Tomorrow’s diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases started today

March 1, 2011 - PRLog -- Over one million Europeans suffer from diseases of the intestines with 700,000 cases diagnosed as the autoimmune condition called Crohn's disease. This chronic condition is characterised by alternating periods of increased and reduced disease activity. It is therefore important to regularly assess the stage of the disease in order to adjust the treatment accordingly. Treatment brings substantial side effects and cost. Frequent and sometimes invasive examinations are necessary to monitor response. An ageing society and altered living habits have added to this burden.
A consortium of European scientists is setting out to generate innovative personalised software-based models and tools to help doctors establish objectively the severity of gastrointestinal tract diseases. The research is part of the Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) framework, sitting at the interface between ICT and the biosciences. The VPH aims to investigate the human body as a single complex system of disparate yet integrated computer models of mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions.
If successful VIGOR++ will offer patients with Crohn’s disease the prospect of a non-invasive, radiation free, low-risk and accurate diagnostic environment. Feature selection from clinical data will be employed to predict features from the molecular to cellular scale (microscopy/colonoscopy) and from descriptive properties at the organ to patient scales (MRI/laboratory). MRI images are central to the analysis as they allow the measurement of the thickness of the intestinal wall, the degree of vascularisation and help distinguish the various layers of the intestine. The VIGOR++ tools will not only result in disease management that is less disruptive to patients’ day-to-day lives but will also empower the patients via web portals to play an active role in their care. The project will therefore also have a significant economic impact by both reducing the patient’s time off work and significantly reducing costs for public and private healthcare.
VIGOR++ has a budget of €4 million over 3 years and is part-financed by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission after receiving the maximum possible score in the evaluation among around 480 other proposals. The consortium comprises seven partners, from four European countries, with the following responsibilities:
•   TU Delft: Image analysis and project coordination
•   University College London Hospitals: Clinical Data Acquisition and Data Management
•   ETH Zürich: Modelling and classification
•   Zuse Institute Berlin: Interactive Visualisation
•   Biotronics3D Ltd: System Architecture and Integration
•   Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam: Clinical Application and Validation
•   Vodera Ltd: Dissemination, Exploitation and New Applications
The project’s deliverables – 75% of which are to be made pubic – include:
•   Definition of a new, combined disease index
•   Image Analysis Toolbox
•   Modelling and Classification Toolbox
•   Visualisation Toolbox
•   System demonstrator and handbook for Crohn’s disease.
•   Clinical testing results from the assessment of therapy
•   Intellectual property landscape report
The project has ambitious plans for the dissemination and exploitation of its results. This includes technology roadmaping, the establishment of a VIGOR++ Interest Group and a programme of annual workshops designed to inform practitioners and researchers who are likely to become early adopters of the technologies. VIGOR++ will also feed directly into education. Clinical excellence and technical skills built throughout the project will be incorporated into a range of courses and influence the university curricula of the academic partners for the benefit of the student communities, and ultimately the organisations eventually employing them.
“VIGOR++ is a rare example of a project that has hit the ground running. It brings together some of Europe’s top research groups in the ICT fields of image analysis, pattern recognition and scientific visualisation to address real problems posed by world leading gastroenterologists and radiologists”, emphasises Dr Costis Kompis who heads the dissemination and exploitation activities. “We are confident that we will not only break new scientific ground but we will also bring the tools into every day practice by integrating them on project partner Biotronics3D’s 3DNet Suite, the world's first and only online medical imaging service based on a subscription model’, he continues.

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