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News: In the Media

In the Media: CMU Portugal Project IntelligentCare highlighted in Público

The CMU Portugal Large Scale Collaborative project IntelligentCare (Intelligent Multimorbidity Management System) was featured in Público Newspaper. The article introduced the work being led by Hospital da Luz Learning Health to improve the quality of life of patients with multimorbidity (MM) who have at least two chronic diseases while finding solutions to contribute to the sustainability of the Healthcare System. 

Interviewed by Público, Francisca Leite, Director at Hospital da Luz Learning Health and the project promoter, explained that “the goal is to have in this platform all the patient’s information, including suggestions for medical interventions, and even create a score that evaluates the hospitalization risk of each patient that comes to our Hospital.”

Francisca added, “if we have more data on each patient, that will allow us to act preventively and manage their health instead of the disease. That would help to take some pressure off the health system and direct resources to where they are needed, that is, to people who are sick.”

To achieve that goal, the project uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to develop a patient-centric solution to help manage the MM condition and contribute to better diagnoses, and deliver more effective patient outcomes. This patient-centric solution expects to use analytical methods to explore data from the electronic health records (EHR) and the measures reported remotely by the patients, related to outcomes (PROMs) and to life events/quality of life/physical activity, named as additional value variables (AVVs), using smart sensors and mobile solutions.

The IntelligentCare consortia will soon launch a pilot with around 80 patients with at least two chronic diseases. The research will be supported by the information available on patients’ clinical records and data registered through Smart sensors or smartwatches to monitor each patient’s health (physical activity, sleep patterns, etc.). According to Plínio Moreno, one of the researchers from Instituto Superior Técnico involved in the project, “in this pilot, we use smartwatches to monitor physical activity, and we also have a mat, which is placed under the mattress, to measure sleep status and also heart rate during the night – and this is information that throughout time can support the doctor in making better-informed decisions.”

José Santos Victor, who leads the project at Instituto Superior Técnico, adds “we took advantage of this technology [smartwatches] and developed a study to detect falls based on the sensors. In the elderly population, falls are an important event and often have complex consequences. We’ve developed algorithms to detect and process that information. And it is very interesting because it shows that this common sensor can help us monitor people’s well-being.”

The IntelligentCare project, supported under the CMU Portugal Program, will end by June 2023 but has established the groundwork for further research. According to José Santos Vitor, if the pilot test works, there’s the possibility to integrate the project into the Grupo Luz Saúde and continue the work developed under this collaboration that, in addition to Hospital da Luz Learning Health and Técnico/ISR Lisboa, includes Priberam, INESC ID and the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University.

Público article

New techniques to reduce e-waste introduced under CMU Portugal project WoW

E-waste is one of the fastest growing toxic waste in recent years. Rapid increase in the production of electronics and batteries is draining scarce metals and other mineral resources. Now, researchers from the University of Coimbra (UC) have developed and tested a novel architecture of materials and fabrication techniques that allow us to reverse this reality and apply a new version of 3Rs policy (reduce, reuse and recycle) in the electronics area. That is 3R electronics (resilient, repairable, and recyclable). The results were published in the journal Advanced Materials.

The research, funded under the scope of CMU Portugal project WoW, represents a breakthrough toward overcoming technological pollution. Currently, the production of electronic waste has reached an alarming level of 7 kg/person/year. Only 20% of e-waste is sent for recycling, and only a small percentage of precious metals, mainly gold, are recovered.

Mahmoud Tavakoli, the lead author of the scientific article, explains that soft electronics based on novel polymers will be the best response to the problem of the e-waste. But despite the advances in soft electronics, the 3R electronics is only possible “if we can demonstrate new manufacturing techniques that, on the one hand, are based on resilient, repairable and recyclable materials and, on the other hand, can compete with existing PCB manufacturing techniques in terms of patterning resolution, multi-layer implementation, microchip integration and autonomous manufacturing”.

This research work, which is being carried out at the Institute of Systems and Robotics (ISR) of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC) of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), introduces a new architecture for scalable, autonomous, and high-resolution production of 3R electronic devices.

The ISR team has introduced a new architecture for soft materials such as conductive composites and substrates that satisfy 3R goals. They developed autonomous manufacturing techniques, including high-resolution digital patterns and one-step microchip welding, as well as supporting technologies for recycling materials and components.

According to Mahmoud Tavakoli, ISR researcher and professor at FCTUC, another differentiating factor is that the manufacturing process is entirely performed at room temperature, an essential step for green electronics: “everything is done at room temperature, including the deposition, patterning, and microchip soldering. Eliminating the temperature from the sintering process (as is common in printed electronics) and from the soldering process considerably reduces energy consumption, and is a step toward the use of green polymers, that were not possible before due to their heat sensitivity”.

