The Interesting Story Behind Darlington Akogo meeting Bill Gates
When discussing the title of the World’s Richest Man, Bill Gates is undeniably a major figure, and anything related to him garners significant attention.
After a few research trying to find an interesting post to publish, we managed to get a story of Ghanaian technologist, Darlington Akogo, who told his story regarding his recent accounter with the man regarded by many as the richest man in the worldNewsNews.
“Our work in AI began several years ago, around 2016/17, at minoHealth AI Labs and later at KaraAgro AI. We have developed AI systems for various applications including radiology, microscopy, molecular diagnostics, and drug discovery. Notably, we conducted Africa’s first AI clinical evaluation study, comparing the minoHealth.ai medical image interpretation system with radiologists’ assessments using data from Ghana, Vietnam, and the USA, where the AI system outperformed the radiologists. This research contributed to the creation of the minoHealth.ai platform, which aids in the screening of medical images to identify conditions such as lung opacities, nodules, masses, and lesions. The platform is now in use by numerous facilities and clinicians, with users from over 20 countries spanning Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.
“MinoHealth AI Labs has received a ‘Catalyzing Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use’ grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This funding will support the development of minoChat, a generative AI (a multimodal large language model) for radiology that we have been working on for several months. Our goal is to build a foundational AI model for radiology. With the support from the Gates Foundation, we will accelerate the development and launch of this AI system in the coming months.
“The initial features of our AI system will include the ability to interpret various medical imaging modalities (such as x-rays, mammograms, and CT scans), generate medical reports from these scans, and facilitate ongoing dialogue between clinicians and the AI about medical images and patient data. Our aim is for this AI to become a comprehensive radiology assistant that supports clinicians globally,” he explained via text. Darlington also shared how he ended up in that photo with Bill Gates.
“The Gates Foundation expressed enthusiasm about our work and invited me to a private dinner with Bill Gates and the President of Global Health at the Gates Foundation at Gates’ residence. I accepted the invitation and attended the event,” he added.
About Darlington and MinoHealth
Darlington Akogo of MinoHealth AI Labs in Ghana is utilizing a multimodal Large Language Model (LLM) to produce precise and detailed medical reports from medical image analyses, aiming to reduce reliance on manual reporting and improve diagnostic capabilities for radiologists and clinicians.
African healthcare systems face challenges such as extremely high patient-to-doctor ratios, widespread diseases, and a severe shortage of radiologists.
Their approach involves refining a multimodal LLM for radiology and medical imaging using a supervised method with a labeled dataset of medical images and reports from facilities across Ghana and Africa.
The platform will allow interactive exchanges between clinicians seeking specific answers or clarifications about medical images.
They will use both metrics and human evaluations to assess the model’s ability to generate accurate and comprehensive medical reports.
Additionally, field testing will be conducted with clinicians and individuals from various demographic backgrounds.