Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for the treatment of oncological diseases: Sant'Anna School coordinates the AIRCARE Project to improve technologies used in the treatment of head and neck cancers
How the inclusion of AI in the clinical process can optimise diagnosis and the surgical approach. The Telecommunications, Computer Engineering, and Photonics Institute (TeCIP) and the Biorobotics Institute together in the new Horizon Europe project to create new robotic stabilisation and control tools that will enable tissue manipulation and tumour removal with unprecedented levels of precision
Cancers of the upper digestive tract are unfortunately still widespread worldwide, and are among the major diseases with a constantly increasing incidence and mortality rate. The treatment of these diseases is performed by ear-nose-throat surgeons, who operate with incomplete knowledge of tumour geometry, under non-ergonomic conditions and with limited precision on the fragile cancerous tissue.
In order to improve doctors' performance and surgical approach, the Sant'Anna School coordinates the Horizon Europe-IA AIRCARE (AI-augmented Robotics for CAncer point of caRE) Project, coordinated by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and financed by the European Union. The School is participating with research groups coordinated by Alessandro Biondi, associate professor in Information Engineering at The Telecommunications, Computer Engineering, and Photonics Institute (TeCIP), and Cesare Stefanini, professor in Bioengineering at the Biorobotics Institute. The aim is to apply Artificial Intelligence and robotic technology in the workflow of clinical practice in both the diagnosis process and surgical treatment in order to optimise patient care.
AIRCARE's main objectives are the advancement and validation through clinical trials of new point-of-care technologies, i.e. diagnostic tools designed to perform rapid and reliable tests wherever the patient is without passing through traditional testing laboratories, for the detection, diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancers.
For diagnosis, AIRCARE will enable real-time optical biopsies powered by artificial intelligence, helping to optimise a patient-specific surgical approach. For surgery, AIRCARE will provide a more controlled and ergonomic environment . New robotic stabilisation and control tools will allow tissue manipulation and tumour removal with unprecedented levels of precision. A new intuitive 3D visualisation will simplify understanding of the complex surgical scene. In addition to increasing the safety, quality and efficiency of the surgical procedure, even less experienced surgeons will be able to perform complex image-guided treatments.
The Sant'Anna School, together with other universities, research institutes, industry and three hospitals will provide the project with the expertise acquired in the various disciplines to improve the promising research prototypes in two advanced integrated systems: one for diagnosis and the other for surgery. The School will also provide input on the subject of safe Artificial Intelligence, which is a fundamental requirement, not only in the development phase, but throughout the life cycle of the systems used, especially in projects with applications in the health sector.
AIRCARE consortium
The AIRCARE consortium brings together the diverse knowledge and expertise of 11 project partners from 6 countries.
Coordinated by Instituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), the project comprises the collective strengths of hospitals, universities, research institutions, industrial companies, legal partners and business support organisations.
Visit the website: https://aircareproject.eu/
