Big Data - Of the people, for the people, by the people

摘要

We share Dr Sessler's enthusiasm for Big Data [1], and welcome such a clear and concise account of its likely benefits for individual care and public health. Using both fixed demographic and modifiable personal data, Big Data could enable the creation of a pre-operative avatar that would allow an individual patient not only to access better-matched clinical outcome data, but also to define personal risk-reduction strategies that might modify his/her peri-operative risk profile. Modification of the avatar's body-weight, blood pressure, smoking and drinking habits, for example, could be used to illustrate visually how patients might improve their postoperative recoveiy.