Big data in the healthcare system: a synergy with artificial intelligence and blockchain technology

Abstract

In the last decades big data has facilitating and improving our daily duties in the medical research and clinical fields; the strategy to get to this point is understanding how to organize and analyze the data in order to accomplish the final goal that is improving healthcare system, in terms of cost and benefits, quality of life and outcome patient. The main objective of this review is to illustrate the state-of-art of big data in healthcare, its features and architecture. We also would like to demonstrate the different application and principal mechanisms of big data in the latest technologies known as blockchain and artificial intelligence, recognizing their benefits and limitations. Perhaps, medical education and digital anatomy are unexplored fields that might be profitable to investigate as we are proposing. The healthcare system can be revolutionized using these different technologies. Thus, we are explaining the basis of these systems focused to the medical arena in order to encourage medical doctors, nurses, biotechnologies and other healthcare professions to be involved and create a more efficient and efficacy system.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; big data; blockchain; healthcare system; machine learning.

Figure 1:

Features of big data. The cardinal features of big data must be built based on the value, variability, variety, volume, velocity and veracity, in order to achieve those features, the inner circle shows the process that data has to follow.

Figure 2:

Big data analytics architecture in healthcare. The architecture of big data rule by the capture, transformation consumption and data management regulation. The first process consists of the recollection of structured, semi-structured and unstructured information from different devices. Then, the information is converted in specific formats and stored. Later, the data is processed by map/reduce other programming models which analyze different features of the data according to the needs of the user; early outputs are generated. Finally, more convoluted outputs are created and delivered to electronic devices. All the processes are based on data security statutes, master data management and data life-cycle management, ensuring the good quality and the correct use of the information.

Figure 3:

Big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain in healthcare. The three technologies have a great synergy. Big data acts as the main source of information of both AI and blockchain, not only for the data recollection but also for the analytic and management processes. The early process of the information with big data allows both technologies to acquire refined data. IA and blockchain amplify and spread the second use of the information, elaborating more convoluted analysis of the information and producing advanced outputs.