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EU-funded NextGen project is pushing the boundaries of personalised healthcare by tackling one of medicine’s biggest technological challenges
The NextGen project is integrating complex health data into artificial intelligence systems and is focused on cardiology, aiming to transform how cardiovascular diseases are prevented, diagnosed, and treated.
Dealing with multimodal data
Modern healthcare generates a lot of data ranging from genomic sequences to medical imaging, clinical notes, and wearable sensor outputs. While each data type offers useful insights, combining them into a single, usable system remains difficult.
Differences in formats, standards, and privacy regulations often prevent this from being possible.
This fragmentation limits the effectiveness of AI in healthcare. Without the ability to process multiple data types together, which is known as multimodal data, AI models struggle to deliver truly personalised insights for patients.
‘Digital Fabric’ for cardiology
The NextGen project addresses this by creating a joint framework that brings together diverse health data into a secure, interoperable system. By combining genomic information with cardiac imaging and other clinical data, the project is developing what researchers describe as a “digital fabric.”
This integrated approach allows AI models to analyse patient data more comprehensively, improving accuracy and enabling deeper insights into cardiovascular conditions. The goal is to create tools that support clinicians in making more informed, patient-specific decisions.
Something the NextGen project is particularly impressive for is its strong emphasis on data privacy and governance. Instead of moving sensitive patient data between institutions, the system allows researchers to discover and analyse datasets without exposing or transferring the underlying information.
This approach not only protects patient confidentiality but also ensures compliance with strict European data protection regulations.
Making health data interoperable across Europe
The NextGen project also wants to ensure that health data remains meaningful and usable across different hospitals and countries. By preserving the original clinical context of the data, the project enables information to be shared and interpreted consistently, regardless of its origin.
This interoperability is especially important as healthcare systems become increasingly interconnected.
NextGen also introduces a new approach to data governance by embedding ethical rules directly into the system. These built-in safeguards ensure that data is used responsibly and that patients retain greater control over how their information is accessed and applied.
Supporting Europe’s digital health goals
The project follows the same route as major European initiatives aimed at advancing digital healthcare. It supports efforts to enable secure access to genomic and clinical data at scale, while also contributing to the development of a unified European health data ecosystem.
Real-world pilot programmes are already underway, involving multiple clinical sites working together within a dedicated network. These pilots will test the effectiveness of NextGen tools and demonstrate their potential as a scalable solution for healthcare systems.
The future of medicine
As the cost of genomic sequencing continues to fall and AI technologies advance, the ability to integrate and analyse complex health data will become increasingly important. The NextGen project represents a significant step toward this future, offering a model for delivering personalised medicine more effectively.