Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a transformative force reshaping health care delivery, including in clinical gastroenterology. However, its many benefits cannot be fully realized without also reconciling associated ethical, legal, and regulatory concerns to ensure its responsible use. Here, we present an overview of the core principles of responsible use of health care AI, including equity and fairness, patient autonomy, data privacy and security, accountability for AI-related patient harm, human agency, and regulation, using gastroenterology-relevant examples to highlight the benefits and risks of this powerful technology. We conclude with our predictions regarding the future legal and ethical impact of…
Author: Rutali Thakur
The models are part of Google’s Health AI Developer Foundations programme and are intended to help developers build, test, and scale healthcare applications. Google has launched MedGemma 1.5 and MedASR, two new healthcare-focused artificial intelligence models aimed at advancing medical image analysis and clinical speech-to-text capabilities, reinforcing the company’s expanding role in the rapidly growing digital health ecosystem. Google has expanded its healthcare AI portfolio, making both models openly available for research and commercial use through platforms such as Hugging Face and Google Cloud’s Vertex AI. The models are part of Google’s Health AI Developer Foundations programme and are intended to…
Smart thermostats? They’re old news. Smart TVs? Been there, done that. But smart toilets? That’s a level of home automation that few have been willing to breach. At this year’s CES show, however, a pair of tech companies are hoping people will make the smart potty their number one (and number two) priority. Some of those commodes are turning heads. The Vovo Smart Toilet was a 2026 Innovation honoree by the Consumer Technology Association, which cited its benefits for the elderly and people with disabilities. The toilet comes with a few bells and whistles that have already been incorporated into the high-end latrine…
Over 1,200 AI medical devices have FDA clearance, but most physicians don’t know which ones actually work. This chapter cuts through marketing hype to identify validated tools you can deploy today: diagnostic AI with prospective trial data, ambient scribes that save 1-2 hours daily, and specialty-specific applications backed by peer-reviewed evidence.
Three days after Qiu Sijun, a retired bricklayer in eastern China, went for a routine diabetes checkup, he received a call from a doctor he hadn’t met before. The doctor, the head of the hospital’s pancreatic department, wanted him to come in for a follow-up. “I knew it couldn’t be anything good,” Mr. Qiu, 57, recalled. He was partly right. The bad news was that Mr. Qiu had pancreatic cancer. But there was good news, too: The tumor had been detected early. The doctor, Zhu Kelei, was able to remove it. This was possible only because of a new artificial-intelligence-powered…
Abstract Background: Adequate bowel preparation is crucial for high-quality colonoscopy; however, assessing preparation adequacy can be burdensome for both healthcare providers and patients. In this study, we aimed to develop artificial intelligence (AI) models for the automated identification of bowel PREParation for colonoscopy (AI-PREPOO). Methods: On the day of colonoscopy, participants were instructed to use smartphones to photograph their stool in the toilet after each bowel movement following initiation of polyethylene glycol solution and upload the images to a secure web server. All images were labeled as “ready” or “not ready” for colonoscopy based on clarity and the absence of solid content.…
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping perioperative care, but its value depends on measurable improvements in outcomes and resource use. Dr Andreas Weinberger Rosen and Professor Ismail Gögenur describe how an AI-supported decision system for colorectal cancer surgery can reduce complications, improve quality of life and serve as a blueprint for teams adopting AI-supported precision medicine. Artificial intelligence (AI) has broad potential to transform healthcare systems by automating tasks that require human cognition, such as supporting documentation,1 analysing biopsies2 and planning surgical resources.3 Its value, however, depends on whether this automation can translate into tangible benefits for patient outcomes or more effective use of resources. For…
Abstract Previously, colorectal polyp computer-aided detection (CADe) systems required on-site high-performance hardware installations (e.g., FPGAs/GPUs), creating practical challenges to upgrades and tying hospitals to legacy hardware. Cloud-based CADe solutions overcome these constraints. Hospitals can use low-specification/low-cost hardware to stream data to the cloud for analysis, enabling frequent AI hardware and algorithm updates. Furthermore, existing CADe systems’ benefits are largely limited to smaller, less clinically relevant polyps ( < 10 mm). This parallel-group RCT evaluated a real-time cloud-deployed CADe-system trained on an enhanced dataset of clinically significant polyps (large polyps( ≥ 10 mm) and sessile-serrated-lesions(SSLs)). Patients from eight centers across four European countries (841 patients, 22 endoscopists)…
SAGA Diagnostics has launched its ultrasensitive Pathlight™ MRD test for colorectal cancer, extending a platform already in use for early-stage breast cancer into GI oncology. Backed by data from one of the largest real-world ctDNA studies in stage I–III CRC, the test is designed to detect molecular residual disease at levels conventional assays miss. What’s striking is when Pathlight flags risk. In the CITCCA cohort, more than 40% of high-risk patients harbored residual disease at a key clinical landmark — detectable only at ultra-low ctDNA levels. Those signals weren’t academic: ctDNA status strongly separated patients with high versus low relapse…
According to Becker’s ASC Review, gastroenterology is heading into 2026 facing major disruption as rising demand collides with operational and financial pressure. Earlier-onset GI cancers are expanding the screening population, driving sustained growth in colonoscopy and endoscopy volumes while increasing case complexity. Practices are managing sicker, higher-acuity patients and greater chronic disease burden, even as staffing shortages persist. Becker’s highlights AI-enabled patient access and automation as essential tools to absorb demand, while procedures continue shifting from hospitals to ASCs. At the same time, tighter reimbursement and evolving payer expectations are forcing GI groups to rethink site-of-care strategy, value-based alignment, and…