Finland boasts an Artificial Intelligence Programme guided by a steering group that was appointed by Minister of Economic Affairs, Mika Lintilä, in May 2017.

In five years time, it’s expected that artificial intelligence will be an active part of every Finn’s daily life with the country intending to boldly make use of artificial intelligence in all areas of society – from health care to the manufacturing industry – ethically and openly.

Finland attaches great importance to tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs). On-going health and social services and regional government reform will define elements of cross-sectoral work structures on a regional level. This will open up completely new opportunities for health promo- tion, as the counties will be responsible for health and social services, employment and economic development services, and the planning and steer- ing of its use in regions.

Combining medical research and AI research is still fairly new in Finland. Klinik Healthcare Solu- tions unique browser-based service runs on a med- ical algorithm to act as the first point of contact for individuals with their healthcare system. A valid concern in creating such a programme was that existing medical staff would feel sidelined or their skill set replaced but, in fact, the inverse has been reported. Trials of Klinik in Finland’s Central Ostro- bothnia have shown staff are fully supportive of the new online service and welcomed the new way it enables them to work.

In healthcare, immediate productivity enhancements are being explored e.g. through intelligent scheduling. Data-driven diagnostics and assisted treatment decisions are undoubtedly on their way, but it may be some years until their full potential is available.

Key Initiatives

1.KLINIK HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS

klinikhealthcaresolutions.com

Deliver to over 300 progressive healthcare clinics and service providers, including both public and private hospitals. Solutions have also been implemented within pharmacies and insurance companies.The clinically proven Klinik AI integrates numerous medical databases with real medical cases and studies to make it unique and highly accurate.

2. AIFORIA

aiforia.com

Aiforia Create enables you to develop your own deep learning AI models for image analysis.Also offer on-demand services where in-house experts build AI models based on scalable specific needs. Their mission is to provide global access to AI-powered image analysis, to be used by healthcare professionals and researchers within a broad spectrum of fields.

3. LAPLAND HOSPITAL DISTRICT AND AVAINTEC

avaintec.com/datachief

Developing AI technology that indicates whether seeking medical attention is acute or if it’s possible to wait a few days. Plans to adopt usage of the app in 2021 and has been gathering patient information, hospital staff, services, and financial information since 2014.

4. OULU UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

ppshp.fi/en/Pages/default.aspx

Patient care is based on the latest research, best practises in treatment, and the use of state-of-the-art technology.  In the AIDMEI project, the Research Unit of Medical Imaging, Physics and Technology from the University of Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and the University of Helsinkare developing a novel artificial intelligence-based workflow. This research opening has potential to revolutionize the radiological diagnostics process by training AI with a unique, existing annotated imaging data archived at the Oulu University Hospital.

5. MVISION

mvision.ai/finnish-ai-software- improves-cancer-patient-care/

Developed AI software focusing on radiation treatment planning and clinical use was deployed in Finnish hospitals. AI software is aimed at prostate cancer patients, but soon the software will accommodate other cancer sites as well, including head and neck cancers, and breast cancer. For its next step, MVision is seeking to enter the global market.

6. AALTO UNIVERSITY

www.aalto.fi/fi

Researchers on building evidence of the value of digital healthcare solutions (DiRVa) project.They studied whether using an AI-based patient flow management system to direct the patients to the correct point of care, altered the treatment costs of patients. The results indicate that, during the first months of its use, the digital solution reduced the average service cost per patient by 14%.