Medical Informatics

The scientific priorities of the Institute for Medical Informatics are reflected in the areas of knowledge-based systems, mHealth and image and data management.

• The amount of complex, diverse biomedical knowledge is growing rapidly. This refers both to knowledge as taught and learned within the framework of medical education and to the knowledge used in clinical work and to be further developed in medical research. Against this background, the need for computer-based knowledge management and clinical decision support systems is growing. We develop and investigate methods and tools for the acquisition, processing and communication of medical knowledge.
• mHealth is concerned with research into mobile support in healthcare using novel body sensors, smartphones, and portable and implantable technology. The ubiquitous availability of mobile devices will change medicine in the coming decades. We will help bring medical expertise and sophisticated diagnostic tools from clinical institutions into the hands of experts and laypeople to facilitate access to health services and health-related information. Not only technical solutions for telemedicine, health monitoring, remote diagnosis or human monitoring and coordination are important, but also the ethical, legal and social implications.
• We develop intelligent medical computer systems that extract useful information from a meaningful combination of signal, image and alphanumeric data. These include automated signal and image analysis for quantitative measurements, smart devices and mobile health technologies, as well as databases and electronic case reports in controlled clinical trials. In addition, content-based image retrieval and medical big data management are integrated into both the diagnostic routine and the research-oriented workflow of clinical trials. In particular, the integration of electronic healthcare systems with software that supports clinical trials is seen as a future challenge for patient-specific drugs and therapies. Such interfaces must address data protection and security issues.