This project is supported by HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN-01101119916
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The SOPRANI is a European Training Network dedicated to developing Smart neurOmonitoring to support PRecision medicine in Acute central Nervous system Injuries. It comprises seven European research institutions and one non-academic partner. Recently, it was awarded a European MSCA Doctoral Training Network grant to train and mentor ten doctoral candidates across ten individual research projects. These projects aim to significantly advance the field of neuromonitoring for patients with acute brain injuries in neuro-intensive care.
Current measurable physiological signals only roughly represent ongoing pathophysiological processes. As a result, no therapeutic action has been shown to be beneficial in randomized patient trials in this patient group. The project goal is to prepare novel dynamic insult monitoring technologies and to develop improved decision support by integrating disease models and insult/treatment ontologies into smart multimodality monitor software. A parallel goal is to unite high level expertise in clinical, biomedical, statistical and engineering sciences into one network to boost the next generation of researchers to substantially advance the field of neuromonitoring. The network includes 3 relevant animal models and access to large (multi)center patient databases with injury, treatment & outcome data. Smart monitor platforms that aid precision medicine in acute central nervous system injury close to trials and future innovation leaders are expected results.
The network includes leading researchers and clinicians in the field of central nervous system injury, biotechnology, biostatistics and data sciences, who have decided to join forces by composing a multidisciplinary team to teach young researchers in multiple competences and apply these in their research.
Illustration of the SOPRANI network (Credits: created by an AI).
The brain and spinal cord too often still act as a black box, even with current multimodality monitoring in 2023, still leaving clinicians unsure of what is really happening inside her/his sedated patient, how to make sense of the different signals displayed on the monitor and what therapeutic action to take or not to take.
The underpinning of monitored signal changes by pathophysiological event knowledge obtained in the lab and carefully compared with insights from modeling big data from patient repositories is a first and indispensable step towards next generation monitoring. The combination of such an integrative monitoring platform with smart visualization concepts – that associate events with probabilistic outcome prediction – and event/treatment ontology architectures, has a strong potential for truly beneficial decision support, and will make the black box more transparent.
The main and ultimate impact is expected in improved patient outcomes following acute central nervous system injury. Based on incidences of the involved pathologies in Europe and the proportion requiring ICU care, it is roughly estimated that this matter concerns. 320,000 patients per year in Europe. Every neuron saved from ischemic or apoptotic death can make a difference for the individual patient: the difference between either or not regaining consciousness, either or not having sufficient strength and coordination to walk, either or not avoiding serious cognitive decline.
