IoT and AI in healthcare

Firas Rhaiem

Founder and CEO of Epilert

Artificial intelligence is now being used in healthcare to analyse large amounts of complex medical data and help make early diagnoses, which is critical to increasing survival rates, especially amongst cancer patients.

AI, when combined with Internet of Things (IoT), also improves the quality of life of patients suffering with chronic illnesses. Epilert, the French-Tunisian start-up I founded, is one such example. We used artificial intelligence and IoT to create a connected wristband that is able to detect and predict epileptic fits and send alerts to friends, family, doctors and paramedics in real time. The data this system has collected is also helping medical teams find links between seizures and patients’ lifestyles, which will then help them fine-tune and personalise their treatment.

More about Epilert

Europe has a solid pharmaceutical sector and can count on a vibrant network of start-ups backed by groups like Orange. So it’s looking at untapped opportunities – especially in Africa, where e-health services are one way of reaching patients in isolated areas and overcoming the shortage of doctors.