CHENNAI: It is common knowledge that large information technology companies use ‘big data’—large sets of information culled from various sources—which are then analysed to forecast trends in industries, businesses and even human behaviour. What is not widely known, however, is just how much the healthcare sector is relying on the same. Not just for day-to-day business, but also for developing cures for the worst of diseases.
Globally, medical institutions are using big data analytics to sequence DNA and develop treatment plans. The concept has been adopted in India, too, but the country is yet to catch up with the rest.
Applying analytics to human DNA and the DNA of cancer cells is a promising frontier of cancer research, say experts, offering cancer patients better treatment options for the type of cancer they have, minimising any negative impacts in treating them.
“Running analytics on a large amount of organised data can identify specific characteristics and treatments for different types of cancers,” says Mike Upchurch, chief operating officer of Fuzzy Logix, an US based company with an office in Bangalore, that specialises in high-performance analytics solutions as well as research in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The road ahead
Technology is already producing results. The adoption of big data analytics has already shortened the time take to customise treatments for cancers from six weeks to just 7 minutes. “If it takes 6 weeks to analyse small groups of patients, it’s going to be months before a treatment can be identified,” points out Upchurch.
Vijaygopal of Innov4Sight, which focuses primarily on cancer analytics, opines that a human mind is constrained and can analyse only a limited number of data points whereas big data solutions have no such limitations. According to industry players, a doctor can analyze approximately 400 records in the same time it takes a data tool to identify the best course of treatment for millions.
Innov4sight is currently working with about 300,000 cancer records and is targeting hitting two million by December 2017. “An average estimated life-time revenue per record is in the range of $40-45 over a 3 year period,” explains VijayGopal. From a gross revenue of just `1.7 crore in 2015-16, it is expected to close 2016=17 at `3.5 crore.
How Does It Work?
Data from various sources, such as patient history, biopsy treatments, wearable sensors, genetic data and even social media posts, are unified and analyzed to draw a comprehensive picture of the patient.
This is then compared alongside thousands of others, highlighting specific gaps and issues through patterns that emerge during the comparison, enabling doctors to assess the likely result of different treatments, backed up by the data from other patients with the same conditions.
This aggregate data is then used by researchers, pharmaceutical companies and other peers of the medical and research community. Transaction of data also paves way for more revenues. Some hospitals, including Apollo and Manipal, have been using electronic health records (EHR) and hospital information systems (HIS). However, the majority still don’t.
In Kerala, state capital Thiruvananthapuram regularly publishes information on magnitude, pattern, diagnostic details, stage of diagnosis and treatment modalities of patients reporting to the Regional Cancer Centre.
The data in turn is used for further epidemiological research on cancer. The National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP), initiated by the Indian Council of Medical Research in Bangalore is also using a network of cancer registries across the country. tries across the country.
Cancer care led by data analytics and health information technology, experts say, can make significant inroads in increasing patient survivability.