One of the supporting factors in the broader disruptive technology investment thesis is that these innovations and technologies intersect with multiple industries. That underpins the long-term outlooks for select exchange traded funds, including the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ). This year, artificial intelligence (AI) is receiving renewed attention from market participants, and their faith is being rewarded. Just look at ARKQ, which is up 23% year-to-date.
Experienced AI investors know that the industry has myriad applications, including an established footprint in industrial applications. However, there’s much more to the story, which highlights the allure of ARKQ being an actively managed ETF. Consider the inroads AI is making in healthcare, including in complex surgeries.
“AI will play an increasingly significant role in providing patient-specific care for those with, or at risk of cardiovascular disease,” claimed Fitch Solutions. “The use of AI in cardiology will be driven by high demand, its time-saving and patient specificity benefits, improving overall quality of care.”
The research firm pointed out that there were multiple impressive developments on the AI/surgery front last year, and more of the same is expected in the years ahead. Specific to cardiovascular, which is crucial for patients and expensive, the synergies with AI are attractive for investors.
“Within cardiovascular care, AI can be used a tool to monitor vital signs of patients such as pulse rates, respiration rates and blood pressure (blood pressure is not considered a vital sign, but is often measured along with the vital signs). These indicators can detect signs of heart failure, or other instances in which a patient should be referred to a healthcare professional for further treatment or care, or to diagnose a heart condition,” added Fitch.
Further bolstering the case for ARKQ’s healthcare inroads is the fact that clinicians and researchers are increasingly interested in AI’s pertinence in cardiovascular health. As Fitch noted, roughly 50 research papers were published on this subject in 2016, but that number rose nearly five-fold by the end of last year.
“More recently, due to rapid digitisation, the increasing trend of patient empowerment with regard to healthcare, and the masses of personal data provided online, we expect to see a rise in demand for patient-specific devices to monitor cardiovascular vital signs,” concluded the research firm.
Those are among the factors that could be supportive of more healthcare innovation, in turn lifting some ARKQ components over the long term.
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The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.