Researchers have developed a tool called PLeDO to detect pain levels in patients with osteoarthritis from electronic medical records (EMR) data. The tool uses machine learning techniques to analyze both structured and unstructured data, including chart notes, to categorize patients as having mild or moderate-to-severe pain. This is done by identifying expressions related to pain in the chart notes and incorporating information about medications and pain scales. A pilot study using human-labeled gold standard data found that PLeDO can accurately detect pain levels. --- Why it matters: This tool matters because it has the potential to improve the quality of care for osteoarthritis patients by providing a more accurate understanding of their pain levels, which is essential for diagnosis and treatment. Source: https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.15719