AI-based decision support in personalized medicine

The CLINIC 5.1 project, launched in March 2021, is a collaboration between industry, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg University, and Heidelberg University Hospital. The aim of the project is to develop new and market-oriented forms of AI-based decision support for physicians, using the example of prostate carcinoma. These are intended to help improve treatments, save resources and advance personalized medicine.

Medical practice faces numerous decisions that must be made for the best possible therapy outcome for each patient. However, a core problem in medicine is that for many disease entities, therapeutic success can only be predicted with a statistical probability. The prognosis for the individual patient remains unclear, often leading to a time-consuming "trial-and-error" treatment principle. The CLINIC 5.1 project addresses this issue by developing innovative decision support tools based on prior therapies, diagnoses and studies.

In addition to developing AI-based decision support tools, monitoring and follow-up care of patients is an important aspect of personalized medicine. In this context, mbits, as an associated partner of CLINIC 5.1, has developed an app for the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) in Heidelberg. The Physician Assistant App offers medical personnel and patients various functions, including a chat for communication, a shared calendar for scheduling appointments, and the ability to upload and download findings and medication plans.

The core of the app is a questionnaire that patients fill out, which asks about various vital parameters such as weight, pulse, oxygen saturation, etc., as well as how the patient is feeling. The well-being questions are answered on a corresponding scale. The app automatically notifies medical staff when vital signs exceed limits or when the patient reports discomfort. In this way, the therapy sequence can be coordinated and guided more comfortably and reproducibly.