USP will be a partner in the development of an algorithm on the chemotherapy front
Grupo Oncoclínicas and Microsoft have teamed up in a project that will use Artificial Intelligence to promote advances in cancer treatment, making plans to combat the disease more effective and bringing more quality of life to patients. The agreement reached by the organizations provides for the use of machine learning resources for both radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
With the use of Artificial Intelligence from Microsoft, Grupo Oncoclínicas hopes to gain speed and assertiveness when planning treatments against cancer. The information generated from machine learning software – capable of learning based on the data and images they receive – will be used to support doctors in deciding on the best treatment for the patient, offering more subsidies so that he can make his decision.
On the radiotherapy front, the use of Microsoft Artificial Intelligence will make it possible to delineate structures of organs adjacent to the tumor or considered at risk much more quickly. In this way, the program now offers a series of information so that the specialist can establish a treatment plan that contemplates the design of the area to be irradiated, reducing the hours of evaluation to a few minutes and in a few clicks. The technology will also bring greater efficiency, as it learns as it analyzes a larger volume of images. The choice remains in the hands of the doctor, who can check all the information, but he now has an important ally in his decision-making process: Artificial Intelligence.
In the field of chemotherapy, the partnership between Microsoft and Oncoclínicas also has academic support from the Center for Society and Technology Studies (CEST) at the University of São Paulo (USP). The entity, which receives financial support from Microsoft, will have the role of bringing together researchers who will work on the development of an algorithm capable of analyzing and establishing correlations between diagnoses of different patients. The objective is to use them to indicate the most appropriate treatment based on the verification of a series of variables that can have a direct influence on the type of drug prescribed for the patient and also on the number of sessions he will have to undergo.
“There is an increasing volume of information available and with Artificial Intelligence it is possible to use it to empower doctors and health institutions to advance the treatments they offer to cancer patients”, says Milton Larsen Burgese, Director of Public Sector at Microsoft Brazil.
For Luis Natel, CEO of Grupo Oncoclínicas, the main objective of this strategic alliance with Microsoft is to bring positive impacts to the treatment of people with cancer. “The mutual collaboration agreement between Grupo Oncoclínicas and Microsoft is yet another example of the efforts we have undertaken to bring to Brazil the most advanced technologies and the best care practices in the world in the fight against the disease”, he explains.
“We will work side by side in generating knowledge and feeding the system's information base, thus composing an accurate and precise database in Radiotherapy. With regard to Chemotherapy, the partnership seeks to generate advances for the segment through data mining and machine intelligence. This will mean defining treatment standards and best practices. In both cases, this joining of forces will bring direct benefits to cancer patients across the country”, emphasizes Natel.
In the initial stage of the project, CEST researchers will analyze part of the Grupo Oncoclínicas database to start designing the Artificial Intelligence algorithm with the aim of "teaching" it to establish certain correlations based on variables previously indicated by the medical staff in partnership with Microsoft. The processing of this large volume of information will be done on Microsoft's cloud platform, Azure. In the future, other public databases may be integrated into the project, further expanding its capacity.
In the effective implementation phase, the expectation is that 16,000 patients will benefit from the partnership between Grupo Oncoclínicas, Microsoft and CEST to promote advances in cancer treatment. Present in 10 Brazilian states, Grupo Oncoclínicas has 44 units in operation, including clinics and partnerships with large hospital centers.
"We are creating a platform with data from our patients and from the public health network. We are going to cross-reference information about new treatments and medications so that the most appropriate medical protocols are adopted for each type of patient", said João Alvarenga, director of technology and innovation from Oncoclínicas.
With the use of Artificial Intelligence from Microsoft, Grupo Oncoclínicas hopes to gain speed and assertiveness when planning treatments against cancer. The information generated from machine learning software – capable of learning based on the data and images they receive – will be used to support doctors in deciding on the best treatment for the patient, offering more subsidies so that he can make his decision.
On the radiotherapy front, the use of Microsoft Artificial Intelligence will make it possible to delineate structures of organs adjacent to the tumor or considered at risk much more quickly. In this way, the program now offers a series of information so that the specialist can establish a treatment plan that contemplates the design of the area to be irradiated, reducing the hours of evaluation to a few minutes and in a few clicks. The technology will also bring greater efficiency, as it learns as it analyzes a larger volume of images. The choice remains in the hands of the doctor, who can check all the information, but he now has an important ally in his decision-making process: Artificial Intelligence.
In the field of chemotherapy, the partnership between Microsoft and Oncoclínicas also has academic support from the Center for Society and Technology Studies (CEST) at the University of São Paulo (USP). The entity, which receives financial support from Microsoft, will have the role of bringing together researchers who will work on the development of an algorithm capable of analyzing and establishing correlations between diagnoses of different patients. The objective is to use them to indicate the most appropriate treatment based on the verification of a series of variables that can have a direct influence on the type of drug prescribed for the patient and also on the number of sessions he will have to undergo.
“There is an increasing volume of information available and with Artificial Intelligence it is possible to use it to empower doctors and health institutions to advance the treatments they offer to cancer patients”, says Milton Larsen Burgese, Director of Public Sector at Microsoft Brazil.
For Luis Natel, CEO of Grupo Oncoclínicas, the main objective of this strategic alliance with Microsoft is to bring positive impacts to the treatment of people with cancer. “The mutual collaboration agreement between Grupo Oncoclínicas and Microsoft is yet another example of the efforts we have undertaken to bring to Brazil the most advanced technologies and the best care practices in the world in the fight against the disease”, he explains.
“We will work side by side in generating knowledge and feeding the system's information base, thus composing an accurate and precise database in Radiotherapy. With regard to Chemotherapy, the partnership seeks to generate advances for the segment through data mining and machine intelligence. This will mean defining treatment standards and best practices. In both cases, this joining of forces will bring direct benefits to cancer patients across the country”, emphasizes Natel.
In the initial stage of the project, CEST researchers will analyze part of the Grupo Oncoclínicas database to start designing the Artificial Intelligence algorithm with the aim of "teaching" it to establish certain correlations based on variables previously indicated by the medical staff in partnership with Microsoft. The processing of this large volume of information will be done on Microsoft's cloud platform, Azure. In the future, other public databases may be integrated into the project, further expanding its capacity.
In the effective implementation phase, the expectation is that 16,000 patients will benefit from the partnership between Grupo Oncoclínicas, Microsoft and CEST to promote advances in cancer treatment. Present in 10 Brazilian states, Grupo Oncoclínicas has 44 units in operation, including clinics and partnerships with large hospital centers.
"We are creating a platform with data from our patients and from the public health network. We are going to cross-reference information about new treatments and medications so that the most appropriate medical protocols are adopted for each type of patient", said João Alvarenga, director of technology and innovation from Oncoclínicas.
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