TEF - Health
Testing and Experimentation Facility for Health AI and Robotics

Challenge

The transfer of research results to innovative products and services is important for the growth of economy, wealth, and quality of life. With the digital transformation our society experiences a rapid change of innovation activities. To stay competitive globally we need to adapt to these dynamics. In the health sector, this requires not only a rapid assessment of the market potential of innovations but also its rapid testing for trustworthiness. This requires support from well-functioning innovation chains and cross-domain collaborations. The transfer from research to application has been proven to work particularly well through long-standing partnerships in innovation networks. TEF-Health is a new digital innovation cluster that will speed up the value chain in the field Health of AI and Robotics by providing specific support to innovators, and SMEs. With the joint goal of accelerating and facilitation validation and certification of AI and robotics in medical devices.

Solution

TEF-Health develops a world-class reference testing and experimentation facility (TEF) with a threefold Objective:
1) Carrying out tests and experiments of AI solutions (software and hardware) in large-scale realistic environments;
2) Implementing evaluation activities that facilitate market access for trustworthy intelligent technologies, particularly by considering new regulatory requirements (certification, standardization, code of conduct, etc.), and ensuring easy access to these evaluation resources (link with digital innovation hubs, etc.);
3) Optimizing investments and avoiding duplication of these testing facilities by capitalizing on past investments.

TEF-Health has at project start already a high Maturity level. It provides existing expertise and infrastructure necessary for design and implementation of AI testing methods in real world environments at a TRL 6-8. The TEF-Health’s main asset lies in the general structure of each node, designed to address the broad environment of evaluation and testing, to speed up the development and the market access of AI-based solutions in the healthcare sector.

TEF-Health will generate Impact by increasing effectiveness, resilience, sustainability of EU health and care systems; TEF-Health addresses ethical, societal, and regulatory aspects.

Objectives, Activities and Results expected / achieved

TEF-Health fosters state of the art AI and robotics in healthcare and strives to achieve the following KPIs:
1) 500 TEF users served by the end of project;
2) 80% of SMEs amongst users;
3) 70 % cross boarder participation;
4) 500 solutions tested, of which 50% at least started CE marking procedure or are engaged in an agile certification process;
5) 2% adopted by health providers;
6) 2% brought to market;
7) Long-term business plan to achieve long term financial sustainability after EU funding stops.

Project Reference

189; Grant Agreement No 101100700

Funding

Intervention Region

Germany, Sweden, France, Slovakia, Belgium, Portugal and Italy

Total Investment

EU - 59.927.035,25; PRR - 6.462.585,55

IPN Investment

EU - 1.350.875,00; PRR - 3.639.128,53

Total Eligible

EU - 59.927.035,25; PRR - 3.639.128,53

IPN Eligible

EU - 1.350.875,00; PRR - 854.867,32

EC Funding – Total

EU - 29.963.515,28; PRR - 2.768.623,12

EC Funding – IPN

EU - 675.437,50; PRR - 655.087,39

Duration

60 Months

Start Date

2023-01-01

End Date

2027-12-31

Approval Date

2022-12-20

Consortium

Charite - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin
Technische Universitaet Muenchen
Karolinska Institutet
Physikalisch - Technische Bundesanstalt
Laboratoire National de Metrologie et D´Essais
Commissariat a l Energie Atomique et Aux Energies Alternatives
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Grenoble
Universite Grenoble Alpes
Hospices Civils de Lyon
Fondation de Cooperation Scientifique
Rise Research Institutes of Sweden AB
Univerzitna Nemocnica Martin
Univerzita Komenskeho V Bratislave
Zilinska Univerzita V Ziline
Ebrains
Instituto Pedro Nunes
Health Cluster Portugal - Associação do Polo de Competitividade da Saúde
Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra
Centro Hospitalar de São João
Serviços Partilhados do Ministério da Saúde
Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung
Intercommunale de Sante Publique Dupays de Charleroi
Multitel
Universite de Namur ASBL
Centre D´Excellence en Technologies de L´Information et de la Communication
TUV - Verband EV
EIT Health EV
EIT Health SI GMBH
Plateforme Des Donnees de Sante
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes
EIT Health HUB France
EIT Health Innostars EV
Universita Degli Studio Di Pavia
Fondazione Bruno Kessler
Politecnico Di Milano
Istituto Superiore Di Sanita