In the rapidly evolving age of artificial intelligence, scientists are using it to accelerate drug development, uncovering treatments for neurological disorders that may be hidden in plain sight.
However, researchers at the UK Dementia Research Institute in Edinburgh are analyzing patient data, including voice recordings and eye scans, to determine whether existing drugs can make a therapeutic switch, such as motor neuron disease (MND).
Steve Barrett, a trial participant who lived with MND ten years ago, shared his views on the success of the project.
MND is a terrible disease, it takes away who you are,” he told the BBC at his home in Alloa, Scotland.
“It shatters any sense of future you think you had planned for yourself — all of that applies.”
“For me, the research is much more than taking a tablet – it is taking a tablet with the intention of delivering results that may or may not help me, but may help others,” he says.
The established drugs are then evaluated across multiple production lots using a combination of robots, conventional medical equipment and computers driving specialized algorithms.
In particular, drugs that the AI suggests are potentially effective could move on to clinical trials involving people like Steven.
According to the director of the institute, Prof. Siddarthan Chandran, it also appears to be effective in the brain, but we don’t know that yet.
The brain is the most complicated organ in the body, so we are dealing with the paradox of that complexity,” he told the BBC, adding that until recently this meant using less advanced research methods.
“A combination of AI and new technologies means we can now do things that would have been incredible when I was in medical school.”
By some estimates, discovering new drugs and bringing them to market can take a decade or more. Prof. However, Chandran and his team believe that effective treatments for neurological disorders could become available to people.
This discovery isn’t the first time exploring how AI can explore viable solutions hidden in mountains of health or medical data.
Furthermore, Professor Chandran remains convinced that “we are at the tipping point of change” in neurological research.
