Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cause of cancer globally, as cited by the World Health Organization (WHO). Despite its high prevalence, our current cancer diagnostic tools for PCa often fall short, resulting in inaccurate diagnoses.
Clearly, we urgently need innovative tools to enhance accuracy in cancer diagnostic and better evaluate treatment responses. This is where the FLUTE project comes in.
The FLUTE platform is a pioneering federated infrastructure designed to overhaul how we handle health data. It enables the deployment of large-scale machine learning models across various data centers, all without sharing sensitive patient data.
Instead of transferring data, a general AI healthcare model is trained locally on each dataset and then transferred between data centers. This process preserves privacy while still extracting valuable insights.
The mission of this multi-disciplinary project is to thrust data-driven healthcare into a new age by developing advanced methods that allow privacy-preserving, cross-border use of data hubs.
The FLUTE project harnesses the strength and expertise of 11 partners. This team includes clinical/data partners, technology subject matter experts (SMEs), technology research partners, a legal/ethics partner, and a standards organization. This cooperative approach ensures a comprehensive outlook, with every facet meticulously considered and addressed.
The technical innovations emerging from the project will be integrated into a sturdy platform, equipping innovators with a reliable and secure AI healthcare tool. This platform will capitalize on RWD and synthetic data, showcasing the practical use and impact of the results.
Furthermore, the project will unite the FLUTE platform with health data hubs in three countries. The data from these hubs will be harnessed to develop a unique federated AI toolset for clinically significant prostate cancer diagnosis. A multi-national clinical validation study will then be undertaken to assess its efficacy.
The FLUTE project aims to sharpen predictions of aggressive prostate cancer while reducing unnecessary biopsies. This approach will significantly improve patient welfare and cut associated healthcare costs. The project will contribute to the global HL7 FHIR standard development and formulate new guidelines for GDPR-compliant cross-border Federated Learning in healthcare to maximize the results’ impact, adoption, and replicability.
While the FLUTE project primarily aims to boost the competitiveness of European SMEs and research organizations in the digital era, it also has the potential to enhance the productivity and efficiency of the healthcare industry in the U.S.
Quibim, as a participant and experts on AI in healthcare, will contribute with the QP-Prostate tool; an AI solution to increase diagnostic accuracy. This automated preprocessing solution provides multi-regional prostate segmentation and extracts quantitative imaging biomarkers from bi-parametric and multi-parametric MRI images.
The FLUTE project is poised to reshape the landscape of prostate cancer diagnosis. Through federated learning, privacy-preserving data utilization, and collaborative effort, we are one step closer to a future where prostate cancer can be accurately diagnosed, improving the lives of millions of men worldwide. Let the symphony of progress continue.
This work was funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement number 101095382. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
