In one of the recent AIMed Breakfast Briefings: Examining the evolving AI (artificial intelligence) landscape in Italian Healthcare (i.e., you may revisit the session here), Dr. Aurelio Secinaro, Radiologist, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital said we are in the intermediate space to explore the best opportunities that machines could render; by optimizing on the synergy between them and human. 

The mentality of not showing total reliance on machines could probably overcome the challenge coming from AI liability or who is responsible when a supposedly trustworthy algorithm makes errors. Dr Francesca Lodice, Intensivist, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital added as a clinician, she sees AI and new technologies as tools to help her better perform her jobs, she will never lose her clinical eyes on patients. “Absolute dependence on a machine is a pitfall of AI,” she says. 

At the same time, she also stressed on the importance of AI validation, especially in the field of pediatrics, when the amount of data obtained can be limited at times. “We often feel that we have a lot of work to accomplish. When you look closely at the data, you may realize that you have only got data coming from 20 patients,” she adds. As such, even though it will be great to have an application to alert physicians to check out on a particular patient, but if the application was created with just 20 data points, it will be really challenging to judge if it’s credible. 

Dr Secinaro agreed. Nevertheless, there are still relevant machine learning or deep learning algorithms that are helping to make his work as a radiologist more efficient. For example, BoneXpert, which automatically recognize, measure, and classify routine information, as well as other tools which consistently segment and label cardiology-related images to cut the reporting time from hours to seconds. All these allow him to have more time to concentrate on the clinical case itself. 

Likewise, Dr Lodice said she was working with her US colleagues earlier and observed how to employ AI to monitor the brain based on blood pressure variations. As neurological injury has high morbidity, she is now experimenting the approach on her intensive care unit patients, by accumulating all the data coming from different vital signs to develop an algorithm that can truly benefit the patients. 

In the coming AIMed Europe 2019, experts from Bambin Gesù Children’s Hospital will gather again, to share their passion in AI and how new technologies are changing their workflow.  

Session focus: An overview of the latest innovation in AI and data science at Europe’s largest children’s hospital – Bambino Gesù – it’s still about the data!
When: Tuesday, September 17th2019 (15:15 – 16:15) 

A session to unveil the progress to date in implementing AI across various medical subspecialties. In particular, having newly employed data scientists to work within the clinical team and examining results and practicalities to a cultural shift in AI projects. 

Attendees will gain the following knowledge:

Be informed of the many different AI effort taking place in the largest children’s hospital in Europe. 

Understand the challenges in integrating and implementing new technologies in the specific pediatric environment. 

Benefit from the first-hand information given by experts working in the hospital and exchanges between like-minded attendees. 

Insight into the opportunities that the field or organization could possibly offer in the near future. 


Dr. Alberto E. Tozzi, Chief Innovation Officer and Research Area Coordinator, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. 


Dr Francesca Lodice, Intensivist, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. 

Dr Aurelio Secinaro, Radiologist, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. 

Dr Marta Ciofi degli Atti, Medical Directorate and Project Leader of Data Driven Hospital, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. 

Author Bio
synthetic gene empathy chinese artificial intelligence data medicine healthcare ai

Hazel Tang
