Hanoi (VNA) - Using artificial intelligence to analyse images and detect Alzheimer’s disease accurately and support doctors in cancer screening or digitalisation in agricultural production are practical applications that young people are pursuing to address real life problems and bring value to the society.
Special software for Alzheimer patients
Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong, from the International University under the Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, and her teammates have used artificial intelligence to analyse MRI images of patients' brains and automatically diagnose Alzheimer’s disease accurately, quickly and with reduced invasiveness.
According to Huong, Alzheimer's disease causes the highest mortality in the elderly. In the context of Vietnam’s ageing population, research on Alzheimer's is becoming increasingly urgent, she added.
Disease diagnosis using this software, which is affordable for Vietnamese people, can be widely applied nationwide, she said, adding that her research team has utilised big data technology and web-based applications to support doctors in remote diagnosis and patient data storage.
The project has connected with nearly 300 nurses and doctors at 42 hospitals across the country and won numerous domestic and foreign awards such as the Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia 2023, and Golden Globe Science and Technology Award 2023 in the medical and pharmaceutical technology field.
She said that in spite of the hard work, she always tries her best to study and hopes her projects will have practical impacts on the future.
Patients can apply her research and slow down the progression of their diseases, Huong told VietnamPlus.
Not only passionate about doing research, she is also a dedicated lecturer.
“Every time I see the bright eyes of students, see them grow, pursue their dreams, or hear that a patient is using our research products and making good progress, I feel like it’s worth taking on the challenges,” Huong said.
With excellent scientific research achievements, she was nominated for the Vietnam Outstanding Young Face Award 2023 by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee.
Cancer screening by AI
Dr. Ha Huy Hieu from VinUni University is also among 20 youths shortlisted for the award. He is well known for medical inventions that help solve medical and technological problems and challenges in Vietnam.
One of his famous research projects is VinDr - an open-source software for managing and labelling medical image data which helps doctors in cancer screening and detecting incurable diseases. It is appreciated by doctors as helping to reduce errors and support screening. This solution has been deployed in more than 40 hospitals across the country and treated more than 300,000 patients per month.
Hieu also studied VAIPE, an intelligent health care system for Vietnamese people, which integrates advanced technologies in AI and data analysis.
The study won the AI Awards 2022 organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Hieu has published 50 scientific articles in prestigious international journals and conferences, including 20 scientific articles in Q1 journals.
In 2023, he won the Golden Globe Science Award. Earlier, the scientist was honoured with the ISCN Excellence Awards for a digital health project with outstanding contributions to sustainable development, and received the DAAD Fellows 2021 award for outstanding young researchers in AI.
Every tree has online code
Dang Duong Minh Hoang, Director of Thien Nong Binh Phuoc Farm and Binh Phuoc Agricultural Service Cooperative, is also among the nominees for the Vietnam Outstanding Young Face Award 2023.
He has pioneered in the efforts to build planting area codes for orchards. Each tree has its own website with daily growing diary recorded online.
Thanks to the digitalisation, his cooperative has succeeded in officially exporting fruits into foreign markets, especially Southeast Asian countries and China, maintaining high growth with annual revenue twice as much as last year.
Hoang’s chains of farms and cooperatives have created jobs for 25 regular workers, mostly from S'tieng and Khmer ethnic minorities, and 10 seasonal workers.
In 2023, he was honoured as one of the winners of the Vietnam Golden Book of Creativity, and was among the top 20 of the Youth Startup Award 2023./.