The new European project Brainteaser officially kicks off. It is an ambitious project involving 11 partners led by the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Brainteaser’s goal is to use AI artificial intelligence systems to process data from individuals suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In this way, according to the project plans, it will be possible to make patient management more efficient and effective while developing models capable of predicting disease progression.
ALS and MS are two complex degenerative neurological diseases with a different clinical picture, evolution, prognosis, and therapies. The common features are that both diseases affect the nervous system, are chronic, progressive, and significantly change the quality of life of those affected and their families. The incidence of these diseases is quite high in Europe with 2.6 cases per 100,000 people per year for ALS and with more than 600,000 cases in Europe for MS.
The study behind the Brainteaser project will involve 300 patients over four years. The project will develop in four clinical centers in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. All patients will be monitored through sensors and smart apps that will allow you to create personalized services.
The project was funded with 6 million euros from the EU. Among the partners involved, there is also InSilicoTrials, a company with offices in Milan, Netherland, and the USA will take part in the BRAINTEASER project overseeing the cloud platform for software and AI simulations, exploitation activities, quality assurance, and risk management. The exploitation plan will aim at the effective start of commercialization of simulations based on a selected number of project results as Software as a Service (SaaS) on the InSilicoTrials.com platform. These simulations will be hosted within a cloud environment suitable for commercialization and compliant with regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, ISO / IEC 2700X standards, technical requirements of GCPs, Computer System Validation practices such as Good Automated Manufacturing Practice (GAMP5).
Barbara Di Camillo, Scientific and Technical Manager of BRAINTEASER and Associate Professor at the Department of Information Engineering, University of Padua, declares, “Through a simple system of wearable sensors and apps, we intend to bring the advantages of artificial intelligence directly to the patient, integrating models for short and long term risk prediction, help for clinical decisions and prevention.”
The collected data will concern not only clinical data but also environmental, socio-economic, and lifestyle data. This data will be integrated into Artificial Intelligence models to transform the current health approach from reactive to predictive while providing coaching tools that will form a path towards healthier lives.
The multidisciplinary approach of the project, guided by a strong emphasis on co-design methodologies involves BRAINTEASER end-users as part of the team in several phases. It will bring great benefits to patients, their carers, and doctors, who are significantly improving the ability of public health systems to predict, detect, alleviate and manage the negative impacts of those factors that contribute to diseases.
Ultimately, BRAINTEASER intends to become a successful case history that shows how, in the modern healthcare scenario, the integration of clinical knowledge, technical skills, and patient contributions can lead to new approaches to care.