This research presents a paradigm shift toward a more sustainable future and provides the foundation for the next generation of recyclable electronic devices. The team has shown the application of this architecture for wireless biomonitoring patches, and smart textiles that integrate state of the art microchips, for monitoring body temperature, electrocardiogram, respiration frequency, and detection of human motions such as swallowing, or classification of sport activities through wearable sensors.

However, when it comes to industrial level PCBs, such as the ones we see in mobile phones, these developed techniques still require further technological development “to reach the same maturity as the current printed circuit technology. We are rapidly making steps toward industrial-level maturity. We hope in less than 5 years we can start the process for substitution of some the current electronics circuits.,”, concludes Mahmoud Tavakoli.

The paper is available here. 

In the Media: SIC Notícias, Observador, Público, Eco Sapo, Notícias ao Minuto,  Diário Online (Região Sul), Notícias UC, Sapo Tek

In the Media: Research Project led by Isabel Trancoso in “90 Segundos de Ciência”

Isabel Trancoso, CMU Portugal Faculty member at Instituto Superior Técnico/INESC ID, was interviewed by the “90 Segundos de Ciência” Podcast on Antena 1 about CMU Portugal’s Exploratory Research Project “Privacy in speaker diarization” (Privadia). The project’s main mission is to develop a speech recognition system that ensures the privacy of the speaker’s data.

The growing number of Machine Learning as service applications has caused an increased awareness of their potential to compromise users’ privacy, as shown by the intense debate around the GDPR. Among other data types, a large amount of information may be extracted from speech going far beyond linguistic contents.

“Speech contains a lot of information about the speaker, not only his identity but also his gender, his age group, his emotional state, and above all, several diseases that can affect speech”, says Isabel Trancoso. This implies that one should regard speech as “Personally Identifiable Information”.

Current machine learning models can remotely transcribe speech recordings, identify speakers, and perform “diarization”, often referred to as the problem of determining “who spoke when” in a conversation. However, there is not a lot of research regarding privacy in speech processing and that is where the Privadia project comes in.

“The fact that data can now be extracted implies possible transgressions of the speaker’s privacy, and it also implies that we may be able to modify what the speaker said and make him say things that he never did, the so-called deep fakes applied to speech. We plan with this project to develop technologies that prevent all these misuses of speech”, refers the researcher.

The main challenge will be combining state-of-the-art speaker representations or embeddings with cryptographic techniques. The project also explores alternative approaches to privacy based on deep learning speech manipulation techniques.

Privadia is a CMU Portugal Exploratory Research Project developed in partnership with INESC ID, Instituto Superior Técnico and the Language Technologies Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

Podcast available online at 90 Segundos de Ciência website.
More on the project website.

 

Cientistas da Universidade de Coimbra criam material altamente promissor para nova geração de dispositivos eletrónicos

Uma equipa de cientistas da Universidade de Coimbra (UC)) desenvolveu um novo material, um nanocompósito de metal líquido revestido de grafeno, que terá aplicação na próxima geração de dispositivos eletrónicos e painéis solares.

Em comunicado, a UC frisou que o novo material é “altamente promissor para a nova geração de dispositivos eletrónicos”, explicando que pode ser usado “como condutor transparente, com aplicações na próxima geração de dispositivos eletrónicos e painéis solares”.

A investigação – desenvolvida no âmbito do projeto WoW do programa Carnegie Mellon Portugal e do MATIS – Materiais e Tecnologias Industriais Sustentáveis, financiado pelo Portugal 2020 – foi tema de capa da última edição da revista científica Advanced Materials Technologies.

Cientistas em Portugal criam material promissor para nova geração de dispositivos

Uma equipa de investigadores da Universidade de Coimbra (UC) desenvolveu um nanocompósito de metal líquido revestido de grafeno, que pode ser usado como condutor transparente, com aplicações na próxima geração de dispositivos eletrónicos e painéis solares.

Num estudo publicado na revista Advanced Materials Technologies, os cientistas demonstraram que nanopartículas de metal líquido revestidas de óxido de grafeno podem ser transformadas em elétrodos semitransparentes e condutores, através de uma técnica de processamento a laser rápida, de baixo custo e escalável, o que poderá ter um grande impacto em áreas como ecrãs flexíveis, painéis solares flexíveis e até biossensores vestíveis (wearable).

O próximo passo da investigação será explorar o uso de outros tipos de lasers para melhorar a condutividade ou transparência dos elétrodos, bem como estudar aplicações desta técnica nas áreas de eletrónica de filmes finos, sensores de gás e humidade e dispositivos de armazenamento de energia.

A investigação, desenvolvida no âmbito do projeto WoW, do Programa Carnegie Mellon Portugal, e do projeto MATIS-Materiais e Tecnologias Industriais Sustentáveis, através do Programa Portugal 2020, é o tema de capa da última edição da revista Advanced Materials Technologies.

