Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: "Artificial intelligence will reduce medical errors"

Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that personalized drug treatment was applied to psychiatric patients who did not improve despite using drugs within a certain period of time, said that the biggest difficulty of psychiatric patients was that the patients were not understood. With advanced technology imaging devices, Prof. Tarhan said that we see with concrete, biological evidence that the brain, which thinks, feels and makes decisions, does not work properly and noted that they benefit from all the advantages of artificial intelligence for personalized treatment. Tarhan said: "With artificial intelligence, medical errors will be reduced, we will collect important data, and we will have the opportunity to catch many things we missed."

President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that personalized treatment has existed in medicine for a long time; however, it is new to combine it with systematized information, and continued his remarks as follows: "The concept of personalized treatment was brought up with the former President of the United States, Barack Obama. Instead of giving the same drug to everyone, he started a serious project about making personalized treatment according to the person's genetic structure according to the person's brain function. I can summarize the purpose of this program, which is aimed at conducting brain research with Advanced Innovative Neurotechnology called the Brain Initiative project, as helping to treat brain-related diseases. With the scientific partnership of Üsküdar University and NPİSTANBUL Hospital, we are collaborating with the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT) at a global level. This year, as every year, we were the only university in India to represent our country at the G20 - Neuroscience20 (BRAIN- SPINE- MENTAL- HEALTH) conference. Again, We hosted the 6th BaCI (Basic Clinical and Multimodal Imaging) Conference on 03-08 September 2023, in which 60 international researchers from 12 different countries participate. At the conference, we discussed the latest developments in the fields of neuroscience, genetics and medicine. We support all kinds of initiatives and continue to organize scientific organizations for the discovery of unknown aspects of the brain and shaping the future of neuroscience."

Tarhan: "Critical concept: It is the best interest of the patient"

Tarhan stated that "In military service, it is said: 'The commander is responsible not only for the work done, but also for the work that is not done.' A physician and a health professional should be like this. They should be responsible not only for the treatments they do, but also for the treatments they do not perform. One of the types of harm to the patient is to leave the patient without treatment. If a method has come up somewhere in the world, we have to follow it and apply it when necessary. If you say, 'I just know this, I apply this,' you are just an expert looking at the situation from your own point of view. The critical concept is the best interest of the patient. For the best interest of the patient, it is necessary to benefit from all kinds of sciences, all kinds of traditional and modern methods."

Personalized medication period

Stating that there have been two serious revolutions in the world after the 2000s, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said: "One of them is the genetic revolution, and the second is the neuroscience revolution as of 2018. The gene was mapped in the genetic revolution. Now, the human genome is clear. DNA is taken from a person, and that DNA is sequenced. It is compared to the common gene in that genome map, and the drug is given according to the genetic profile of that person. DNA analysis is performed to look at the suitability of the drug for the patient and the rate of metabolization. The liver is a really great laboratory. When we look at how the gene works, it goes to waste by giving that drug to that person if their body metabolizes quickly. In developed countries, especially in the West, sometimes epilepsy drugs are given the drug that has a genetic examination, the physician is responsible if the patient becomes allergic. This drug has such a risk, and there are physicians who pay compensation if they give it without analysis."

"The maximum form of treatment is personalized treatment"

Talking about the application stages of the treatment, Tarhan said that "If the disease has just started and does not respond to the minimum treatment, optimum treatment is performed. If it does not respond to it, maximum treatment, in other words personalized treatment, is activated. It is acted according to the standards of treatment. For example, personalized drug treatment is performed if the drug is used within 6 months but has not improved. The method of giving drugs according to their DNA is now a great convenience in conscious cases. We have greatly reduced the number of conscious patients going abroad in our field. Türkiye has made a very serious breakthrough in the field of health. We have tried to do this in our own field, we are working."

"The biggest challenge of psychiatric patients is the lack of understanding of patients"

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the biggest difficulty of psychiatric patients is that the patients cannot be understood, and added: "The patient is in pain, suffering, when you look at everyone, they say that 'Don't worry about it, distract your mind, it will pass, be your own doctor'. This person comes to us. We look at a person's brain function with personalized treatment methods. We see that there is a war in that person's brain. The flow of signals in the brain is disturbed, the flow of energy is disturbed, and substances such as serotonin and dopamine are reduced. The thinking brain, the feeling brain, and the decision-making brain them do not work properly. There is concrete biological evidence. When this is shown, patients start crying. Even the spouses bring the patient in good faith. Some patients tell their spouses, "Didn't I tell you, I'm so sick." Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, who said that if one shows the treatment plan and believes in the disease and treatment, the brain secretes 40% healing chemicals, and said: "The brain is activating. And then there is the opposite. It is called the 'nocebo effect'. If a person believes in their illness even though they are not sick, it happens if they say, ‘I have this disease!’ For example; If a person says, 'I'm going to get dizzy,’ they start shaking their head. In such a case, their brain takes a position on the presence of the disease, makes perceptions and produces chemicals. For this reason, the brain should be taken into consideration even in internal diseases in order to give personalized treatment."

Artificial intelligence will reduce medical errors

President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan emphasized that the 3rd important pillar of personalized treatment is the use of deep learning and artificial intelligence and continued his remark as follows: "Artificial intelligence will also reduce medical errors. If the physician is left in complex situations, it will support him in reaching a decision. As such, medical damages will be minimized and provide a significant advantage. We physicians will collect important data. Radiology has started to be the field that uses artificial intelligence the best. For example, we use the artificial intelligence and deep learning-based MRI machine that we currently use. The patent belongs to us. This device can give the specialist a preliminary diagnosis so that there is nothing that escapes their eyes. They then confirm or falsify it. By doing brain imaging with artificial intelligence, we will be able to capture many things that we missed."

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)