MyDigiTwin

2020

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading global cause of mortality and morbidity, with ischemic heart disease (IHD) representing approximately half of all CVD-related deaths. Precise, personalized risk assessment and treatment recommendations are crucial for addressing the diverse population at risk of CVD. Current standard approaches rely on algorithms that incorporate a limited set of traditional risk factors to estimate CVD and IHD risk. However, significant cardiovascular events often occur in individuals categorized as low risk, underscoring the need for ongoing research to enhance preventive strategies.

The Focus
The MyDigiTwin initiative aims to provide individuals with personalized insights into their cardiac health, enabling proactive monitoring and management of cardiovascular conditions. This integrated digital health platform empowers individuals to take control of their cardiac health by offering accessible, data-driven insights and tools.

The Research
MyDigiTwin is a pioneering research initiative focused on revolutionizing cardiac health management by integrating advanced AI technologies with extensive patient data. The development of MyDigiTwin involves harnessing large-scale longitudinal datasets from over 500,000 patients, combined with sophisticated AI algorithms. This approach enables the platform to analyze diverse health parameters and generate tailored recommendations for users based on their unique health profiles. By leveraging AI and comprehensive patient data, MyDigiTwin represents an innovative approach to preventive and personalized healthcare, facilitating early detection and intervention for cardiovascular conditions.

Origin
This project was funded within the Big Data & Health Program. The focus of this public-private research program is the use of big data for the early detection and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The program has been developed by NWO, ZonMw, the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Top Sectors Life Sciences & Health (LSH), ICT and Creative Industry, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, and the Netherlands eScience Center. Within this research program, the ambitions of the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, and the Netherlands eScience Center were aligned with the ambitions of Commit2Data for the Top Sectors ICT, LSH, and Creative Industry, as described in the 2018-2019 Kennis- en Innovatiecontracts between NWO and the Top Sectors.

Funded

Principal investigators

Prof. Dr. Pim van der Harst

See all investigators

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and dementia are closely intertwined, often resulting in cognitive impairment among individuals with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular conditions. Approximately one-third of dementia cases are linked to vascular injury, emphasizing that vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is a preventable aspect of cognitive decline.
The Focus
The Heart-Brain Connection Crossroads (HBCx) consortium investigates hemodynamic alterations as reversible contributors to VCI, seeking to enhance our understanding of the connection between cardiovascular health and cognitive function.
The Research
HBCx builds upon the foundation laid by HBC1 (CVON 2012-06), which established a national network dedicated to studying, diagnosing, and treating VCI. Clinical investigations within HBC1, focusing on patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), carotid occlusive disease (COD), and clinically evident VCI, emphasized the role of hemodynamics along the heart-brain axis in VCI. These findings underscored significant associations between heart-brain connections and VCI.
The HBCx program, launched in 2019, takes a comprehensive approach by investigating hemodynamics in key cardiac conditions such as atrial fibrillation and heart failure, while also exploring vascular factors and their interplay with amyloid pathology. Moreover, HBCx considers modulating factors like age and sex. The program aims to improve early detection, identify treatable targets, and integrate the Heart-Brain Connection approach into routine care. Ultimately, the long-term vision of HBCx is to reduce VCI prevalence among CVD patients through enhanced understanding and innovative treatment strategies.
Origin
This consortium was funded through the Impulse Grant program by the Dutch Heart Foundation.

Learn more

LIKE

2017

The best way to maintain a healthy lifestyle for a long time is to teach it young. This certainly applies to those groups where unhealthy behavior is common: lower socioeconomic groups, which are increasingly multi-ethnic.
The Research
In this program we are studying the causes of unhealthy behavior in ongoing cohort studies, and together with the target group (10-14 years) we are looking for new ways to teach healthy behavior (nutrition, physical activity, sitting and sleeping behavior). We develop innovative interventions that at multiple levels (family, school, neighborhood, city) change the child's environment in such a way that healthy behavior is encouraged and unhealthy behavior is discouraged.  We implement and evaluate in Amsterdam, and disseminate results to other cities.
The origin
The Heart Foundation aims for more people to make healthy choices, so that they feel vital and run less risk of developing (again) cardiovascular diseases, which was one of the themes of the reserach agenda. With its prevention programs, ZonMw contributes to the improvement of prevention practice, to health gains and to reducing socioeconomic health disparities.
Results from research show that healthy behavior cannot be taken for granted, and is strongly influenced by people's social and physical environment and socioeconomic status. Proven effective, innovative and accessible methods to enable people to maintain a healthy lifestyle for a long time are lacking. Therefore, the Dutch Heart Foundation and ZonMw have collaborated to form the program "Gezond leven: goed voor het Hart!". LIKE is one of the projects funded from this program.

Learn more

1 2 3 … 23 Volgende »