Cardiovascular disease kills one in three Europeans and costs €282 billion a year. Writing for The European Scientist, Gwladys Johnson presents CHAIN, the network launched by the European Commission and coordinated by the European Society of Cardiology, which aims to take artificial intelligence from the lab to the patient’s bedside.
Cardiovascular disease kills one in three Europeans and costs €282 billion a year, more than the EU’s annual budget. To reduce this burden, the European Commission has launched the CHAIN network, designed to deploy artificial intelligence in the prevention and treatment of heart disease across the continent. This 36-month project is funded by the EU4Health programme to the tune of €20 million.
53 partners in 20 countries
The network brings together 53 partners from 20 European countries: universities, hospitals, technology companies, health ministries and patient organisations. It is coordinated by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), which already runs a unified cardiovascular data registry covering 18 member countries.
Connecting hospitals and registries to test AI at scale
CHAIN is built on the secure connection of hospitals, health databases and disease registries across Europe. In practice, this will make it possible to test and validate artificial intelligence tools at scale, then deploy them in healthcare systems. Six concrete applications will be rolled out in 13 countries, covering prevention, early diagnosis and clinical decision support.
“The question is no longer simply what AI can do. The question is how we make it work safely and effectively for patients and health professionals in everyday healthcare,” said Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Health.
An “AI passport” for every tool
Validated tools will be gathered in a European repository accessible to hospitals and health authorities. Each tool will come with an “AI passport” documenting its performance, safety and suitability for clinical use. The aim is to give healthcare professionals clear assurances about what works, for which patients and in which settings.
“Patients and healthcare professionals are looking to medical societies like the ESC to lead the way: to provide a framework for the implementation of trusted solutions that really add value,” said Professor Folkert Asselbergs, the project’s scientific coordinator at Amsterdam University Medical Centre.
A regulatory framework in flux
CHAIN is part of a rapidly changing regulatory landscape. The European Health Data Space, the AI Act and the new medical device rules are reshaping the framework in which these technologies are developed and deployed. The network has been designed to comply with them from the outset.
Gwladys Johnson
Image credit: Peterhcharlton, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
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