Donations financed an AI platform that treats COVID patients

A collaboration between the Government of the Valencian region and the University of Alicante

The Government of the Valencian autonomous region and the University of Alicante (UA) have started promoting a project, which combines the use of big data and artificial intelligence to allow improving the care of patients suffering from COVID-19. The system, after carrying out an analysis of the previous pathologies they have suffered, of the treatments that have been applied to them, the results obtained and the evolution of the disease, suggests the most successful treatment for each patient.

Seeing the success of this innovation, the regional government has promised to spend more on science

The project is being worked on in several hospitals in the Valencian Community. The research has allowed the development of a platform that accesses the medical records of patients to extract information on previous pathologies, received treatments and tests carried out to detect COVID-19.

On this data, artificial intelligence models are designed and trained with the objective that each time a new patient is admitted, the system classifies him or her into one of three groups. In addition, according to data on the evolution of all patients to the measures and treatments received, the algorithms will suggest the most successful treatment.

The use of this system has revealed several advantages, among which are that it allows data to be extracted transparently from medical records and other data sources, without requiring additional work on the part of healthcare professionals. This point is essential in the face of possible saturation of the health system.

It also provides a classification of the patient through an intelligence system, indicating the degree of confidence based on the available data, in such a way that attention times are shortened and it contributes to optimizing the system.

The regional Minister of Finance Vicent Soler, and the Minister of Innovation, Carolina Pascual, have presented together with the rector of the University of Alicante, Amparo Navarro, the initiative that has been financed thanks to the COVID donations made by citizens, through the line set up by the Valencian Government.

This project received financing to the tune of 100,000 euros. However, Carolina Pascual elaborated further: "We are aware that sustained investment in the field of science allows us to get out of the crisis faster and better, that is why we have not doubted in which areas we had to prioritize. The commitment to science grows by 70% in the budgets of 2021”.