Artificial Intelligence and Pain Medicine: An Introduction

Abstract

Artificial intelligence was introduced 60 years ago and has evolved immensely since that time. While artificial intelligence is found in nearly all aspects of our life, the use of artificial intelligence in the healthcare industry has only recently become apparent and more widely discussed. It is expected that artificial intelligence will allow improved disease recognition, treatment optimization, cost and time savings, product development, decision making, and marketing. For pain medicine specifically, these same benefits will be translatable and we can expect better disease recognition and treatment selection. As adoption occurs with this impressive technology, it will be imperative for the pain medicine community to be informed on proper definitions and expected use cases for artificial intelligence. Our objective was to provide pain medicine physicians an overview of artificial intelligence, including important definitions to aid understanding, and to offer potential clinical applications pertinent to the specialty.

Keywords:

• artificial intelligence
• pain medicine
• chronic pain
• education

Abbreviations

AI, Artificial Intelligence; DL, Deep Learning; ECAP, Evoked Compound Action Potential; EHR, Electronic Health Records; HIE, Health Information Exchanges; HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; IoT, Internet of Things; ML, Machine Learning; MMPI, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; PDMP, Physician Drug Monitoring Portal; REMAP, Randomized, Embedded, Multi-factorial, Adaptive, Platform; SCS, Spinal Cord Stimulation; SEER, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

RSD has funded research with Nevro and Saol Therapeutics. All other authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any in the specific grant from funding agencies public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.