On the 28-29th of November 2024, the eHealth Lab at Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) travelled to Brussels, to participate in the final Conference of the eCAN Joint Action, which attracted >60 attendees. The final eCAN results were presented in detail, and discussed, reflecting the work done in all Work Packages, in sessions coordinated by Marc Van den Bulcke from Sciensano. Researchers and healthcare professionals in eCAN had meaningful discussions, revealing the positive impact of telemedicine and teleconsultation in cancer care. Meanwhile, it was overall recognized that there is space for further improvement and recommendations to effectively integrate telemedicine in cancer care plans. Two years of hard work enabled the verification of 16 recommendations and a roadmap of actions. Efthyvoulos Kyriacou presented the work done in WP7, where the ehealthlab@CUT Researchers developed the ‘eCAN mobile application’, intended for patients, and a Web ‘Dashboard’ for use by doctors, for Telemonitoring, in the presence of the president of the National e-Health Authority of Cyprus (NeHA CY), Christos Schizas. Key WP7 aspects presented involved key stakeholders, the system components and architecture, the data flow and ecosystem, and data compliance. Importantly, during the 2nd day, the workplan for the eCAN Plus project was presented. The ehealthlab@CUT members would like to thank all partners for their effective collaboration, and are looking forward to the continuation of this great effort. Find or Share this Post on Linkedin:
New Publication funded by AtheroRisk
During AtheroRisk, we conducted a study, where we trained and tested a pre-released DL segmentation model in automated carotid plaque annotation in 2D B-Mode ultrasound images. Importantly, we emphasized in image standardization and its contribution to reproducible and reliable plaque type (I to V) segmentations, which overall witnessed improvements when segmented in their fully-preprocessed version compared to the original (as extracted by the ultrasound equipment). Demanding plaques types, such as type I were also benefited from full preprocessing (image resolution and intensity normalization, followed by speckle noise removal). We are happy that this study has been recently published. Find the study here. The carotid ultrasound image preprocessing (standardization steps) are based on previous well-recognized studies: S.K. Kakkos, A.N. Nicolaides, E. Kyriacou, C.S. Pattichis, G. Geroulakos, Effect of zooming on texture features of ultrasonic images, Cardiovasc. Ultrasound 4 (1) (Dec. 2006) 8, https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-7120-4-8. A.N. Nicolaides, S.K. Kakkos, M. Griffin, M. Sabetai, et al., Effect of image normalization on carotid plaque classification and the risk of ipsilateral hemispheric ischemic events: results from the asymptomatic carotid stenosis and risk of stroke study, Vascular 13 (4) (Jun. 2005) 211–221, https://doi.org/10.1258/rsmvasc.13.4.211. C.P. Loizou, C.S. Pattichis, M. Pantziaris, T. Tyllis, A. Nicolaides, Quality evaluation of ultrasound imaging in the carotid artery based on normalization and speckle reduction filtering, Med. Bio. Eng. Comput. 44 (5) (May 2006) 414–426, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-006-0045-1.
Kick-off Meeting for the DESIPOC Project
The Kick off meeting of the DESIPOC Project was held on the 16-17th of October, 2024, in a hybrid event. DESIPOC will be a 2-year project, funded by the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) and co-funded by the EU4Health programme. DESIPOC will aim to develop and pilot a knowledge hub, virtual observatory and training system in participating countries as proof-of-concept that will collect, organize, and disseminate knowledge, best practices, and resources related to stakeholders’ strategies used and needs towards psychosocial oncology care provision with an emphasis on advancing screening efficacy for mental health challenges, communication, knowledge, skills whilst recognizing and tackling systemic barriers and facilitators for providing care to patients, carers, families and Health Care Providers. BSiH Lab @CUT is the Principal Investigator Funding: Co-funded by the EU4Health Programme (Project Number: 101161339) FIND OUT MORE HERE: DESIPOC Webpage
The AtheroRisk Software independently rated as Excellent
