Progress
Big data gives heart research a boost A healthcare system under pressure requires new methods for making the right diagnosis in good time and selecting the best possible treatment. Heart researchers and mathematicians are now coming together to use artificial intelligence and register-based research to usher Sweden’s hospitals into a new era. DOG OWNERSHIP IS linked to a lower risk of death from heart disease. A cancer diagnosis, on the other hand, increases the risk sixfold, at least during the first week. Researchers using data from Sweden’s population-based registers and biobanks are able to supply important knowledge about a wide range of common diseases. The results of their
work provide practical support to healthcare professionals, as well as a basis for public policy. “Sweden’s healthcare model and national quality registers offer unique conditions. These days we have access to such vast quantities of medical data that new tools are required to fully utilise them. Above all, we see the potential in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which allows computers to complete tasks without being explicitly programmed to do so. With the correct input, we can push forward the boundaries of our entire field and during the autumn we will be beginning our commitment to AI for Research – a five-year interdisciplinary initiative,” says Johan Sundström, cardiologist and Professor of Epidemiology. THANKS TO A donation from
Johan Sundström, cardiologist and Professor of Epidemiology.
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Åland philanthropist Anders Wiklöf, the group has been
able to recruit two data scientists. Stationed at the new research environment, in collaboration with Thomas Schön, Beijer Professor of Artificial Intelligence, they will develop an AI tool with the capacity to interpret ECGs and diagnose abnormalities. In parallel, they will develop and validate the algorithms for detailed register studies. “The meeting of mathematical and clinical competences creates great synergies. They will build systems and algorithms, we will provide the relevant questions, data and knowledge about how the methods need to be tested before they can be clinically applied. Together, we can generate new knowledge for even better healthcare recommendations.” THAT SAID, THE path from
research findings to medical advice is not without obstacles. Region Uppsala’s evidence
Using register-based studies, the researchers hope to identify new risk factors so as to contribute to improved care for cardiovascular disease.
group, which Sundström chairs, is part of a national network that evaluates methods before their implementation in healthcare, and the fact is, many results are never translated into therapies. “The safest conclusions about causation and therapeutic effectiveness are achieved by randomly allocating different treatments to equivalent patient groups and then comparing the results. All the same, register-based studies are sometimes our best oppor-
