Vicomtech participates in COMPASS, the European project advancing cardio-oncology through Artificial Intelligence

A few days ago, the Vicomtech team travelled to London to take part in the official Kick-off Meeting of the European IHI COMPASS project.

This meeting, held at St Thomas’ Hospital, marks the starting point of an ambitious five-year initiative aimed at transforming cancer patient care through technology and digital health.

The challenge: protecting the heart during and after cancer

Today, the improvement in cancer survival rates has brought new medical challenges. It is estimated that one in four cancer drugs includes safety warnings due to potential cardiovascular side effects. Some of these treatments can affect the heart months or even years after therapy has ended.

To address this issue, the European Union has launched the COMPASS project (Cardio-Oncology Multidisciplinary Patient ASsistance Solution), with the aim of combining innovative medical technologies and digital solutions that enable earlier detection of cardiac risks and improve patients’ quality of life.

Vicomtech’s role: leadership in Artificial Intelligence and Clinical Decision Support

Within this innovation ecosystem, Vicomtech plays a leading role by heading Work Package 6 (WP6): “AI-based clinical decision support & personalised prevention and treatment”. During the sessions in London, our researchers presented the main lines of work that will guide our activities over the coming years.

Our work will focus on the design and development of an interoperable Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) powered by Artificial Intelligence.

This system will integrate predictive models with monitoring data and advanced medical imaging to help healthcare professionals identify cardiac issues before symptoms appear, enabling safer and more personalised care decisions.

The COMPASS project has strong European backing, funded under the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) framework.

To achieve its goals, the project has brought together a multidisciplinary consortium of 67 leading partners from 25 different countries. Academic coordination is led by King’s College London, while industrial coordination is led by GE HealthCare.

In addition to Vicomtech, the network includes top-level clinical partners such as Gemelli Hospital in Italy, as well as various universities, MedTech companies, SMEs, and patient associations.

Through this major collaboration, COMPASS will establish new clinical care pathways, strengthening cooperation between cardiologists and oncologists to ensure that scientific advances are translated into real, accessible, and patient-centred healthcare solutions.