Guidance for blood transfusions has often resembled “proverb-based medicine” more than evidence-based medical practice.
At least that’s what Dr Mateusz Pawełczuk and Dr Michał Janiszewski thought as they encountered challenges with blood transfusions in their Warsaw-based practice, according to a recent article at Health Europa. Their response was to found AIDA Diagnostics, based in Warsaw and Amsterdam, and ultimately create an AI-powered smart assistant capable of helping doctors make the best, evidence-based decisions regarding blood transfusions.
For example, using AI their system can determine exactly how much blood should be used for each individual patient, within the limitations imposed by available blood supply, while also helping doctors guide “patients if they do not want to receive a blood transfusion: proposed alternatives could include further observation, fluid transfusion or potentially the administration of vasopressin analogues.”
On a larger level, the company’s platform can help hospitals meet the challenges involved in managing blood supply and use across an entire enterprise. Specifically, the AIDA Blood: Hospitals system uses a system of data modeling that “constantly gathers new data from the hospital where it is installed, reaching its full potential after the first month of usage.” The algorithm is informed by both historical data that the facility’s EHR, enabling it to adjust usage projections in real time. “As a result of this, the teams responsible for blood storage and management can make data-driven decisions with all necessary information already in one place. (The) system is designed to give users as much control as possible, so each user can adjust parameters, such as the metrics for alerting them to the risk of insufficient quantities of blood, to their own needs.
Taking yet another step back from an actual patient transfusion, another AIDA program, dubbed “AIDA Blood: Blood Bank,” focuses on the blood donation facilities that are crucial elements of the whole blood industry. In addition to developing and presenting blood use predictions, the AIDA platform can also “provide blood banks with recommendations on the best ways to communicate with their donors, enabling them to move from a reactive method of inviting donors when stock levels are low towards a proactive approach that enables them to maintain stock levels at a broadly consistent level. The platform also helps blood banks track and communicate with donors with rare blood types.