Artificial intelligence can help anticipate how some pulmonary diseases will evolve before the damage is irreversible. This is the basis of the SEPI-IA project (Interstitial Pulmonary Evolutionary Simulation with Artificial Intelligence), a technological prototype that will be clinically validated at Bellvitge University Hospital.
The project aims to improve the diagnosis and monitoring of interstitial pulmonary diseases, a group of complex pathologies that can evolve towards pulmonary fibrosis and often have a very variable evolution between patients. These diseases affect thousands of people in Spain and often have a complex diagnosis, with symptoms that can be confused with other respiratory pathologies.
The Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, signed on Monday with the Minister of Health of the Generalitat, Olga Pané, the act of transfer of the prototype to the hospital center.
The tool has been funded with 5 million euros by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities within the framework of the PERTE for Avant-garde Health of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
Anticipate how the disease will progress
Interstitial pulmonary diseases include more than 150 different pathologies, many of them minority, which can cause scars in the lung and hinder breathing.
Currently, imaging tests allow observing the state of the lung at a specific time, but it is not always possible to anticipate how the disease will evolve in each person.
The SEPI-IA prototype transforms traditional black and white diagnostic images into color-coded representations, capable of identifying radiological risk patterns and estimating the future progression of pulmonary fibrosis.
This technology allows detecting lesions that can go unnoticed and help professionals make therapeutic decisions with more information.
Clinical validation in Bellvitge
The system will be validated at Bellvitge Hospital, a reference centre for complex respiratory diseases.
According to Maria Molina, section head of the Functional Pulmonary Interstance Unit at Bellvitge Hospital, scientific director of IDIBELL and leader of the project, this type of tools can help improve the diagnosis and monitoring of patients. If clinical validation is positive, tools such as SEPI-IA could help predict the evolution of pulmonary fibrosis years before deterioration is irreversible. “Artificial intelligence can help us detect patterns that are not visible to the naked eye and anticipate how the disease can evolve,” she explains.
Currently, there is no validated tool in the National Health System that allows the evolution of these pathologies to be simulated individually.
Technological innovation applied to health
The development of the prototype has been carried out within the framework of a Pre-commercial Public Procurement initiative, managed by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI).
The project has had the participation of Tecnalia, a European technological research center based in the Basque Country, and GMV, a company specialized in advanced technological solutions.
Minister Diana Morant stressed that this type of initiative contributes to promoting innovation that strengthens the health system and improves people’s health.