The Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (CAIM) will be officially opened in January 2021 in Bern, Switzerland. The center, founded by the University of Bern and the Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, is intended to be a platform for research, teaching and transfer of medical technologies using AI, aimed at improving the provision of patient care and facilitating the work of physicians and caregivers.

The healthcare sector today generates more data than healthcare professionals are able to analyze. AI allows us to use this data to determine the characteristics that doctors, caregivers and other health professionals need to make more accurate diagnoses and better treatment decisions.

With AI, treatments become more accurate – unnecessary interventions can be avoided and treatment successes improved. In cancer therapy, for example, treatment plans can be designed more specifically for the patient to minimize radiation exposure.

In order to prepare Bern’s medical location for the digital medicine of tomorrow, the University of Bern and the Inselspital have therefore founded the “Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine” (CAIM). This is a new platform for research, teaching and translational medicine, clinical services and products in the field of artificial intelligence in medicine. Together with its partners sitem-insel and UPD, the CAIM will start its activities in January 2021. Organised as a virtual research centre, it will be attached to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bern.

Unique Constellation

The new centre benefits from Bern’s excellent network of clinics, research and industry. The medical site in Bern has a great deal of know-how in medical technology and many years of experience in translational medicine. Another strength of the CAIM is the link between cutting-edge research in medicine and engineering, for example at the ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engeneering Research at the University of Bern, and the Inselspital, Switzerland’s largest university hospital, which is at the forefront of digitisation.

“This unique constellation enables the IMCA to combine the knowledge gained from close cooperation with clinics and industry – and thus makes the IMCA a real incubator for AI medical technology,” says Raphael Sznitman, Director of the ARTORG Center and IMCA project leader.

This new centre must implement AI and facilitate the work of physicians and caregivers for the benefit of patients. In this way, patients benefit quickly and directly from the results.

Training for the new generation of physicians and engineers

At the University of Bern, the CAIM brings together the initiatives already underway in the field of digitisation at the Faculty of Medicine: five chairs in the field of AI and digitisation in medicine have been established and will attract leading researchers in these fields to Bern in the course of next year. They will be closely associated with the CAIM, together with the more than 80 researchers already working on AI and medicine at the University of Bern today.

Christian Leumann, Rector of the University of Bern :

“With the CAIM, the University of Bern is investing in a research and teaching field that will have a decisive influence on the health sector. The networking of research in the field of AI in medicine will further boost the potential of this research. At the same time, we are developing training and providing digital skills to a new generation of doctors and researchers. »

In this way, clinicians will see the engineering perspective and students will be able to take advantage of the opportunities of new technologies and participate in their design. The Sitem-insel School’s Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging development program for medical staff has already started.
In addition, students of human medicine have the opportunity to receive an introduction and in-depth study on the topic of “Digitisation and AI”. A master’s course for AI in medicine will follow for engineering students.

AI technologies for the digital hospital

The foundation of the CAIM is part of the Insel Group’s digitisation strategy: on the basis of a new digital clinic information and management system (KISS), the Insel Group plans to fully digitise all areas such as research, diagnosis, patient management, therapy and finance by 2023.

The ICDA will use the large amount of quality clinical data in the new system to develop clinical machine learning tools to support physicians, caregivers and other health care professionals in their daily clinical decisions. In this context, great attention will be paid to data protection: the new system meets the highest requirements for the processing of sensitive medical data.

Uwe E. Jocham, CEO of the Insel Gruppe :

“In the future, the hospitals of the Insel Group will be digital. The new main building of the Inselspital, which will be completed in 2023, will be entirely designed for the digital world. The CAIM will help to make the large amount of data available for research and development of new instruments. »

Interdisciplinary and open to industry

CAIM will make AI expertise available to the industry in a variety of ways: on the one hand, it will share the latest research developments in AI technologies and produce a workforce of highly qualified professionals. On the other hand, it will allow cooperation in projects ranging from pilot projects to large-scale multi-partner projects. In this way, cooperation between industry and CAIM can also be supported by the Swiss Innovation Promotion Programme.

“Innosuisse” to develop efficient solutions for industrial partners. The members of CAIM have many years of experience in collaborating with industry and creating start-ups. CAIM researchers benefit from access to structured data, project funding and support for the market launch of products.

“As an incubator, sitem-insel helps to transfer AI research results into products and new therapies as quickly as possible. “We create a dynamic environment that encourages all teams to develop reliable medical technologies, driven by AI, on a scientific basis,” says Simon Rothen, CEO of sitem-insel.

Michael Kaess, Director of the University Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the UPD, adds :

“Already today, and even more so in the future, artificial intelligence methods play an important role in translational research, e.g. for the processing and analysis of large amounts of data to predict the course of diseases and the associated risks. In the future, these technical possibilities should increasingly support the diagnosis and therapy of people with mental disorders in PUD. »

To this end, the UPD has founded its own digital council this year.

“The close interdisciplinary cooperation at the IACM enables the PSD to benefit from a wide range of know-how. On the other hand, we can make an important contribution to the topic of “artificial intelligence” as experts in the field of cognition and emotion,” says Michael Kaess.

A new and important pillar for the Berne medical location

The CAIM will bring additional dynamism to precision medicine, which is already a leader with the Bern Center for Precision Medicine (BCPM), as well as to translational medicine, promoted by sitem-insel.

Christoph Ammann, State Councillor, Director of Economy, Energy and Environment of the Canton of Berne :

“Bern’s medical site is based on a strong university and an innovative university hospital. Berne now also occupies a leading position in the field of artificial intelligence. This will strengthen the Canton of Berne as a business location and create added value. »

Translated from La Suisse se dote d’un centre pour l’intelligence artificielle dans la médecine à Berne