Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key technology in the healthcare industry. Not only does it help medical professionals with early detection and diagnosis, it can also ease the burden of caring for patients.

Düsseldorf is a centre for biotechnology: the city is home to a large number of life sciences companies and related suppliers and service providers. The Heinrich Heine University with its numerous research projects, the German Diabetes Centre, the Leibniz Institute for Environmental Medical Research and the Biological Medical Research Centre are also regarded as the nucleus of the German biotechnology industry. The Life Science Centre Düsseldorf, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the university campus and offers 21,000 square metres of flexible laboratory and office space, is home to many startups as well as established companies in the sector. Most of these biotech companies and research institutes are now using AI to improve patient care, facilitate diagnosis and reduce the workload of medical professionals. How does it work? VIVID took a closer look at three biotech players in Düsseldorf.

The UKD's Digital Health Lab works with AI to improve communication, training, diagnostics, treatment and patient care.

UKD: AI IN RESEARCH

The University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD) is one of the best hospitals in the world - not only when it comes to patient care, but also when it comes to innovative research projects. More and more researchers are using artificial intelligence in their tests and studies.

UKD's Digital Health Lab is working with AI to improve clinical communication, train doctors and assist them in diagnosis, treatment and patient care.

Radiology is an important area of application for AI. Such technologies help to analyse and interpret medical images more quickly and detect abnormalities that are difficult for the human eye to detect. The Department of Artificial Intelligence and Radiological Informatics, headed by Prof. Dr. med. Dipl.-Inform. Julian Caspers, aims to harness the potential of AI to improve patient care, for example in the early detection of aneurysms. AI will also be used in the joint 'DECADE' project, which aims to improve the care of colorectal cancer patients. DECADE starts at the diagnostic stage, but can also predict factors that are important for treatment. Another UKD AI project is the 'Digital ICU', an intensive care unit simulation room where new techniques can be safely simulated in use to create the most realistic research platform possible. The KIPos project aims to improve the post-operative care of cardiac surgery patients using an AI-based support system for specialist staff.

WWW.UNIKLINIK-DUESSELDORF.DE

NANO4IMAGING GMBH: INTELLIGENT TRACKING SOFTWARE FOR INVASIVE MEDICINE

Nano4Imaging GmbH was founded in 2011 by Rudolf Schulze Vohren and Paul Borm and is based in the Life Science Centre in Düsseldorf-Bilk. Their product: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-compatible instruments with nanotech markers and AI-based software (TRACKR) to support invasive procedures in MRI. This development is particularly beneficial for sensitive patients such as children, pregnant women or those with kidney disease, as it avoids the need for X-rays and contrast media, unlike catheter labs. In addition, MRI is much better at imaging vascular systems and other soft tissues such as the liver or heart.

At a workshop with BIS Research on the US market for TRACKR: Cansu Ahlemeyer, CFO, Professor Paul Borm, CTO and co-founder of Nano4Imaging, Abdul Wahid from BIS Research and Rudolf Schulze Vohren, CEO and co-founder

Nano4Imaging uses non-metallic guidewires and catheters made of polymer materials that are tagged with nanotechnology markers and controlled by TRACKR software, which works similarly to GPS: The AI guides and positions the instruments exactly where they are needed for therapy, without damaging the vessels.

Since almost all guidewires and catheters can be equipped with markers, the result is a comprehensive portfolio of instruments that can be used in a wide range of therapies, such as the treatment of knee pain (osteoarthritis), liver tumours, vascular stenoses, but also for the insertion of stents and other implants. Nano4Imaging's collaborators include the UKD and leading clinics in the USA, the Netherlands and England. Nano4Imaging is also working with medical technology companies such as Siemens, which plans to use the TRACKR software on its Magnetom MRI scanners, which won the German Future Prize last year.

WWW.NANO4IMAGING.COM

SEEGENE

The Korean company Seegene is active in the field of molecular diagnostics and PCR testing and has its German headquarters in the Life Science Centre in Düsseldorf- Bilk. Not only did it develop the first certified COVID test, but also offers a complete diagnostic solution for laboratories, from nucleic acid extraction to real-time PCR, for the detection of a wide range of infectious pathogens. Seegene already uses its own AI technology to develop new tests, which is normally a long-term process. In January 2024, the company entered into a strategic partnership with Microsoft to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the research and development process, such as the Azure OpenAI Service.

CUREOSITY: GAMIFICATION IN PHYSIOTHERAPY AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

CUREO works with VR glasses that transform previously boring training sessions for rehab patients into exciting experiences.

CUREosity has developed CUREO, a cognitive, sensorimotor and perceptual therapy based on virtual reality. It includes the therapy software, mobile VR goggles with hand tracking and a tablet for operation and control by medical and therapeutic professionals. The idea behind it: to gamify what are usually unmotivating and repetitive exercises in rehabilitation programmes.

A training session with CUREO takes place in virtual reality and contains playful elements that allow users to improve, beat high scores and achieve quick successes as well as strong therapeutic effects. For example, in the Meteor therapy game, patients are placed in a space environment and have to catch meteorites using various hand and arm movements. The therapist adjusts the settings on the tablet before or during the therapy session.

New therapeutic concepts are developed in collaboration with hospital partners, but CUREosity has its own medical concept team, software developers and game designers.

CUREO focuses on upper body motor skills and trains movement, memory, concentration and perception. CUREO can be automated using artificial intelligence, so that a training session created by the therapist can be run through for the patient; it also provides analysis of therapy results to support the therapist's work.

CUREO is currently only available in medical facilities such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy practices, neuropsychology or clinics, and is used for rehabilitation in MS, ALS, spinal diseases, Parkinson's disease or after strokes.

WWW.CUREOSITY.COM

Düsseldorf based biotech companies prove: even if the rapid development of AI-based software is often viewed critically, the benefits in the medical field outweigh the risks. It remains to be seen what other applications will be developed in the state capital in the near future. •

Words: Katja Vaders
Pictures: CUREOsity GmbH, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Cansu Ahlemeyer

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