The project aims to develop and validate a telemedicine system for home-based auditory monitoring of patients undergoing cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
A team of researchers from the Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI) of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) is part of the CHAFT consortium (Cisplatin-induced Hearing Loss Assessment via Fluorine-19 MRI & Telemonitoring), funded by the EU's INTERREG SUDOE programme.
Coordinated by the Montpellier University Hospital Centre (CHUM), the project brings together institutions from Spain, France and Portugal, including the University of Coimbra and the Portuguese Institute of Oncology in Porto (IPO-PORTO)
According to Joel P. Arrais, a professor at DEI and a researcher at the Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra (CISUC), “the project is developing and validating a telemedicine system that enables home-based monitoring of hearing in patients undergoing treatment with cisplatin — a drug widely used in oncology but often associated with irreversible hearing impairment.”
“Through an application installed on a tablet and used with active noise-cancelling headphones, patients will be able to carry out hearing tests at home, avoiding unnecessary travel and ensuring more equitable follow-up, particularly in rural areas or regions with limited access to specialised care,” explains the project coordinator at FCTUC.
“In addition to proposing an innovative technological solution for monitoring and prevention, CHAFT also aims to reduce inequalities in access to healthcare and promote environmental sustainability by minimising travel and optimising hospital resources,” the researcher adds.
FCTUC plays a central role in the project’s artificial intelligence (AI) component. The team will develop machine-learning models and analyse genomic sequencing data, with the goal of identifying new pharmacogenomic patterns to predict which patients have a higher genetic predisposition to cisplatin-induced hearing loss, enabling safer and more personalised treatment.
“The integration of clinical, audiometric and genomic data through AI will allow the risk of auditory toxicity to be anticipated before any symptoms appear, paving the way for truly personalised medicine,” concludes Joel P. Arrais.
