International project launches to predict cardiovascular risk with AI
Researchers from a new €10 million project, aimed at developing personalised AI models to better predict the risk of strokes and heart problems, recently came together in Liverpool for their inaugural meeting.
Led by scientists from the the TARGET project will utilise cutting edge data science techniques to produce large-scale computational models to aid clinical decision making when assessing and treating stroke related Atrial Fibrillation (AF).
The project is funded through the European Union’s Horizon funding scheme and involves a collaborative effort with 20 partners from 10 European countries. Their goal over the next five years is to enhance care and rehabilitation for AF and AF-related stroke (AFRS), ultimately improving the quality of life for patients and caregivers while reducing healthcare costs.
The study will use large data sets to produce ‘digital twins’, which represent a digital form of individual patients based on their characteristics and medical and health history. This will then allow AI systems to suggest a range of potential treatment plans and find the optimal pathway for each patient. All of this can be done in a digital environment, providing invaluable guidance for clinicians and improved treatment for patients.
TARGET’s Clinical Lead, Professor Gregory Lip, Director of LCSS and Price-Evans Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Liverpool said: “This novel and innovative project utilises data science to develop personalised approaches to the care pathway for stroke patients with atrial fibrillation. The latter is the commonest cardiac rhythm disorder in the population, and atrial fibrillation related strokes have a high mortality and disability.”
TARGET’s Project Lead, Dr Sandra Ortega-Martorell, Reader in Data Science at Liverpool John Moores University, said: “TARGET will shape cutting-edge virtual twins and AI technologies to develop reliable and personalised models for the benefit and well-being of AF and stroke patients. TARGET will pave the way to deliver optimised clinical decision-making and rehabilitation strategies for the AF and stroke patient journey, superior to the current standard of care.”
The project is being led by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and coordinated by Lund University in Sweden. Local partners include the University of Liverpool, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Liverpool University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The team hosted a kick off meeting recently at LJMU to discuss the project and what the next five years of project work will entail. Partners delivered presentations on their individual research focuses and how they will contribute to the project.