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Digital technologies for citizens’ health: more than 800 thousand euros for the “Digital health and artificial intelligence” project

30/12/2022 By

The resources are allocated to FBK and Apss as part of the TrentinoSalute4.0 Center of Competence on Digital Health Care

The Provincial Council has approved funding for about 817 thousand euros to be allocated to the “Digital Health Care and Artificial Intelligence – Tools for bringing the Health Service closer to citizens and for the development of the provincial system” project, at the proposal of Health, Social Policy, Disability and Family Councillor Stefania Segnana and Economic Development, Research and Labor Councillor Achille Spinelli.
The project aims to test new organizational models in health care for the development of innovative services available to citizens, and at the same time, contribute to scientific and technological advancement. This includes using artificial intelligence tools to support healthcare professionals in clinical practice.
Prevention, teleconsultation, remote monitoring and treatment of patients, and evaluation and analysis of clinical data with advanced instrumentation are some of the initiative’s areas of work.
Intervention domains considered by the pilot project include: remote care and monitoring of chronic heart patients; screening for early diagnosis in the context of ophthalmology, in the context of diabetes and pediatrics; and prevention, to encourage the adoption of correct lifestyles, as well as the physical and psychological well-being of pregnant women and their families. Research and innovation in Trentino are addressing the issue of personalized medicine, which is constantly evolving toward the goal of health care where decisions, treatments, practices, medical devices and therapies are designed for the individual patient.
The
result of the virtuous joint laboratory model established by the Autonomous Province of Trento, the Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari and Fondazione Bruno Kessler within the framework of the Competence Center on Digital Health – TrentinoSalute4.0, the project allows digital health to open up to new application scenarios and to specifically detail the concept of health service in a more modern, efficient and innovative key.

The project will enable innovations ranging from the introduction of technology solutions that benefit patients and healthcare providers, to the development of artificial intelligence algorithms aimed at identifying personalized care pathways. In fact, the use of intelligent systems makes it possible to harness the wealth of information generated daily by citizens and the healthcare system for the development of the services offered. This will improve, among others, the care of patients, including in the case of the need for constant monitoring of chronic diseases, and the quality of life of all citizens, both from large centers and more peripheral ones
.”Thanks to this project, we will be able to aim to reach a greater number of patients in a capillary manner throughout the region and to have more and more precise data analysis, extremely refined diagnostics and thus meet the need for more targeted, operational and widespread health care,” – says Councillor Spinelli. Such innovative experiments, in strong connection with the world of research, will be able to confirm Trentino as a reference pole for artificial intelligence. In fact, in this case, the training of artificial intelligence algorithms aimed at creating predictive models and virtual personal assistants will be able to enable further development of healthcare services. This is why I am pleased to support a project of this magnitude: an increasingly strong synergy between research, innovation and the healthcare system.
“”In line with the provincial planning on health care and innovation, but also with regard to research and development of the Trentino system, the project follows a dual trajectory: the innovation of the provincial health care system and research for the development of new knowledge and new tools, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence and telemedicine, to serve citizens,” commented Councillor Segnana.
The project will lead, on the one hand, to an evolution of the TreC (Cartella Clinica del Cittadino) platform for the enhancement of telemedicine, as well as for the development and testing of new organizational models supported by technology, benefiting both health professionals and citizens; on the other hand, the collection and use of clinical data, obtained from the digital devices and archives of the Trento Province Healhcare System, in compliance with regulations on privacy and data access for research purposes.

© 2022 Autonomous Province of Trento Press Office



About the Author

Marzia Lucianer: Marzia Lucianer, giornalista scientifica, responsabile Press Office and Digital Communication di TrentinoSalute4.0