Machine Learning in Healthcare

Machine learning, closely related to artificial intelligence and standing at the intersection of computer science and mathematical statistical theory, comes in handy when the truth is hiding in a place that the human brain has no access to. Given any prediction or assessment problem, the more complicated this issue is, based on the difficulty of the human mind to understand the inherent causalities/patterns and apply conventional methods towards an acceptable solution, machine learning can find a fertile field of application. This chapter's purpose is to give a general non-technical definition of machine learning, provide a review of its latest implementations in the healthcare domain and add to the ongoing discussion on this subject. It suggests the active involvement of entities beyond the already active academic community in the quest for solutions that “exploit” existing datasets and can be applied in the daily practice, embedded inside the software processes that are already in use.