AtheroRisk, our 2-year Research Project, during which we developed our Carotid Ultrasound Image and Video Analysis Software for Stroke Risk Stratification, successfully passed its formal Evaluation and Review Process, as required by its corresponding funding source, the Research and Innovation Foundation, in Cyprus. 🔍 An independent foreign European Reviewer, MD and Full Professor in Medical Diagnostics, Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy, was appointed by RIF to rate the quality of our research Software, its workflow and associated results, its underlying technological and methodological aspects, and give a final judgement, in a formal online group meeting, around mid-September 2024. AtheroRisk has officially received a ‘Category A- Excellent‘. This was made possible because it was led by Dr Efthyvoulos Kyriacou (PI and Leader of the ehealthlab@CUT), and supported by Prof. Andrew Nicolaides MS, FRCS, PhD (Hon) and his Team of Clinical Experts (Clininal and Ethics Committee), who offered us brilliant guidance in medical data quality aspects, and the appropriate carotid ultrasound video acquisition protocol, and who applied useful software evaluations, in every step, to help us produce a high quality software solution; a software which was developed based on years of research led by Dr Efthyvoulos Kyriacou and Dr Christos P. Loizou, and with the dedication and excellent work of Michalis Gemenaris (full-stack development young researcher at ehealthlab@CUT) and Georgia Liapi (PhD student working on carotid ultrasound video analysis). It has been an honour for the ehealthlab@CUT Team Members to have collaborated 📎 with all the Clinicians, Experts and Senior Researchers in the AtheroRisk Consortium (from Cyprus University of Technology, Frederick University, CYENS Centre of Excellence, University of Cyprus, UOA School of Medicine, CING and the Americal Medical Center in Cyprus), for such a meaningful purpose 💡. This has been the birth of AtheroRisk. The Software keeps growing. Find or Share this Post on Linkedin:
16th Cyprus Workshop on Signal Processing and Informatics
CWSPI 2024 July 10th, 2024 14:00-19:00 hrs “Dear Colleagues and Friends, Following the successful one-day workshop we had in the last 15 years, we would like to cordially invite you to participate in the upcoming 16th Cyprus Workshop on Signal Processing and Informatics (CWSPI 2024). The overall objective of CWSPI 2024 is to disseminate new research results in several areas and help establish industry, university, and multi- university collaborations. The workshop is mainly targeted to our graduate and intern students to present their most recent findings. We are looking forward in seeing you all at the conference.” Venue: Cyprus University of Technology Dracos Building, Socratous str. 3036, Limassol, Cyprus (Hybrid Mode Attendance/Participation is available) Organizing Committee: Efthyvoulos Kyriacou, CUT, ECoEChristos Loizou, CUTAndreas Panayides, CYENSConstantinos S. Pattichis, UCYAndreas Spanias, ASUMarios S. Pattichis, UNM Organized and Sponsored by Technically Co-Sponsored by: IEEE Cyprus Section IEEE CIS Cyprus Chapter IEEE EMBS Cyprus Chapter IET Cyprus Local Network Check out all the details on: Welcome to CWSPI
Summer School 2024-Cyprus Lyceums visiting ehealthlab@CUT
On the 28th of June 2024, students from different Lyceums across Cyprus visited the premises/laboratories and Research Teams, at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics of the Cyprus University of Technology, the context of a Summer School. The ehealthlab@CUT welcomed the students, and presented all areas of research conducted in our laboratory. In addition, researchers and PhD students of the laboratory offered a tutorial, where the students used a mini-program in MATLAB (Computational Scientific Computer Tool) and appropriate experimental equipment, to record their Electrocardiogram. Below we show different highlights from the whole session. At the end of their session at ehealthlab@CUT all students reported that they had an interesting and exciting time.
eHealthlab@CUT BSc Thesis Presentations 2024
Student: Andreas Petrou Thesis Title: Use of drones for Emergency Healthcare Support Services. Student: Despoina Andreou Thesis Title: A computer application for carotid plaque stress and strain assessment in ultrasound videos Student: Onoufrios Neophytou Thesis Title: Development of an integrated computational system for 3D reconstruction of Multiple Sclerosis lesions in MRI images. Student: Alexandros Christofi Thesis Title: Development of a computer system for automatic identification of Multiple Sclerosis Lesions in MRI images. Student: Theodoros Kyprianou Thesis Title: Resins of electric shock when using medical devices. Well done to all students!
