Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering
Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering

Healthcare – Current projects for research and industry

HEALTH-X dataLOFT: Legitimate, open and federated health data space in GAIA-X

Healthcare of the future will be based on secure and cross-sector networking and use of data. In addition, personal data from the secondary healthcare market, such as activity data collected by end-consumer devices, is becoming increasingly important. The goal of the "HEALTH-X dataLOFT" project is to place citizens at the center of the provision, use and control of their own health data within the framework of a citizen-centered health data space. The health data will be made accessible according to GAIA-X standards.

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DaRe: Health DAta trust REallaboratory to develop and test ecosystem integration of data-driven health research

In the joint project »DaRe«, a data escrow model for medical data is to be developed using radiology as an example. Radiological data are of particular interest for medical research and the development of medical analysis tools, as they form the basis for AI components of imaging devices. The central aspect of the project is to realize a stronger integration of patients as data providers.

Coop4Health.NRW: Citizens' cooperative for strengthening the health and well-being of the population in NRW

Within the framework of Coop4Health.NRW, a citizens' cooperative is being founded with the aim of "improving the health and well-being of the NRW population". Through the innovative governance approach, the participants themselves are to have full control over the sharing of their personal (health-related) data, while being able to decide jointly on its use for the benefit of all stakeholders. The data can then be made available to interested stakeholders within and outside the health sector.

MINDED.RUHR: My INdividual Digital EDucation

MINDED.RUHR focuses on the one hand on the combined provision of educational content from various training providers with the Moodle content of public educational institutions, and on the other hand on the individualized provision of suitable content for different target groups and learning types.

Pandemic care and research requires the availability of medical care data in retrospective, acute, and prospective settings. A longitudinal view of disease trajectories requires a) complex legal constructs (ethics application, purpose statement), but especially patient consent, and b) access points to data-collection endpoints in care as well as research.

BodyTune: Automated audio analysis of carotid artery blood flow sounds

While arteriosclerosis is asymptomatic until complications occur, the secondary conditions it causes (stroke or heart attack) are the most common cause of premature death in industrialized countries.

CLINOTEL: Digital maturity of hospitals

CLINOTEL is a group of more than 60 hospitals (institution codes, as of 2018). Its members want to ensure their lasting economic success and provide their services in accordance with current medical knowledge and best practices.

Digital hospital NRW

North Rhine-Westphalia provides services for 4.6 million inpatients and 5 million outpatients at a total of 344 hospitals. Measuring the direct influence of digitization appears difficult. Digitally assisted communication establishes consistency, both in the hospital and with external supporting structures.

Digital Angel

The activities of nursing staff in German hospitals not only demand a high level of technical expertise, but also extensive, individual interaction with patients. To ensure individual care of high quality, the patient’s personality traits and feelings need to be taken into account in addition to expertise.

DaWID: Data-centered value creation platform for interactive, assisting service systems

Data are considered the raw material of the century. The World Economic Forum designated personal data as a new asset class back in 2012. A shift to digital business models on the basis of data is in demand and already discernible today. The project "DaWID" aims to research and test a data-centered value creation platform for the transparent and sovereign administration of their own data by users.

Digital life journey: A self-determined life for citizens in an increasingly digitized world

The digital life journey describes us from our birth to our death. This leads to the following question: Would it be possible to describe the individual citizen in their entirety by combining all their data – the "digital me" so to speak? This digital life journey shows how each person can regain sovereignty over their data, and how society, technology, ethics, law, and economics have to work together.

eDem-CONNECT: Development of a communication and service platform for peo-ple caring for family members with dementia

In the project "eDEM-Connect", we are researching how people caring for family members suffering from dementia, who are confronted with agitation, can be supported by technical solutions. The three-year project aims to establish and deliver a chatbot-based communication and service platform.

