Dr Tan Yia Swam
Welcome to 2020! When I was a child, 2020 seemed like the age of science fiction, complete with flying cars and talking robots.
How far have we come then? While we marvel at reports of contact lenses capable of reading blood sugar, or portable ultrasound on your iPhone, we also still see problems with paper getting jammed in printers. There is a great disparity in implementation and this is due to many reasons – cost, ease of use and concerns over safety.
Have you heard of artificial intelligence? How can it be applied to our medical work? What are its pros and cons? In this issue, we explore some of these exciting developments.
Dr Jipson Quah
Digital technology is now a big part of our lives and has gradually taken hold of the healthcare landscape. The World Health Organization has released new recommendations on the ways that countries can use digital health technology on mobile phones, tablets and computers to improve health services. Singapore stands tall in Southeast Asia as a leader in digital healthcare, driven by our Government's promotion of information technology adoption and innovation in healthcare, strong internet connectivity (sometimes still lacking though) and high mobile phone and smartphone penetration. We now have numerous homegrown enterprises and applications, both in the public and private sectors, which are leading and shaping the next generation of healthcare services. Doctors all over Singapore are developing cutting-edge artificial intelligence solutions for their respective disciplines, especially in fields such as radiology, ophthalmology, pathology and dermatology. However, even as the digital wave washes into our lives and medical practice, let us remind ourselves to also make time for the less fortunate and to appreciate the nature around us. I hope our SMA readers will find this issue an engaging read.