ISBI 2024 – Two Posters and the AtheroRisk Software Demo Session
ISBI2024, which took place at a perfect timing, very close to the completion of our Project AtheroRisk (PI: Efthyvoulos Kyriacou), was a perfect opportunity for us to present the 1st Version of the AtheroRisk_Software to various experts, in the field of Biomedical Image Analysis. AtheroRisk contributors and researchers, from eHealthLab (Leaders: Efthyvoulos Kyriacou and Christos P Loizou) at Cyprus University of Technology, and from University of Cyprus and CYENS Centre of Excellence were present, showcasing the Carotid Ultrasound Image and Video Preprocessing and Analysis modules, available in the Software, which we combine to extract two stroke risk scores. Software data preprocessing and analysis pathways were supervised and validated by Experts in Carotid Atherosclerosis Assessment (Andrew Nicolaides MS, FRCS, PhD (Hon); Maura G.). A valuable online questionnaire was filled in by a great number of attendees, to help us understand their impressions of the AtheroRisk Software. The AtheroRisk Software was also presented as a Poster, by our Research Associate, Michalis Gemenaris, at the ISBI2024. In the context of the project, Georgia Liapi presented a recent study of ours, on Carotid Plaque Motion Analysis in specific phases of the cardiac cycle to detect plaques in high risk of rupture. This Poster was selected among the first “18th Best Student Poster Award Finalists”, among >717 Posters, at ISBI2024. We would like to express our gratitude to all contributors in the project! Find or Share this Post on Linkedin:
Highlights – Workshop on Clinical Apps and Techniques of Atherosclerotic Plaque Image Analysis
On the 16th of May 2024, multiple distinguished carotid atherosclerosis Experts (clinicians, carotid disease experts, researchers, engineers, computer scientists) came together, on site and online; for the purposes of the hybrid Workshop on Clinical Applications & Techniques of Atherosclerotic Plaque Image Analysis, co-organized by the AtheroRisk Project team (ehealthlab@CUT) and the Cyprus Atherosclerotic Society, to present the AtheroRisk Project outcomes. That was a rare and wonderful opportunity for all the participants to acquire distilled knowledge concerning the carotid disease, and the currently advised diagnosis pathways, by Professors A. Nicolaides (Prof. of Vascular Surgery at the Imperial College School of Medicine and Consultant Vascular Surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital from 1983–2000 and Honorary Prof. of Surgery at St George’s University of London/University of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia, Cyprus) and Stavros Kakkos (MD, MSc, PhD, RVT and Prof. and Chairman at the Department of Vascular Surgery at the University of Patras Medical School, Patras, Greece; connected Online) who sparkled everyone’s interest, starting with two inspiring and detailed talks, explaining what we expect to see, when analyzing carotid ultrasound images and videos, in asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. All previous research and findings pertaining to the preprocessing/standardization and analysis of ultrasound images, conducted by our collaborators and us, in the past, was showcased. In a talk that followed, Georgia Liapi described the research features developed through the AtheroRisk Project and what the future end-users should expect to find in the AtheroRisk Software. Among them, is the analysis of carotid ultrasound videos to detect the different cardiac cycle phases, and the automatic segmentation of the carotid plaques in ultrasound videos, followed by motion analysis of the plaques, to identify areas in high risk of stroke. Then, Michalis Gemenaris, gave us a complete tour inside the AtheroRisk Software, taking us step-by-step to all image and video analysis modules included in the 1st Version of the Software. Dr. Kyriacos Constantinou and Dr. Nicoletta Prentza, our collaborators from the CYENS (Cyprus Center of Excellence), presented their central findings pertaining to the extraction and analysis of AM-FM image features for stroke risk assessment in carotid ultrasound images, and Gorgia’s based Argumentation Rules, specifically extracted to categorize carotid atherosclerosis image features for stroke risk stratification. Interesting questions were raised by the participants, which were addressed by Prof. A. Nicolaides. Below, we provide a photo gallery, from different talks and moments, during the event. AtheroRisk Collaborators Collaborators in the AtheroRisk Project, from Cyprus and the United Kingdom. Cyprus University of Technology, University of Cyprus, Frederick University, Vascular Screening and Diagostic Cente (Cyprus), American Medical Center (Cyprus), Cyprus Atherosclerotic Society. AtheroRisk Principal Investigator Assis. Prof. Efthyvoulos Kyriacou Introduction to the Workshop. Prof. Andrew Nicolaides Presenting. Prof. Andrew Nicolaides Answering Questions. Prof. Stavros Kakkos (Online) Presenting. Georgia D. Liapi PhD Candidate, MSc Cyprus University of Technology Presentation on Carotid Plaque Motion Analysis in ultrasound videos, for Stroke Risk Stratification. Michalis Gemenaris Research Associate Presenting the AtheroRisk Software Michalis Gemenaris Research Associate Presenting the AtheroRisk Software Dr. Kyriacos Constantinou, CYENS (Online) AM-FM Carotid Plaque Image Features for stroke risk stratification. Dr. Nicoletta Prentza, CYENS (Online) Presentation. Prof. A. Nicolaides and Prof. C. Pattichis Discussion on the use of Argumentation Theories for stroke risk stratification (research led by Dr. Nicoletta Prentza, CYENS). Online Participants ehealthlab@CUT Members Working with carotid ultrasound image and video features, for stroke risk assessment. Michalis Gemenaris, Georgia D. Liapi, and Despoina Andreou. Find or Share this Post on Linkedin:
eCAN – Work Package 7 Telemonitoring
Researchers from the ehealthlab@CUT led the Work Package 7 of the eCAN European Project, where the objectives were to analyze the landscape of cancer telemonitoring systems and patient needs in EU countries, to develop and implement alternatives to improve existing systems and methodologies, aiming to monitor side effects, related to cancer treatments, cancer pain and patient’s quality of life, and to signify the usefulness of telemonitoring for cancer patients and healthcare providers. In a recent interview, Assis. Prof. Efthyvoulos Kyriacou, the coordinator of WP7 of the eCAN project, reflects on patients’ experiences, using a Mobile Application for Telemedicine, developed by an ehealthlab@CUT Researcher for the eCAN WP7 purposes, and highlights policymakers’ perspective for supporting the implementation of telemedicine. Watch the interview below: Watch the interview on Linkedin:
