Project call: Grants for Health Research and Development Projects. Basque Government Department of Health. Call 2025

Funding body: Department of Health, Basque Government

File number: 2025111088

Principal Investigator: Urko Aguirre Larrakoetxea

Funding awarded: €61,261.24

Description: To develop and implement an advanced research and clinical support infrastructure based on artificial intelligence for the early detection and management of sepsis in the emergency departments of the Basque Health System, using real-time electronic health record data, integrated into Osakidetza’s care protocols and aimed at improving clinical outcomes, reducing complications and optimising healthcare organisation in accordance with the principles of responsible AI.

Objetive:
1.- Desarrollar un sistema estructurado de reanálisis genético para mejorar el diagnóstico temprano y preciso de las enfermedades raras, abordando la interpretación de variantes de significado incierto.
2.- Integrar datos genéticos y clínicos fenotípicos, junto con pruebas funcionales y otras evidencias complementarias, para aumentar la robustez y fiabilidad de la interpretación diagnóstica.
3.- Reducir la incertidumbre clínica y mejorar la toma de decisiones, el asesoramiento genético y la calidad asistencial mediante la aplicación del reanálisis en casos reales.
4.- Establecer un proceso continuo y sostenible de actualización diagnóstica, alineado con los circuitos asistenciales y con los principios éticos y regulatorios del Sistema Vasco de Salud.

Expected results:
– Development and validation of an AI-based early warning system for the early diagnosis and clinical management of sepsis, integrated into clinical practice and Osakidetza’s electronic health records.
– Improvement in patient health and safety through early detection, reduction in morbidity and mortality, readmissions and prolonged ICU stays, as well as the optimisation of resources in A&E, laboratory and intensive care.
– Generation of transferable scientific results, with publications in international journals, open-access dissemination and potential exploitation of the predictive models and digital solutions developed.
– Contribution to the development of an innovative, scalable service aligned with the principles of responsible AI, with a positive organisational and economic impact on the Basque Health System.
– Strengthening of the Basque innovation system through interdisciplinary collaboration and the international positioning of the Basque Country in artificial intelligence applied to sepsis and critical care.