The healthcare sector is undergoing significant change. AI-driven diagnostic tests and preventive care models have taken over the majority of treatment. The rapidly growing number of chronic patients, the increasing number of elderly people, and the rising costs of healthcare are making technology necessary for the detection of diseases in their earliest stages. AI in healthcare is reducing hospital burden and improving patient outcomes.
In the latest episode of Analytics Insight Podcast, host Priya Dialani speaks with Masaharu Morita, Founder and Program Director at NURA, about how AI is altering the landscape of medical diagnostics. They dived into the importance of preventive screening in countries like India.
Priya starts the conversation by emphasizing the need for smarter solutions in healthcare. According to her, AI today supports doctors by analyzing vast medical data quickly, recognizing patterns, and predicting disease risk. Masaharu agreed with her and stated, “AI is one of the technologies… It’s not everything. How to utilize this technology, this is what we are always thinking.”
With over 20 years at Fujifilm, the founder of NURA shares how the company evolved from equipment manufacturing to building preventive healthcare ecosystems. “We recently brought this technology to the prevention area… because in Japan, annual health checkups help find cancer, diabetes, and heart conditions at a very early stage,” he explains.
However, he notes such a culture is still developing in India: “This kind of preventive culture does not exist in India… so we decided to bring this technology to create preventive health care.”
According to Masaharu Morita, large-scale screening produces thousands of images, thereby increasing the likelihood of human oversight. AI, on the other hand, plays a pivotal role in unearthing those discrepancies. "We put AI into action to detect all the abnormalities… bring them to light and then the doctor will direct his/her attention this way … and determine independently,” he stated.
In the long run, NURA's goal is to make advanced screening accessible to all and prevent deaths through early detection.