New Research Department AI for Assistive Health Technologies at DFKI Lab Lübeck
The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence is expanding its expertise in medical informatics. On July 1, 2024, the new research department, “AI for Assistive Health Technologies,” will start at the DFKI laboratory in Lübeck. It will be headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Marcin Grzegorzek, who also holds a professorship for Medical Informatics at the University of Lübeck.
Assistive health technologies help both healthy and chronically ill or disabled people to maintain or improve their quality of life. Devices, equipment, software, and systems allow people to live healthy lives, manage everyday activities, and communicate with others. Against the backdrop of demographic change and increasing bottlenecks in medical care, particularly in rural regions, such AI-based assistance technologies for the home environment are not only helpful but also indispensable for optimal and seamless healthcare.
The new AI for Assistive Health Technologies research area in Lübeck is dedicated to developing artificial intelligence methods for the automated analysis of heterogeneous, personal data. For example, this data comes from wearable sensors and is used to individualize and personalize health-related decisions. The focus is on knowledge- and learning-based pattern recognition processes. The aim is to enable more precise health recommendations and treatment strategies through intelligent data evaluation. This approach promises to increase the efficiency of healthcare and, at the same time, improve the quality of treatment through customized, patient-specific solutions.
"If you look at the different levels of healthcare, our application areas are primarily in prevention, early diagnosis, rehabilitation, and care. In addition, we focus primarily on continuous monitoring in everyday life and the home environment. We use the large amounts of sensor data that patients make available to us via their mobile devices," says Prof. Dr. Grzegorzek, describing the application scenarios of his research.
"With the new AI for Assistive Health Technologies research department, DFKI is expanding its portfolio in the field of artificial intelligence for medicine and health. We have already been developing methods for medical image and signal processing that support diagnostics and therapy for some time. The new research area now aims to explore the possible applications of AI at the periphery of disease treatment," says DFKI CEO Prof. Dr. Antonio Krüger. "We are very pleased to have gained Marcin Grzegorzek, an extremely renowned scientist in this field."
"The new research area "AI for Assistive Health Technologies" will contribute to offering sick people optimal care in the future using modern technical systems. In Lübeck, we research and teach under the motto "focusing on life" - we are convinced that this also includes new technologies and future-oriented technology in the healthcare sector. I wish the project every success and am sure that the research area will be a successful extension of our expertise," says Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gillessen-Kaesbach, acting President of the University of Lübeck.
The new research department focuses on developing AI methods that learn complex relationships in a data-driven manner and overcome the limitations of classic mathematical models. The research addresses the following problems: the integration of classic signal processing with AI methods, automated data generation (data augmentation), minimization of training bias, transfer of pre-trained models (transfer learning), resolution of unwanted feature interdependencies (disentanglement), explainability and interpretability of AI, adaptive adjustment to fluctuations in data distribution and optimization for resource-limited environments (Edge AI).
The AI for Assistive Health Technologies research department aims to work closely with companies and healthcare institutions that want to improve their processes, services, and products through AI-supported analyses. With its methodological and application-oriented expertise in the fusion, classification, and interpretation of multimodal wearable sensor data, the research department recommends itself as a contract partner for developing data-based, individualized, and personalized healthcare services. Particular attention is paid to the development and approval of AI-based DiGAs (Digital Health Applications).
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About the person:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil Marcin Grzegorzek is head of the AI for Assistive Health Technologies research department at the DFKI laboratory in Lübeck. He has been a professor of Medical Informatics at the University of Lübeck since 2018 and heads the Medical Data Science working group.
Marcin Grzegorzek studied computer science at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice (diploma) and at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, where he completed his doctorate in 2007 with a thesis on pattern recognition. Before coming to Lübeck, he was a junior professor at the University of Siegen, a research assistant at the University of Koblenz-Landau, and a research assistant at Queen Mary University of London.
His methodological research focuses on learning-based and explainable pattern recognition methods for the evaluation of heterogeneous personal data, including sensor signals and images. The results are applicable, for example, to personalized nutrition, diagnostic movement analysis, pain monitoring, and sleep analysis. His research activities include initiating and coordinating the interdisciplinary and intersectoral BMBF research network CogAge (Cognitive Village: Adaptive-learning technical everyday companions in old age). He also heads the ERDF-funded KIBA research laboratory at the Lübeck campus for holistic movement analysis and therapy optimization, focusing on walking based on AI-supported rehabilitation robotics.
Marcin Grzegorzek is the founder and shareholder of expandAI GmbH, a software company in the field of machine learning, and a member of the scientific advisory board of Perfood GmbH, a provider of AI-supported individual nutrition programs. He also works very closely with Future-Shape GmbH, which offers the SensFloor intelligent sensor floor for equipping care facilities, among other things.
Press contact:
Heike Leonhard
Communications & Media DFKI Saarbrücken
E-Mail: Heike.Leonhard@dfki.de
Phone: +49 681 85775 5390
Swantje Schmidt
Head of Communication & Media DFKI Lübeck/Bremen
E-Mail: Swantje.Schmidt@dfki.de
Phone: +49 421 17845 4121
Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Prof. Dr. Marcin Grzegorzek
E-Mail: Marcin.Grzegorzek@dfki.de
Weitere Informationen:
https://www.dfki.de/en/web/news/new-research-department-ai-for-assistive-health-technologies-at-dfki-lab-luebeck
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