China’s Tencent Holdings is tying up with a technology firm from the United Kingdom called Medopad Ltd to use artificial intelligence for the purpose of improving Parkinson’s disease treatment.
The company is collaborating with Medopad to develop a system to remotely monitor patients with severe movement disorder. The company said that the basic goal is to allow doctors to set drug doses and modify care without patients having to go to the hospital.
Healthcare is increasingly “not only about what happens in the clinic, but what happens in the real world”, Wei Fan, Tencent’s executive director for medical AI research said. “The reason we want to work with Medopad is they’re experts in monitoring patients.”
Founded in 2011, Medopad has received funding from German pharmaceuticals firm Bayer AG. The company has also built mobile apps for monitoring patients with diabetes, cancer, heart disease and rare diseases.
Tencent is looking around the world for partners in revolutionizing medicine. The collaboration with Medopad is another tech-focused move to give doctors access to valuable information about patients who could be miles away, cutting out cumbersome travel and clinic scheduling.