AI-powered platform to support healthy ageing
Europe’s ageing population has profound implications. Aside from the impact on individuals, increased chronic disease and long-term care needs place greater financial and emotional strain on families. Additionally, while the state must meet the increasing cost, pension demands will also increase as the workforce contracts, potentially exacerbating labour shortages and reducing economic growth. Against this backdrop, the EU-funded GATEKEEPER(opens in new window) project has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven big data platform that offers next-generation healthcare services. “Bringing together diverse stakeholders and 40 000 EU citizens, GATEKEEPER has helped pioneer innovative digital healthcare based on predictive risk assessments and personalised chronic disease management,” explains Germán Gutiérrez, project coordinator, based at Medtronic(opens in new window) in Spain.
Treatment of age-related conditions
To collect and aggregate data about patient health for the GATEKEEPER platform, including that from electronic medical records and personal health records, the team first developed data processing implementation guidelines based on a standard called HL7 – Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources. The platform’s AI algorithms and models were then able to analyse and interpret this data to assess individual health risks, identify potential problems and provide personalised recommendations and interventions. For instance, GATEKEEPER’s algorithms were able to identify those most at risk of chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes. Through wearable devices such as smart watches, they were then able to offer personalised advice on the best fitness regimes to follow and even monitor adherence.
Piloting healthcare platform around the world
GATEKEEPER was piloted across various regions in Europe. In each case to evaluate the platform in real-world settings, the pilot team collaborated with healthcare providers and patients, alongside industry, civil society, academia and government stakeholders. Guided by the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing(opens in new window) initiative, use cases included wearables which monitored glycaemic status in diabetes patients and stroke prevention using coaching apps and virtual reality. “The pilots were successfully deployed across regions with very different healthcare needs and integrated into a range of healthcare settings, validating the platform’s scalability and adaptability,” notes Leandro Pecchia, pilot manager. Moving forward, the team have streamlined(opens in new window) an ethical and legal framework for healthcare innovation, established cybersecurity and data anonymisation protocols, and ensured compliance with data processing regulations, such as the GDPR.
Scaling up, rolling out and informing policy
Hewlett Packard’s Ezmeral Platform(opens in new window) secure cloud infrastructure currently hosts Gatekeeper, providing a secure environment for continued data storage and analysis. While a governance model is under development for the scaling up and rolling out of the system across various healthcare settings, pilot partners continue to advance GATEKEEPER’s work. For example, project partner Samsung has used project assets, such as its knowledge encoding model HeLiFit(opens in new window) and an AI-enabled tool (MatKG) to create a knowledge graph(opens in new window) from medical records and wearables data, which could be integrated into the Samsung Health App(opens in new window), to expand its functionality. Also inspired by GATEKEEPER findings, Samsung has been developing and deploying AI-powered analysis to assess how well wearables track the impact of health interventions. Looking specifically at Type 2 diabetes and with a paper pending, the Samsung team found that wearables provided an unprecedented data richness correlating lifestyle (such as better sleeping and higher-intensity exercise) with HbA1c levels of glycated haemoglobin(opens in new window). Again drawing on the work of GATEKEEPER, Samsung is also developing a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources(opens in new window) data model to further optimise its Health App, by extending its ability to collect data on a broader range of health-related data. “We have already made MatKG open access(opens in new window) as a self-service solution for other developers in this space, while inspired by GATEKEEPER’s technical results and following WHO health guidelines(opens in new window), we continue enhancing our health products,” adds Carlo Allocca from Samsung and GATEKEEPER’s AI expert.
