getting enough details in real-time about what is happening on the ground,” he said. “There’s only so much public health agencies can do.”
The map is available for free on the HealthMap website.
Click below to watch the full video from Brownstein’s appearance:
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.