Conference & Meetings World Supplements Canada AI Supplement | Page 9

Canada
how advanced these AI capabilities
are.
Many projects are in the extended
research phase and many are
focused on medical applications.
The intelligent artifi cial limbs program
is a collaboration between AMII and
the BLINC Lab. It is an interdisciplinary
initiative focused on real-time Machine
Learning methods for assistive
rehabilitation and intelligent artifi cial
limbs and biomedical devices.
The Adaptive Prosthetics Program
explores methods for real-time
prediction, adaptive control and direct
human-machine interaction.
Technologies developed include the
Bento Arm and the HANDi Hand.
The University of Alberta’s SMART
Network researchers claim to have
produced the most advanced
prosthetic arm in the world. Not only
does their robotic limb move almost
exactly like the real thing (researchers
say the ‘fi ngers’ could eventually play
the piano), but it can analyse data
from the wearer and predict the
movement the person needs next.
And there are cutting-edge heart
procedures involving hardly any cutting
developed at the Mazankowski Alberta
Heart Institute.
Surgeon Jeevan Nagednran has
created Western Canada’s fi rst
dedicated program for ‘closed chest
open heart surgery’ using camera
equipment and inserting through
a tiny hold between a patient’s
ribs. Compared to cutting through
the sternum, it is a technique that
drastically reduces recovery time for
patients.
There is also a new artery-opening
procedure being taught already and
scalpel-free brain surgery, thanks to
new gamma knife technology, which
can reach complex brain tumours.
Another AMII project is the Arcade
Learning Environment, which uses older
gaming platforms to help facilitate the
training and testing of AI agents.
Historically, many AI advancements
have been developed and tested
through games such as chess, poker
and, most recently, Go, which offer
controlled environments with easily
defi ned measures for success.
Games also give researchers
a concrete and relatable way to
demonstrate AI to a broad audience.
DeepStack creators in Edmonton
claim it is the fi rst program capable of
beating professional poker players.
Other programs developed at the
institute include:
Diagnosing Tuberculosis (TB): This
program for improving the way TB is
diagnosed is highly accurate because
of its use of medical imaging rather
than manual labour.
Enhancing Cancer Care: This is
a program for Machine Learning
diagnosis, prognosis and treatment
plans. It helps radiologists recognise
abnormalities and also provides
automatic feedback to help the
learning experience for students. The
system also uses past patients as a
model to help determine a plan for
future treatment analysis. AI will help
create patient specifi c diagnosis and
treatment.
Meerkat: This is a social network
analysis and visualisation for interpreting
complex networks of information and
examining their patterns.
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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