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Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important, especially in the medical field. While AI has been used in medicine for some time, its growth in the last decade is remarkable. Specifically, machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques in medicine have been increasingly adopted due to the growing abundance of health-related data, the improved suitability of such techniques for managing large datasets, and more computational power. ML and DL methodologies are fostering the development of new "intelligent" tools and expert systems to process data, to automatize human–machine interactions, and to deliver advanced predictive systems that are changing every aspect of the scientific research, industry, and society. The Italian scientific community was instrumental in advancing this research area. This article aims to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the ML and DL methodologies and applications used in medicine by the Italian research community in the last five years. To this end, we selected all the papers published in the last five years with at least one of the authors affiliated to an Italian institution that in the title, in the abstract, or in the keywords present the terms "machine learning" or "deep learning" and reference a medical area. We focused our research on journal papers under the hypothesis that Italian researchers prefer to present novel but well-established research in scientific journals. We then analyzed the selected papers considering different dimensions, including the medical topic, the type of data, the pre-processing methods, the learning methods, and the evaluation methods. As a final outcome, a comprehensive overview of the Italian research landscape is given, highlighting how the community has increasingly worked on a very heterogeneous range of medical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine in the last few years highlights the importance of developing bigger and better systems for data and model sharing. However, the presence of Protected Health Information (PHI) in medical data poses a challenge when it comes to sharing. One potential solution to mitigate the risk of PHI breaches is to exclusively share pre-trained models developed using private datasets. Despite the availability of these pre-trained networks, there remains a need for an adaptable environment to test and fine-tune specific models tailored for clinical tasks. This environment should be open for peer testing, feedback, and continuous model refinement, allowing dynamic model updates that are especially important in the medical field, where diseases and scanning techniques evolve rapidly. In this context, the Discovery Viewer (DV) platform was developed in-house at the Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Institute at Mount Sinai (BMEII) to facilitate the creation and distribution of cutting-edge medical AI models that remain accessible after their development. The all-in-one platform offers a unique environment for non-AI experts to learn, develop, and share their own deep learning (DL) concepts. This paper presents various use cases of the platform, with its primary goal being to demonstrate how DV holds the potential to empower individuals without expertise in AI to create high-performing DL models. We tasked three non-AI experts to develop different musculoskeletal AI projects that encompassed segmentation, regression, and classification tasks. In each project, 80% of the samples were provided with a subset of these samples annotated to aid the volunteers in understanding the expected annotation task. Subsequently, they were responsible for annotating the remaining samples and training their models through the platform's "Training Module". The resulting models were then tested on the separate 20% hold-off dataset to assess their performance. The classification model achieved an accuracy of 0.94, a sensitivity of 0.92, and a specificity of 1. The regression model yielded a mean absolute error of 14.27 pixels. And the segmentation model attained a Dice Score of 0.93, with a sensitivity of 0.9 and a specificity of 0.99. This initiative seeks to broaden the community of medical AI model developers and democratize the access of this technology to all stakeholders. The ultimate goal is to facilitate the transition of medical AI models from research to clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning (ML), artificial neural networks (ANNs), and deep learning (DL) are all topics that fall under the heading of artificial intelligence (AI) and have gained popularity in recent years. ML involves the application of algorithms to automate decision-making processes using models that have not been manually programmed but have been trained on data. ANNs that are a part of ML aim to simulate the structure and function of the human brain. DL, on the other hand, uses multiple layers of interconnected neurons. This enables the processing and analysis of large and complex databases. In medicine, these techniques are being introduced to improve the speed and efficiency of disease diagnosis and treatment. Each of the AI techniques presented in the paper is supported with an example of a possible medical application. Given the rapid development of technology, the use of AI in medicine shows promising results in the context of patient care. It is particularly important to keep a close eye on this issue and conduct further research in order to fully explore the potential of ML, ANNs, and DL, and bring further applications into clinical use in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical activity (PA) is globally recognized as a pillar of general health. Step count, as one measure of PA, is a well known predictor of long-term morbidity and mortality. Despite its popularity in consumer devices, a lack of methodological standards and clinical validation remains a major impediment to step count being accepted as a valid clinical endpoint. Previous works have mainly focused on device-specific step-count algorithms and often employ sensor modalities that may not be widely available. This may limit step-count suitability in clinical scenarios. In this paper, we trained neural network models on publicly available data and tested on an independent cohort using two approaches: generalization and personalization. Specifically, we trained neural networks on accelerometer signals from one device and either directly applied them or adapted them individually to accelerometer data obtained from a separate subject cohort wearing multiple distinct devices. The best models exhibited highly accurate step-count estimates for both the generalization (96–99%) and personalization (98–99%) approaches. The results demonstrate that it is possible to develop device-agnostic, accelerometer-only algorithms that provide highly accurate step counts, positioning step count as a reliable mobility endpoint and a strong candidate for clinical validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]