Calculated Medicine: Seven Decades of Accelerating Growth

The field of Calculated Medicine has grown substantially over the last 7 decades. Comprised of objective, evidence-based medical decision tools, Calculated Medicine has broad application in medical practice, medical research, and health care management. This article reviews the history and varied methodologies of Calculated Medicine, starting with the 1953 Apgar score and concluding with a look into modern computational tools of the field: machine learning, natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and in silico research techniques. We'll also review and quantify the rapidly accelerating growth of Calculated Medicine in the medical literature. Our database of journal articles referring to the field has accumulated over 1.8 million citations, with more than 460 new citations (on average) posted every day. Using natural language processing, we examine and analyze this burgeoning database. Lastly, we examine an important new direction of Calculated Medicine: self-reflection on its potential effect on racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Our field is making great strides promoting health care egality, and some of the most prominent contributions will be reviewed.