The data revolution in biomedicine

Information technologies and artificial intelligence are revolutionising different sectors in an unstoppable digital transformation. Health systems have been slow to digitise, due to significant barriers related to the size and heterogeneity of information systems, privacy and cybersecurity issues, etc., so most of the potential for using data is yet to be discovered. However, the pressing needs of the health system, the lack of professionals and the ageing of the population require these technologies to improve the efficiency and sustainability of health systems and in turn to provide better healthcare. 

In parallel, advanced diagnostic technologies (medical imaging, genomics, etc.) provide an increasing amount of information for the diagnosis, understanding and treatment of complex diseases, allowing us to move towards personalised medicine. In this context of Big Data, artificial intelligence, linked to the new paradigms of data spaces in health, can allow the exploitation and integration of complex information for better healthcare care and management, enabling in turn the development and validation of new digital health products and services, medical devices, new therapies, etc. For example, in the European LUCIA project, Vicomtech is developing multimodal data integration techniques and AI to improve the prevention and early diagnosis of cancer, and in the European CARAMEL project there is a similar approach aimed at preventing cardiovascular health in women around menopause. The possibilities are certainly immense, but they require sustained R&D efforts and an environment that facilitates such developments. 

However, its development faces multiple challenges, barriers and regulations, some of which are necessary, as they allow aspects such as privacy or the fundamental rights of citizens to be respected. To make these opportunities for progress a reality, a joint effort is needed, from the administrations and health systems, enabling digitalization plans and funds for the development of these technologies, from the developers, developing and validating effective solutions for clinical use, from the regulatory, providing effective mechanisms for their evaluation, from health professionals, training in these new technologies and knowing their benefits and limitations for an appropriate choice and use and from the citizens themselves, making them participants in their own health and the use of their data in research contexts.

Dr. Iván Macía, Director of Digital Health & Biomedical Technologies, Vicomtech.