20 European researchers met in Sierre to kick off a European H2020 research project

 20 researchers from all over Europe gathered at the Techno-Pôle in Sierre for the kick-off meeting of the European H2020 research project ExaMode. Coordinated by the Institute of Information Systems of the HES-SO Valais-Wallis and with a total budget of over 5 million Swiss francs (approx. 1 million for the Valais), this project deals with the processing of exascale volumes of healthcare data. It is carried out in partnership with six other universities, hospitals and companies: the University of Padova (Italy), the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Radboud University in Nijmegen (Netherlands), the “Cannizzaro” Hospital in Catania (Italy), SURFsara (Netherlands), Ontotext (Bulgaria) and MicroscopeIT (Poland).

  The objective of the 4-year project ExaMode is to develop new prototypes for processing large volumes of medical data on exascale computing facilities. These can be used for the analysis of large quantities of histopathological images (100,000x100,000 pixel*), including thin-slice images taken with a microscope required for cancer biopsies and other pathologies.

  *to be honest the images are even more bigger but I think we can use these numbers.

 Revolutionising pathological diagnosis with digital technology

 More detailed analyses, using artificial intelligence algorithms, could lead to better results, for instance for computer-aided diagnostic assistance with quantitative parameters, often more objective than current processes. Deep learning tools are based on large volumes of training data that has insufficiently been annotated. Generating training data with limited human interaction and using semantics to better understand medical reports and the changes on the images that are described could lead to more powerful algorithms.

 Kick-off in Sierre

 The project partners gathered for the kick-off meeting at the Techno-Pôle in Sierre, where several research institutes of the HES-SO Valais-Wallis are located. The first day was dedicated to the presentation of the partners and to team-building activities for the consortium, and the second day to the fine-tuning of the project roadmap.

Further information:

HES-SO Valais-Wallis – Institute of Information Systems

Henning Müller, professor, henning.mueller@hevs.ch, +41 27 606 90 36, +41 76 516 50 02

Manfredo Atzori, senior academic associate, manfredo.atzori@hevs.ch

UNIPD - Department of Information Engineering (DEI)

Gianmaria Silvello, assistant professor (tenure-track, RTD/b), gianmaria.silvello@unipd.it

Partners of the H2020 research project ExaMode at Techno-Pôle in Sierre

 Website of the laboratory of professor Dr Henning Müller: www.hevs.ch/medgift