
What is chronic fatigue syndrome and how is it different from fibromyalgia?
11 December, 2024
The Aragonese Primary Care Research Group (GAIAP) of the IIS Aragón, in the EURODATA project
13 December, 2024The IIS Aragón together with the IACS, the ITA, Podoactiva and BitBrain presented the results of the project on Tuesday, December 10 at the ITA. The AI4HealthyAging initiative aims to prevent age-related neurodegenerative diseases through Artificial Intelligence.
El Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragon) the Aragonese Institute of Health Sciences (IACS) the Technological Institute of Aragon (ITA) and companies partners y BitBrain On Tuesday, December 10, they presented the results obtained from their participation in the project at the ITA AI4HealthyAging.
This project aims at application of distributed artificial intelligence for the early diagnosis and treatment of diseases with high prevalence in aging. It is funded by the European Union through the Next Generation funds. Specifically, 12,5 millones de euros and is within the framework of the 2021 call for Artificial Intelligence R&D Missions, funded by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan within the framework of the Spain Digital Agenda 2025.

The director of ITA, Esther Borao, highlighted in his speech the collaboration of the project partners on an issue that is seen as a challenge for society and on the use of technology for the early detection of pathologies.
On this day, which marks the end of the project, they have addressed, among others, the Trustworthy AI by Design, neurodegenerative diseases and sarcopenia, sleep and cancers prevalent in the elderly. These lines are part of the different work packages led by the aforementioned Aragonese companies and institutes.
The speakers have highlighted that In 2050, almost 30 percent of the European population will be elderly and, therefore, in light of this figure, this project will contribute to providing the health system with tools that can detect diseases associated with ageing early.
Many people over 65 years of age lose muscle mass, strength and functionality. What happens to them is called sarcopenia, leads to a situation of fragility and often goes unnoticed due to the lack of effective screening or early diagnosis tools.

The ITA has been responsible for generating the artificial intelligence models. Rafael del Hoyo, responsible for Big Data and Cognitive Systems, said that “we have worked hard to understand human movements, through images and motion sensors or accelerometers.” AI can “help with the early diagnosis of these diseases, making small signs trigger the alarm and encourage people to visit the doctor”, he said. An AI that can hide in a mobile app or in the sensors of a shoe “that are ‘listening’ at all times.”

The company bitbrain explores the use of AI for early detection and rapid intervention in mild cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer's, based on measurements of brain activity during sleep. The company combines neuroscience, artificial intelligence and hardware to develop advanced EEG equipment and other human monitoring technologies, along with software solutions for real-world applications and research.

Finally, in relation to the High prevalence cancers in the aging population, the EINA professor Manuel I will bend He highlighted the importance of collaboration between technological institutes and clinical professionals. Risk prediction tools for prostate and colon cancer have been developed that include more variables, in addition to occult blood in faeces and PSA levels, and it is expected that they will be progressively incorporated into clinical practice. He also presented the progress in the detection of cancer in histological images, magnetic resonance imaging and colonoscopies, which will be gradually validated in a multi-centre manner.

In this project, led by Capgemini EngineeringIn addition to the Aragonese partners, the following entities are participating: Altran Innovación, the State Agency of the Higher Council for Scientific Research, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Intelligent Biosensors for Health, sl, the Spanish Red Cross, the Andalusian Foundation for Research and Knowledge Management in Otorhinolaryngology, Starlab Barcelona, sl Technaid, sl Universitat de Valencia and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.

Project framed within the 2021 call for R&D Missions in Artificial Intelligence, funded by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan within the framework of the Spain Digital Agenda 2025.
Artificial Intelligence for the Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Diseases with High Prevalence in Aging is a project funded by the Artificial Intelligence R&D Missions Program of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation (MIA.2021.M02.0007).
