Berci Meskó, MD, PhD

I cannot express my happiness and excitement about a book I’ve been working on for so long! Here is Your Map to the Future: Learn How to Navigate and Shape What Lies Ahead! In this book, I make science-based futures methods, that only experts including me at The Medical Futurist have been using for decades, accessible to everyone! This heavily illustrated book describes how starting from the traps of short-term thinking and presentism, we can finally expand our time perspective and learn to observe and examine the future as we have been doing with the past. Doing this is crucial in addressing today’s most pressing issues, from climate change to the rise of AI. I cannot wait to hear what you think about it and if you could also leave an Amazon review, that would be fantastic! Thank you! I’m looking forward to beginning this journey with you! Here is the Amazon link: amzn.to/3ZyNHjd

China’s National Health Commission and four other authorities have issued a call for the broader application of AI in the country’s health sector. Chinese provinces and tech companies alike are already heeding to the call for health AI integration, with multiple pilots underway and solutions on the market. There are several hurdles to overcome for this healthcare AI strategy to become successful, and there will be lessons learned that can inform future strategies in other jurisdictions. Read our analysis here: medicalfuturist.com/the-healthcare…

Will smartwatches measuring blood pressure hold up against other types of blood pressure monitors? I discuss it in this short video.

@chicobitt You always have a kind word for me, thank you!

@Berci I’ve never seen you in a stage or even in an online stage. But someday I will. Thanks for been an inspiration for quite a long time

Most people see the 45 minutes on stage. But it also matters what it takes to get there. Each of my keynotes truly starts months earlier in datasets, briefing calls, questionnaires, weak signals, and patterns. I spend my time looking for things that feel off: – Technologies that are underestimated (or overhyped for a reason) – Trends that don’t fit the current narrative (but could be very relevant to the company) – Signals others dismiss as noise (the most fun part of being The Medical Futurist is highlighting themes nobody else could) So a keynote, for me, is about translating early signals into decisions leaders can act on.  And I couldn't do that without the dedicated work of event organizers who really want to do something special with the speakers they invite to their events. I'm grateful to them. From this perspective, that’s the real work, and the stage is just the interface to transmit the messages. See more of my work as a keynote speaker: medicalfuturist.com/healthcare-key…

We designed this course to provide you with a complete overview of digital health, guiding you through the technological aspects, and equip you to be able to predict and forecast what's coming next. After 35 reviews, it stands firmly on 4.9! Who is it for? Those professionally or financially benefiting from better understanding current healthcare trends and from being able to better predict the next ones. Check it out on Thinkific! medicalfuturist.thinkific.com/courses/the-di…

What a beautiful idea: a virtual train experience at an aged care facility! Solved through a few screens, footage of train rides, and a dedicated staff, they felt like they were on a journey again. It took place at the BlueCare aged care facility in Toowoomba, Australia.

How many people will trust Fitbit enough to upload their medical records to it? Google just unveiled that if they do so, its AI health coach would review the records to generate responses and recommendations. It might be a pivotal point in the history of digital health devices. Because measuring heart rate during sleep is one thing, but uploading sensitive medical pieces of information to a tech company device is another. "𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑡𝑜 𝐹𝑖𝑡𝑏𝑖𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ'𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟. 𝐼𝑓 𝑎 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑏 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝐼 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝐹𝑖𝑡𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑙, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠 (𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝, 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦) 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝐹𝑖𝑡𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒."  Source: zdnet.com/article/fitbit…

AI and Digital Health are booming. In this book, we explain why now it's a good time to invest in Digital Health and give recommendations on where to invest by looking at the top 24 technological trends we find the most promising. 1 . Digital Health By The Numbers 2. Where To Invest? The Top 24 Digital Health Technologies: From Virtual Reality, through Artificial Intelligence to At-home lab tests, what are the top technologies to look out for 3. Key Learnings from Successful and Failed Startups: Why meeting real-life patient/clinical needs is key and overhype should be avoided Leanpub: leanpub.com/digital-health…

A new blood test can accurately predict whether older adults are likely to survive at least two more years! It is possible by measuring small RNA molecules known as piRNAs circulating in our blood. Its level was the strongest predictor of two-year survival in older adults, stronger than age, lifestyle habits, or any other health measures they examined. "𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑖𝑅𝑁𝐴𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝟩𝟣 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑖𝑅𝑁𝐴𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙. 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑁𝐴 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚." The findings suggest that a simple blood test could one day help identify survival risks earlier and guide treatment strategies to promote healthy aging. Exciting results. Source: futurity.org/blood-test-ind…

