DMEA 2024 – Fraunhofer IGD: visual-interactive tool for patient cohort analysis
Make better data-driven decisions
Vital data, results of imaging examinations and information on lifestyle: Comprehensive data on patients is already available to healthcare workers, but is not necessarily easy to use. Fraunhofer IGD has made it its mission to use this in the best possible way to support medical decision-making and to involve patients. At the DMEA from April 9th to 11th in Berlin, the researchers will present two solutions – a visual-interactive tool for cohort analysis in research and the Parkinson’s monitor. This helps doctors and those affected to better understand the individual disease.
“Medical professionals should be able to easily deal with large amounts of data,” explains Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörn Kohlhammer, head of the information visualization and visual analytics department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Graphical Data Processing. “With this goal, we are developing solutions that – in addition to their personal experience – support them in decision-making based on data.” At the same time, the researchers also take patients into account: “If they support the treatment confidently and well-informed, it will improve it Feeling of well-being is noticeable,” explains Dr.-Ing. Stefan Wesarg, Head of Visual Healthcare Technologies department.
Design visually interactive medical studies
Discover new connections: Cohort analysis serves as the basis for personalized medicine. Researchers look for commonalities among patients and connect current treatment decisions with comparable cases in the past. Fraunhofer IGD developed an analysis tool that visually interactively supports researchers in dividing cohorts more precisely and examining the data for correlations between parameters.
Based on patient information, medical image data and omics data, i.e. a wide variety of information about changes on a genetic or molecular level, for example, information is brought together and processed using AI for a medical assessment. The current focus is on nephrology and chronic inflammatory bowel disease. “In collaboration with the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Immune-Mediated Diseases CIMD, we are further developing the technology so that it can also be used in the pharmaceutical industry in the future,” says Kohlhammer.
Predict the course of the disease based on data
The Parkinson’s Monitor is a dashboard for those affected and treating doctors. The web application summarizes a patient diary, image data, an overview of the data over time and other areas. AI-based conclusions can be drawn from this as to how the disease is likely to develop. In the future, it should also be possible to predict the side effects of changing medication.
“Especially when patients are no longer independent as the disease progresses, relatives can better understand their situation with the Parkinson’s monitor,” explains Wesarg. For the development, Wesarg’s team used data from around 3,000 patients recorded in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative. In the next step, the solution will be tested with a clinical partner on a current patient group – also to receive feedback on its user-friendliness.
Adaptable to different clinical pictures
Both Fraunhofer solutions – the cohort analysis and the Parkinson’s monitor – have one thing in common: they currently focus on specific indications, but in the future they are universally applicable to many different questions. Both projects also pay particular attention to data protection: Both Kohlhammer and Wesarg are part of the National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity ATHENE. This is a research facility of the Fraunhofer Society under the direction of Fraunhofer SIT and with the participation of Fraunhofer IGD as well as the universities TU Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.
Additional information:
Fraunhofer IGD presents at the DMEA:
More about Fraunhofer IGD’s research for the health and care sector:
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Fraunhofer IGD on DMEA
April 9th to 11th, 2024
Fraunhofer joint stand: Hall 2.2, Stand D-108
About Fraunhofer IGD:
The Fraunhofer Institute for Graphical Data Processing IGD has been setting standards in visual computing, image- and model-based computer science, for over 30 years. Fraunhofer IGD’s approximately 210 employees support companies and institutions in the automotive, health and care, bioeconomy and infrastructure, software and IT industries, maritime industries, and cultural and creative industries. Fraunhofer IGD offers concrete technological solutions and helps with strategic development. The researchers carry out data analysis, design software and hardware systems, develop prototypes and realize and implement visual-interactive systems. The focus is on human-machine interaction, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, interactive simulation, modeling as well as 3D printing and 3D scanning. Fraunhofer IGD has been conducting cutting-edge research since 1987 and supports social and economic change with application-oriented solutions at its three locations in Darmstadt, Rostock and Kiel. Its products gain international relevance through collaboration with the Austrian sister institute in Graz and Klagenfurt as well as participation in a wide range of EU projects.
Contact
Fraunhofer Institute for Graphical Data Processing IGD
Daniela Welling
Fraunhoferstraße 5
64283 Darmstadt
+49 6151 155-146