The European project Cinderella aims to improve the prediction of the results of reconstructive surgeries in patients with breast cancer. The goal is to support patients who undergo mastectomies in managing expectations regarding the aesthetic results, thus facilitating their decision during the phase of choosing the intervention to be performed. The protocol that formalised this European project was signed on May 23, with a funding of €5M.
The solution to be developed within Cinderella integrates artificial intelligence to show breast cancer patients a closer and more realistic picture of what might be the result of the surgery. INESC TEC, through the Centre for Telecommunications and Multimedia (CTM), will be responsible for the improvement and development of the algorithm to be applied, producing images of possible aesthetic results of the surgeries. This work will be done using personalised information from each patient, a database of pre- and post-surgery pictures, as well as the results of patient satisfaction surveys on the aesthetic results of the procedures they underwent.
“The artificial intelligence algorithm will also adapt the selected images to the physical traits of the patients, thus making them relate to the prediction provided,” explained Jaime Cardoso, the researcher leading the project at INESC TEC.
More specifically, all information on the different types of possible surgeries and all satisfaction surveys will move to a health platform, CANKADO, available on the web and as a mobile application. After that, CANKADO connects to the image repository and the artificial intelligence algorithm developed, changing the way patients select the surgery. Moreover, patients with access to the mobile application are now able to show the most realistic predictions for each surgery to their relatives and discuss with them the best decision to make, rather than drawing conclusions from an appointment with a surgeon and a nurse.
This project comprehends 10 international partners, including INESC TEC, the Champalimaud Foundation, the Association for Research and Development of Sciences and the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Portugal), CANKADO and the University of Heidelberg (Germany), the San Raffaele Hospital and the University Luigi Bocconi (Italy), the Medical Center of Sheba (Israel), as well as the Medical University of Gdańsk (Poland).
The INESC TEC researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with UP-FEUP.
News, current topics, curiosities and so much more about INESC TEC and its community!