In the Media: TAMI Project featured in “90 Segundos de Ciência”

João Pedrosa was interviewed by the “90 Segundos de Ciência” Podcast on Antena 1 about CMU Portugal’s Large Scale project, TAMI. The project’s main mission is to develop Artificial Intelligence algorithms to support a medical diagnosis.

TAMI will create a set of tools based on these AI algorithms that will explain to clinicians and researchers the diagnosis of a specific disease and its causes, focusing on cervical cancer, lung diseases, and eye diseases. João Pedrosa, researcher at INESC TEC and Professor at FEUP, explains “the images we use in the project are Chest radiography (CXR) images. Radiologists use these images to screen for various pathologies such as pulmonary nodules, atelectasis, pneumonia, or COVID-19. As several pathologies can be diagnosed from these images, the experience and knowledge of a radiologist are necessary to analyze them.” The idea behind the TAMI project is that automated analysis systems can help radiologists and other clinicians look at these images and make the right decisions for the patient.

Recently the project’s team published a paper that was featured in the media on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Learning (DL) in the complementary diagnosis of COVID-19 by Chest radiography (CXR) through deep learning. More about this paper here.

The project, being led by First Solutions, with INESC TEC, Fraunhofer Portugal, Administração Regional de Saúde do Norte (ARS Norte), and CMU Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, will work on a commercial, scientific, and academic platform that will provide “consumers” access to results and explanations of diagnostic orders, filtered data sets access for investigators or scientists, and a knowledge base for academic purposes.

João Pedrosa – INESC TEC

More about the TAMI project here.

Available online at 90 Segundos de Ciência website.

In the Media: AGENTS highlighted in Público Newspaper

CMU Portugal project AGENTS – Automatic generation of humor for social robots – was featured in Público Newspaper. The two-page printed article focused on the study being carried out between May and June at ISCTE (Instituto Universitário de Lisboa), involving around 60 people and two robots, to evaluate how can they perceive and express humor.

The experiment, led by Ph.D. researchers Raquel Oliveira and Inês Batina, invited Portuguese native speakers to play an adapted version of the card game “Cards Against Humanity” with Robots Emys and Glin. Público journalist Teresa Serafim played the game and wrote about her experience with the two robots to share a closer view of how everything worked.

Público – Nuno Ferreira Santos


“We sat at a table across from Emys and Glin. Before we started playing, researchers Raquel Oliveira and Inês Batina placed sensors on me. Some electrodes are in the ankles and others under the collarbone. While playing, they measure our heart activity. On the fingers, others will monitor electrodermal or galvanic activity, which assesses the sweat production on the skin and may be related to the emotional activity. Shortly after, the scientists left the room, and I was alone with the robots: the game started! The rules are on the table, but the robots also explain the game. Emys speaks and gives us instructions. On a screen facing us, the names of the participants appear – mine (Teresa), Emys’s, and Glin’s. Then they release black cards with the first words of a sentence that will have to be completed by the three players. I am given some options with text segments on a tablet to fill in those sentences. On the other side, the robots respond as well. At the end of each round – when everyone has chosen an expression, we all voted for the option we found the most fun.”

During the game, the involvement between humans and robots was being evaluated, as well as data that allows analyzing humor in the interaction between humans and robots. This experiment is one of the components of the CMU Portugal project AGENTS, which aims to explore how humor can be used to create more natural and realistic interactions with social robots and virtual agents.

According to Ana Paiva, “the idea is to create a dataset that will allow training a system to identify and generate jokes or humorous sentences that will afterward help robots to generate jokes automatically.” The researcher also explains that the aim is to examine how humor is produced and its intention so that it can be used in long-term therapeutic scenarios.

“The idea is, in fact, to use what we learn here so that we can, in the future, improve the interaction between humans and robots by making them feel good and engaged, making the person want to interact with the robot. If people feel good, it will positively affect their health, namely in the elderly population.” Ana Paiva

The project PI explains that other studies have already been successfully carried out on robots and the elderly, supporting those who need companionship and/or have cognitive problems. The project ends at the end of June. Still, the team has plans to pursue the research: “We have high expectations about the database that we are still collecting and see if we can generate interesting models,” states Patrícia Arriaga.

AGENTS is a collaborative CMU Portugal project between Instituto Superior Técnico, INESC ID, ISCTE, and the Language Technologies Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

The project is led by Ana Paiva at Técnico and Inesc ID, Patrícia Arriaga at ISCTE and Louis-Philippe Morency at CMU. In addition to Raquel Oliveira and Inês Batina, the team also includes Amirali Bagher Zadeh, João Barreiros, and Rui Prada.

Full article at Público or download pdf.