Improving patient care by using data securely and responsibly while developing reliable AI models—that is the goal of a new initiative aimed at enhancing data exchange among intensive care units across Europe. The project is led by Michel van Genderen, an internist-intensivist at Erasmus MC.

The project called INDICATE is developing a secure system for sharing ICU data. Instead of sending the data to researchers or healthcare professionals, the software is brought to the ICU to analyze the data locally. This ensures that the data always remains within the hospital environment, fully protecting patient privacy.

Currently, it is challenging for ICUs to collaborate effectively because data is often fragmented and difficult to access. Data access is complex for training AI models, and patient privacy must always be safeguarded. This became evident during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when even simple questions, such as how many patients in the Netherlands developed a blood clot as a complication of COVID-19, could not be answered immediately.

AI Models

The lack of real-time information and data exchange between hospitals makes it difficult to develop AI models that can be applied across different institutions. For instance, consider an AI model designed to detect bloodstream infections in newborns earlier, enabling faster treatment.

INDICATE aims to address these challenges by ensuring that data is used securely and responsibly. It facilitates secure data sharing and promotes the collaborative development of AI models that can be deployed across multiple locations. Additionally, it functions as a benchmarking platform, allowing ICUs to compare and improve their performance.

Spread Across Europe

INDICATE’s partners are spread throughout Europe, providing a broad representation of data from diverse patient populations. This diversity enhances the training of AI models for patients from various backgrounds, making them more reliable and effective for everyone. As a result, healthcare professionals are better equipped to deliver personalized care, compare ICU outcomes, and prepare for emergencies.

The project is led by internist-intensivist Michel van Genderen from Erasmus MC, in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Christian Jung (University Hospital Düsseldorf, Germany), co-coordinator of INDICATE, and Jan van den Brand and Lisanne Schuurman Prooyen from Erasmus MC. The European Commission has awarded the project a grant of €10 million.

Dear all,

We are excited to share some fantastic news with you all – we are proud to announce that INDICATE has officially launched this week!

INDICATE aims to tackle key challenges faced by European Intensive Care Units (ICUs) that hinder progress in data-enabled clinical decision-making and data-driven innovations like Artificial Intelligence (AI). Although ICUs operate in data-rich environments, individual ICU datasets are often limited in size, and the absence of standardized, secure mechanisms for cross-border data sharing restricts AI’s transformative potential in healthcare. To address this, INDICATE seeks to develop a federated infrastructure for ICU data, facilitating secure, cross-border access to large-scale, diverse datasets.

We look forward to the success and growth of INDICATE and to sharing this exciting adventure with all of you!

Best regards,

The INDICATE Team,

Christian Jung

Michel van Genderen

Netherlands, Rotterdam – December 2 – Today marks the launch of the INDICATE project, a pioneering European initiative designed to enhance data access and sharing between intensive care units across Europe. INDICATE aims to advance patient-centered care and promoting ethically responsible data use and the development and implementation of trustworthy AI models. In the coming years, INDICATE will collaborate with organizations across the European healthcare sector to improve patient outcomes and foster a data-driven approach to healthcare.

At present, clinical decision-making and innovation in ICUs face significant challenges due to fragmented data, the lack of standardized data-sharing agreements, and insufficient secure infrastructure. These barriers became glaringly evident during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic when even basic questions, such as “How many patients requiring ventilatory support are admitted to ICUs?” were difficult to answer. This halts the development and implementation of AI models that are inclusive and diverse and have the possibility to improve patient targeted medicine. INDICATE seeks to overcome these challenges and ensure that critical healthcare data can be ethically and responsibly utilized.

INDICATE aims to address these problems by establishing a secure federated infrastructure for standardized Intensive Care data. Federated means that software to analyze data or train AI is taken to the data at the intensive care unit instead of taking the data to the people who do the analysis. This way data of patients will never leave the hospital and people who use the data never get to see the actual health data, but only the results they need. The federated approach is secure and promotes patient privacy by design. Importantly, INDICATE partners are spread across Europe to ensure that the available data reflects the diversity of patients in Europe in the short term, but also in the longer term when the network is meant to grow. This way INDICATE will form the foundation for training and operationalizing of AI model in intensive care units to support applications in personalized medicine, data comparison between ICUs, and disaster preparedness. For example, INDICATE will facilitate the development of an AI model to predict bacterial bloodstream infection in newborn infants will be developed to improve earlier recognition of this disease.

Dr. Michel van Genderen, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, coordinator of INDICATE:

“With INDICATE, we are building cross-border collaboration in healthcare, where data can truly make a difference in critical patient situations. We are setting a new standard in healthcare: secure data access and ethically responsible AI development and implementation as the norm. This paves the way for every ICU to benefit from the transformative power of AI and data-driven decision-making.”

Prof. Dr. Christian Jung, University Hospital of Düsseldorf, Germany, co-coordinator of INDICATE:

“By linking data from many Intensive Care units across Europe, we help doctors make better decisions and contribute to a more resilient European healthcare system.”

For more information: https://indicate-europe.eu

We are excited to invite all INDICATE-partners to the official kick-off of the INDICATE project, taking place on 27 and 28 January 2025 in Sevilla, Spain. This event will be graciously hosted by our partner, Servicio Andaluz de Salud, and promises to be an excellent opportunity to connect with fellow partners, hear updates from the Work Package (WP) leads, and collaboratively plan our next steps towards the project’s success.

We hope you will join us in person in Sevilla. For those unable to travel, the program will also be accessible online via Microsoft Teams. A link for virtual participation will be shared closer to the event.
 
To help us organize catering and logistics, please RSVP by 6 December 2024 using the registration form: registration form.
 
Below, you’ll find a draft agenda and practical details to assist with your planning:
 
Practical information
Monday, January 27th
    •    Walk-in and lunch: 12:00–13:00 CET
    •    Program: 13:00–18:00 CET
    •    Evening activity followed by dinner
Tuesday, January 28th
    •    Full-day program: 09:00–18:00 CET
    •    Dinner (self-funded; payment details in the registration form)
 
Venue
KOM Conference Room, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla
 
Hotel Recommendation
Hotel Silken Al-Andalus Palace – Make reservations via: hotel
 
Payments
    •    Hotel costs and flights will be paid from your personal INDICATE budget.
    •    Catering at the hospital, including lunches, coffee breaks, and snacks, will be covered by the central project budget.
    •    The Monday evening activity and dinner are centrally funded.
    •    The Tuesday evening dinner will be centrally organized but self-funded and can be paid from your INDICATE budget.
 
Draft agenda for the meeting
The meeting will include:
    •    WP lead updates
    •    Demonstrations, including demo tech ifra WP4
    •    Administrative instructions
    •    Inspirational talks and guest presentations
    •    A hospital visit and photo opportunity
    •    Timeline discussions
 
A finalized agenda will be shared closer to the event. Please note that a management board meeting will be scheduled from 10:00-11:00 on Monday, before the main meeting.
 
We look forward to your participation and a successful kick-off event.
 
Michel van Genderen (PI)
Christian Jung (co-PI)
Lisanne van Prooyen Schuurman (Project Manager)

Want to know more about the launch: contact Maaike van Zuilen, communications officer INDICATE, maaike@indicate-europe.eu

On Friday and Saturday 5-6 July, the INDICATE soft launch took place at the ESICM headquarters in Brussels. 

45 people from all over Europe met and prepared the cooperation within the INDICATE consortium.