October 26, 2020

Dr. Artificial Intelligence


Dr. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is becoming a reality in healthcare in Russia. Image by iuriimotov via Freepik

Science fiction TV shows, such as Star Trek, have long dallied with the idea of artificial intelligence acting as a medic. This idea may be nearing reality in Moscow, thanks to a new diagnostic system based on artificial intelligence. This new digital aide has already helped diagnose coronavirus patients and prescribe treatments.

The project is a joint venture between Moscow health clinics and Sberbank, which has experts who are used to dealing with big data. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin recently visited one of the clinics using this new technology. “During the pandemic, we never stopped work on key projects in the field of healthcare digitalization," Sobyanin said. "Moreover, some were even accelerated. For several months now, artificial intelligence has been used to detect COVID on CT scans. Doctors have the ability to enter data into an electronic card using their voice, which significantly speeds up the work… And what is very important: the new system was developed and tested with the doctors' direct participation.”

The artificial intelligence system was launched in June 2019 in 45 clinics in Moscow. It is based on the United Medical Information and Analytical System (EMIAS), which consists of a set of tools to help doctors make decisions about patient treatment, from collecting complaints to a diagnosis and even prescribing treatment.

After examining a patient, a doctor can enter information about symptoms or complaints into the system. Then the computer will process the information and provide three preliminary diagnoses. The digital assistant is ten times faster at providing a preliminary diagnosis (from 2 minutes 37 seconds down to 15 seconds). Currently, a patient questionnaire is being developed that can be filled out ahead of time. This will work with a “start examination” system, to help doctors focus on the right diagnosis, depending on the patient’s symptoms. This questionnaire should be ready in about a year.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955