"The system detects bleeding in the brain before the doctor even sees it"
Healthcare and technology leaders say artificial intelligence is transforming medicine, from identifying life-threatening conditions in seconds to enabling personalized care and giving ALS patients new ways to communicate.
"In today's world, healthcare professionals need to speak two languages: the language of medicine and the language of technology," said Dr. Refael Barkan, Vice President and founder of the Department of Digital Technologies in Medicine at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT), during the Future of Industry conference hosted by Calcalist and HIT.
Speaking on a panel moderated by Calcalist's Maor Shalom Suissa, Barkan argued that artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping healthcare, creating demand for professionals who can bridge the gap between clinical practice and advanced technology.
"Digital medicine is still a relatively young academic discipline, and we're among its pioneers," he said. "The field was created to train people who are fluent in both medicine and technology."
The department, established during the COVID-19 pandemic, aims to prepare graduates for careers across healthcare, pharmaceuticals and medical technology.
"I'm not just talking about physicians," Barkan said. "Healthcare professionals don't necessarily need to become programmers, but they do need to understand AI and know how to implement it in clinical environments. That's what changes the game. To make healthcare truly multidisciplinary, you have to create a common language."
AI that helps doctors act faster
Dr. Ronny Levanda, Vice President of AI at Aidoc, described how artificial intelligence is already helping physicians identify life-threatening conditions more quickly.
"A patient arrives in the emergency room with a severe headache," she said. "It turns out they're suffering from a brain hemorrhage, but at that stage no one knows it yet. A CT scan is performed, but it may take hours before a radiologist reviews it. Meanwhile, every minute matters."
Aidoc's AI system analyzes medical scans as they are generated, identifies urgent findings and immediately alerts physicians, allowing patients with critical conditions to receive treatment sooner.
"Our systems detect the hemorrhage, prioritize the case for the physician, and help the medical team respond immediately," Levanda said.
The company now operates in more than 2,000 hospitals worldwide and analyzes more than 60 million medical scans each year.
Beyond identifying a single condition, the company's latest AI models can analyze an entire scan, recognize dozens of abnormalities simultaneously and generate a comprehensive radiology report.
"The system understands the scan in much the same way a radiologist does," Levanda said. "It analyzes subtle findings and produces a complete radiological assessment."
From treating disease to predicting it
Dr. Michal Tzuchman Katz, Vice President of Innovation and Research at Maccabi Health Services, said AI is also transforming preventive medicine.
"We're living through the most exciting revolution healthcare has seen," she said.
While digital technologies have been used in medicine for years, she argued that the combination of vast amounts of health data with advanced AI has fundamentally changed what is possible.
"Technology must solve real medical problems," she said. "Our goal is to integrate advanced technologies into healthcare in a way that addresses real clinical needs and allows us to measure their impact."
Maccabi is increasingly focusing on personalized medicine, using AI to identify health risks before patients become ill.
"This is medicine centered on the individual rather than statistical averages," Tzuchman Katz said. "We analyze clinical information while people are still healthy to identify risks early and intervene before disease develops."
The growing availability of data, from electronic medical records to wearable devices such as smartwatches, is making that possible, she added.
"Israel has advanced technology, rich health data and a culture of innovation. Together, these give us the opportunity to become a global leader."
Giving ALS patients a voice
Or Retzkin, CEO of EyeControl, described how personal experience inspired the company to develop AI-powered communication technology for patients with ALS and other severe neurological conditions.
"My background isn't in medicine," he said. "I come from physics and finance. My grandmother died from ALS, and that's what motivated us."
The company's original goal was to develop a communication system that would allow patients to interact using eye movements without relying on complex computer calibration.
"Not everyone is Stephen Hawking," Retzkin said. "Eye-controlled communication systems can be slow and difficult to use."
What began as a nonprofit initiative eventually evolved into a company after potential donors encouraged the founders to commercialize the technology.
Today, EyeControl combines eye-tracking, infrared sensors and an AI-powered personal assistant that supports patients throughout the day.
"What started as a communication device has become a personal assistant," Retzkin said. "It helps patients communicate with family members, maintain cognitive engagement and interact with the outside world."
The technology was later introduced into intensive care units, first at Beilinson Hospital in Israel and subsequently at hospitals in the United States.
