Deployment of cutting-edge multi-modal AI-based solutions in medical imaging

Opened

Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

Digital Europe Programme

Programme Description

Digital Europe Programme is the first EU programme that aims to accelerate the recovery and drive the digital transformation of Europe.

Worth €7.6 billion (in current prices), the Programme is a part of the next long-term EU budget, (the Multiannual Financial Framework), and it covers 2021 to 2027. It will provide funding for projects in five crucial areas: supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced digital skills, and ensuring the wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society.

The Programme is fine-tuned to fill the gap between the research of digital technologies and their deployment, and to bring the results of research to the market – for the benefit of Europe’s citizens and businesses, and in particular SMEs. Investments under the Digital Europe programme supports the Union’s twin objectives of a green transition and digital transformation and strengthens the Union’s resilience and strategic autonomy.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-SOLUTIONS-CANCER-STEP

Call

Deployment of cutting-edge multi-modal AI-based solutions in medical imaging

Summary

By building on, extending and leveraging the Cancer Image Europe platform, this action is expected to facilitate the uptake of EU AI-driven solutions in medical imaging (including Machine Learning and Generative AI), towards their deployment in clinical settings. It should also include upskilling of healthcare professionals and evidence generation to evaluate the performance of the deployed AI-driven solutions and engage patients.

Detailed Call Description

he action should also contribute to upgrading and enhancing the uptake of the Cancer Image Europe platform through deployment of tools, application programming interfaces (APIs) and interfaces enabling high-quality data services for the users of the Cancer Image Europe platform. The solutions should cover, at least, data quality assessment, including security, data access and analysis, as well as services for AI developers supporting their regulatory compliance pathway, including the EHDS Regulation, if applicable. Moreover, data services will cover comprehensive data quality assessment—including security, data access, and analysis. Specifically, tools will be deployed to ensure that datasets federated in Cancer Image Europe are fully compliant with EHDS, utilizing Health DCAT-AP for metadata descriptions and adhering to the data quality and utility label standards set by the EHDS Regulation.

Moreover, the action should consider synergies and cross-fertilisation of tools with other relevant health data infrastructures: HealthData@EU, 1+Million Genomes (1+MG), Intensive Care Unit data infrastructure, the European Virtual Human Twins Initiative, and UNCAN.eu platform to further facilitate the integration and processing of different types of health data. Also, the outcomes of EU-funded projects dealing with other imaging modalities, such as digital pathology (e.g. BigPicture project), should be considered. Finally, synergies with the ongoing AI related activities of the Health Data Access Bodies (HDABs) in the EHDS, the SHAIPED project and the TEF-Health project should be leveraged.

Objective:

  • Accelerate the uptake of EU AI-driven solutions that are ready to be deployed in healthcare settings for patient care and for research purposes. This will facilitate the paradigm shift in the digital transformation of healthcare towards personalised medical solutions;
  • Facilitate the deployment of EU cutting-edge AI-driven solutions in medical imaging, combined with other health data, for increased efficiency and better patient outcomes, leveraging the Cancer Image Europe platform;
  • Further develop the data, testing and validation services and user tools of Cancer Image Europe platform in alignment with the legal and technical framework of the European Health Data Space, also towards supporting the development and uptake of EU cutting-edge multi-modal AI-based solutions in medical imaging (including Deep learning and Generative AI solutions) for healthcare;
  • Ensure alignment and inter-operability of the Cancer Image Europe platform with the HealthData@EU infrastructure of the EHDS;
  • Conduct multi-centre validation studies of promising medical imaging-based and multi-modal AI solutions for screening, early detection, diagnosis and care, generating evidence for clinical utility and cost effectiveness of tested solutions.

Call Total Budget

€14.400.000

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

Funding rate 50% and 75% (for SMEs)

Thematic Categories

  • Health
  • Information and Communication Technologies
  • Information Technology
  • Research, Technological Development and Innovation

Eligibility for Participation

  • Central Government
  • Legal Entities
  • Other Beneficiaries
  • Private Bodies
  • Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
  • Services Providers
  • State-owned Enterprises

Eligibility For Participation Notes

In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:

  • be legal entities (public or private bodies)
  • be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
    • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)
    • non-EU countries (except for topics with restrictions; see below):

Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register — before submitting the proposal — and will have to be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation). For the validation, they will be requested to upload documents showing legal status and origin.

Deployment of cutting-edge multi-modal AI-based solutions in medical imaging

Call Opening Date

04/11/2025

Call Closing Date

03/03/2026

National Contact Point(s)

Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy|
Directorate of Research and Innovation

Eleana Gabriel
Telephone: +357 22 691918
Email: egabriel@dmrid.gov.cy