Google provided insights around its health initiatives at today’s “The Check-Up” event. The company highlighted the different initiatives launched in Search, YouTube when it comes to assisting users with Coronavirus related information.
Dr. Garth, who recently joined Youtube, highlighted some of the efforts that Google has undertaken to provide accurate and authoritative content in the area of health and especially COVID-19.
Youtube has partnered with influencers such as Trevor Noah and Dr. Fauci to showcase accurate information on Youtube.
Related:
- Google’s Youtube to bring credible, evidence-based Health content
- Google Cloud to power ATLAS, an open-source healthcare research platform
- Verily researching a new finger wearable continuous blood pressure monitor.
The company has also been helping out using different AI strategies for vaccine distribution.
Google’s subsidiary, Verily life sciences, has been helping with the Covid-19 testing program and also assisting numerous employers with re-opening strategies.
Paul Muret, VP at Google Health, spoke about the different areas where Google Health assists with data and information for life sciences companies and other health service providers.
This is critical in the area of electronic health records. Google’s team is assisting seamlessly integrating diverse EHR information and helping clinicians access the relevant data with a few clicks.
Google AI is improving cancer diagnosis and treatment in many ways. Breast cancer affects one in eight women today.
Google’s AI is being used for helping with accurate cancer detection from mammography. The company is working with Mayo Clinic to help with Radiology techniques so that doctors can precisely target a tumor using AI techniques.
Automated Retinal disease assessment is another area where Google helps with the diagnosis of eye diseases and uses AI to detect diabetic retinopathy. The company has been working with different doctors and companies to validate ARDA in Thailand and India.
New health-tracking features coming to your Android Phone
Google has developed two new health-tracking features that use just a phone’s camera.
These new features allow users to take spot heart and respiratory rate measurements simply using their phone’s cameras.
To take a heart rate reading, you place your fingertip against the phone’s rear camera and allow it to scan for the subtle color variations that indicate changes in blood flow. The respiratory rate measurement uses the phone’s front-facing camera.
You have to place the phone so that its selfie cam has a full view of your head and chest, and then the camera takes a 30-second reading of your chest in motion to calculate your respiratory rate.
The new features are expected to be rolled out next month via the Google Fit app for Pixel users and subsequently rolled out into other Android devices.
Google seems to be championing numerous health-focused initiatives and accomplishing a lot in health sciences under the leadership of Dr. David Feinberg and Dr. Karen Desalvo.