EPItect: Sensory seizure detection

Epilepsy is among the most common neurological diseases in the world. Recurring epileptic seizures that put great strain on affected individuals and the people who care for them are a typical symptom. The unpredictability of the seizures as well as impaired consciousness and the loss of control over various bodily functions contribute to the risk that affected individuals may sustain serious injuries, making care more difficult.

GAPP: Supporting the approval process for blood, tissue, and cell products

Timely access to safe drug products is a key issue for clinical medicine. Here the risk-based evaluation of the quality, safety, and effectiveness of these drugs plays a major role.

I/E-Health-NRW: The best care, hand in hand

The goal of the project "I/E-Health-NRW" is to test and establish the existing standardized technological methods in model regions in North Rhine-Westphalia under consideration of the German Digital Healthcare Act and support for migration to the telematics infrastructure. This will allow registered doctors and hospitals to exchange patient data using the electronic case file and KV-Connect data.

interopEHRate: Self-determining handling of data from electronic health files

Today the health data of EU citizens are distributed across various IT systems in different healthcare organizations. Notwithstanding the growing number of central-ized infrastructures on the basis of digital health files, the adequate exchange of data is hardly possible within the framework of regional, national, and in particular cross-border healthcare in the EU states (continuity of care).

HealthReality: Living lab and interactive service platform for user-centered serious and health games

This project uses an experimentation space called Health Reality Labs and the Health Reality Platform to create a real and digital environment, intended to promote exchanges between the creative industry and healthcare sector in the area of mixed reality applications. Best practices and design principles for the practical implementation of augmented reality/virtual reality applications are researched and quality criteria are established.

High Performance Center Logistics and IT: Innovation ecosystem at the Dortmund scientific site

Scientific institutions based in Dortmund that – on their own – are already shaping and driving logistics research today are working together under the umbrella of the High Performance Center Logistics and IT. In the High Performance Center, they are now establishing a national infrastructure and innovation ecosystem in cooperation with industry, not only together but also synergetically – from fundamental research to applied research.

MightyU: Health gaming for children and teenagers with infantile cerebral palsy

Infantile cerebral palsy (ICP), a chronic disease of the musculoskeletal system, leads to motor impairment due to damage to the central nervous system in early childhood. The aim of this project is to develop a technology that grows with the child and increases motivation to support the training of children and adolescents with ICP.

MOND: Mobile, smart neurosensor system for the detection and documentation of epileptic seizures in everyday life

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases worldwide. Its characteristic symptom is recurrent epileptic seizures, which are very stressful for those affected. Recognizing and documenting epileptic seizures in everyday life is essential for individual therapy.

PCompanion: Mobile health system to assist Parkinson’s patients

Changes in the regulation of vegetative bodily functions and sleep frequently occur even before Parkinson’s patients experience movement disorders. However, a broadly available screening and monitoring system for corresponding early diagnosis does not exist at this time.

Platform strategy for hospitals: Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) and the clinical workplace system

Barmherzigen Brüder Trier (BBT) has launched an innovation process to meet future nursing needs from the perspective of demographics and the trend of an increasingly more digitized society. Realizing supportive, consistent, and cooperative processes using digital possibilities is a key objective.

SMITH: Smart Medical Information Technology for Healthcare

The demand for efficient development of new treatment methods, pharmaceuticals and technologies in medicine is greater than ever. Data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence are opening up new opportunities for medical research based on healthcare data.

In the project "ViCon - Virtual Consent Assistant", Fraunhofer ISST is researching new human-technology dialogs. In this context, a virtual Consent Assistant is to support informed consents for the processing of patient-related data. Often, the informedness of patients is simply assumed.

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ViDA: Video-supported teleconsultation and data donation based on the Electronic Case File

Pandemics require digital solutions to maintain health care structures and at the same time improve health research. With the Electronic Case File (EFA), the Fraunhofer ISST has already provided a central building block for ensuring and improving the care of COVID-19 patients (Technology Readiness Levels (TRL): 9).

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