A group of researchers from the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering – Politecnico di Milano, coordinated by Prof. Pietro Pinoli, is taking part in the European project UNICA (Unified Network for International Cancer Advancement), funded under the EU4Health programme.
The project, coordinated by Datrix, an international ecosystem of software companies specialized in Artificial Intelligence, aims to expand EUCAIM, one of the most strategic initiatives within the European Cancer Imaging Initiative, set to revolutionize cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment across Europe.
In particular, the project aims to create a federated network of oncological imaging data derived from screening programs for breast, lung, and prostate cancer. The goal is to make diverse and representative datasets available from across Europe — including currently underrepresented geographic areas — in order to accelerate the development of AI-based diagnostic solutions.
UNICA involves 16 leading partners, including the Universitat Politècnica de València, the University of Cologne, Leipzig University, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Kauno Klinikos (Lithuania), Wojewodzki Szpital in Wrocław (Poland), Maribor Hospital (Slovenia), as well as numerous hospitals and research centers located in Portugal, Greece, Estonia, and Ukraine.
The project foresees the adoption of advanced Artificial Intelligence models for medical image analysis, fully aligned with European regulations on privacy, ethics, and interoperability. Clinical data, completely anonymized, will be securely shared through a federated infrastructure that promotes European digital sovereignty and the principle of “data altruism.”
Currently, most clinical data remain confined within individual hospitals, limiting the impact of scientific research. UNICA overcomes this challenge thanks to a “distributed analysis” network, in which Artificial Intelligence algorithms are brought to the data — without ever moving sensitive information from its original location. This model, fully compliant with GDPR, ensures patient privacy while leveraging the richness of heterogeneous datasets from different countries and contexts.
Unlike traditional approaches based on centralized data — and therefore more exposed to security risks — UNICA introduces a more sustainable and secure paradigm that accelerates medical research without compromising citizen protection.
The result is twofold: on the one hand, researchers gain access to larger and more representative datasets to better understand risk factors and prevention strategies; on the other, European healthcare systems are equipped with concrete tools to improve diagnostic accuracy and speed up the adoption of innovative therapies.