Google Earth got a major update that's good news for public health. Here are some examples of how: 1) In Malawi, they combined satellite embeddings with local data to predict health service utilization at local clinics. This can help decision-makers spot early warning signs of disease outbreaks and allocate limited resources more efficiently. 2) To combat the rise of measles, researchers used Earth AI’s PDFM to fill gaps and produce "superresolution" estimates of vaccination coverage. Based on privacy-preserving, aggregated data, researchers can map vaccination rates down to the ZIP-code level! 3) They evaluated a sub-national forecasting model for cholera cases utilizing the WHO centralized Integrated Disease Surveillance Data.  4) Earth AI models and datasets improved the forecasting of dengue fever in Brazil. 5) Datasets like air quality, pollen and places insights were used to uncover the health needs of communities in rural Australia, aiming to support their chronic disease needs and prevention efforts. Source: blog.google/innovation-and…

BREAKING NEWS! Here is the "AI-powered Metalens", a new ultrasound solution! Hong Kong engineers have developed “SonoMeta”: an AI-powered ultrasound lens that can clearly visualise the heart and lungs through the rib cage, opening the door to faster bedside diagnosis in emergency settings without relying on radiation-based scans! It can also visualise cardiac valve structures located up to approximately 10 centimetres behind the rib cage with ultrasound! This is amazing news for companies developing AI-assisted handheld ultrasound devices. Clarius, Butterfly Network and Echonous must be very happy as their brave bets have been in the right place and their market just expanded. Source: hku.hk/press/press-re…

@chackodorsey Blue tick?

@Berci That blue tick was a bad investment

How do you keep your mind sharp? Of course, besides the usual activities such as exercises, crosswords, or good brain food. I play puzzles and chess every day, and once in a while, my wife surprises me with a puzzle box. I didn't know about them before, but such a thing can keep me entertained for hours, and as a side effect, keeps me sharp. Maybe that was her evil plan? :) So what is your secret activity?

Analyzing the future of medicine and healthcare, especially during the rise of digital health and artificial intelligence, should rely on established futures methods that the discipline of futures studies has been using for decades. By employing such methods, healthcare professionals, policymakers and patient leaders could better navigate the complexities of modern healthcare, anticipate emerging challenges, and shape a future that is not just awaited but actively constructed. Check out the paper in npj Digital Medicine: nature.com/articles/s4174…

CNET shared this video of a digital stethoscope called "AI-Powered TB Screening". It was designed to diagnose tuberculosis in a patient in less than 5 minutes. With the 2026 Lancet study, it's clear now that digital stethoscopes have a clear place in medicine, but it's also understandable that new devices come out with vastly different designs and a clear purpose. In this case, the TBC diagnosis. I couldn't find out the cost of one device, though. Based on how they describe the cost efficiency of their product, it must be in the range of $300 – $2,000 per unit.

@NikKennedy1 Thank you for the tip!

@Berci Hi Berci. Have a look at Curenetics Ltd, a UK based company using AI to help predict a patient’s response to immunotherapy

It’s incredibly hard to see through the current AI hype in healthcare. To facilitate that, I have mapped the rapidly expanding universe of AI use cases in healthcare from early-stage “on the horizon” innovations to “safe bets” that are already backed by strong evidence. This yielded four groups: 1) Speculative and risky (little evidence, high risk) 2) On the horizon (little evidence, low risk) 3) Handle with care (evidence-based, high risk) 4) Safe bet (evidence-based, low risk) The question is the usual one: what did I miss?

Introducing "100 Questions and Answers About Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare" - your essential guide to understanding the integration of AI and medicine. - Explore 100 essential questions, each offering concise yet insightful answers supported by research and real-world examples. - From the fundamentals of AI to ethical considerations, regulatory frameworks, and more, we cover a wide range of topics. - Learn about AI's potential to transform patient diagnosis, treatment, and healthcare policy. - Discover how AI-driven tools empower patients and their applications in medical research, drug discovery, and the future of healthcare technology. It's available on Leanpub: leanpub.com/100-questions-…

Isn't it what we all dream about? :)

It seems inevitable that medical robots will be used across the healthcare spectrum: from taking blood samples and moving medications around in a hospital to surgeries and pharmacy automations. But can dentistry be the next? A medical specialty in which so many patients have a fear of the devices dentists use. Would they be fine with a robot doing the same procedures? I'm sure it would take years to trust. Do you think patients would gradually accept dentistry robots? Video source: Federico.alejandro.gava on Instagram.