Future of MedTech: AI for Healthcare Centre hosts AI and ML workshop

Photo credit to Natasha Khaleeq

AI4Health & MedTechONE hosted an event on AI-driven autonomy in healthcare, exploring precision medicine, robotics, and synthetic biology

On March 24, Imperial College London hosted the AI, Machine Learning Systems and Devices with Autonomy event, spotlighting the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in developing autonomous systems across various sectors. The event was a collaborative effort between MedTechONE, AI4Health and the Department of Bioengineering, bringing together experts from academia, industry, and healthcare to explore cutting-edge advancements in AI-driven medical technologies. This partnership fostered interdisciplinary discussions on precision medicine, autonomous healthcare systems, and AI-driven decision support, aiming to accelerate innovation and real-world applications in medical technology.

"Imperial has been globally pioneering data-driven semi-autonomous systems for medical devices such as the AI Clinician programme; this workshop showcased our thought leadership in this vibrant ecosystem, together with our impact oriented approach to foundational and clinical research." (Aldo Faisal, Professor of AI and Neuroscience and Director of the UKRI Centres in AI for Healthcare)

The event commenced with a registration and a PhD poster exhibition session, providing attendees an opportunity to explore current projects and network with peers. Dr. Hutan Ashrafian opened with “From Pixels to Paradigms: How Next-Gen AI is Reshaping Science”, examining AI’s expanding role in scientific discovery. He was followed by Professor Aldo Faisal, who presented “AI for Treatment: Towards Real-World AI Clinicians”, exploring how AI can be integrated into clinical workflows to support physicians and improve patient outcomes.

The first session, focusing on Precision Medicine, featured several notable presentations, amongst which Professor Anthony Gordon introduced "The AI Clinician for Sepsis", highlighting an AI-powered system designed to support clinicians in managing complex sepsis cases- an application with life-saving potential.

"MedTechONE was created to support innovators with the translation of their medical tech into wider usage. We started the MedTech Links event series to foster collaborative relationships with Imperial's researchers and innovators, and the wider medical and technological industries, as well as to showcase Imperial's work." (Stephanie Martin-Li, Project Support Officer, MedTechONE Collaborative)

Dozens of posters from Imperial's PhD research programmes were on display, showcasing a rich and diverse set of work that spans all disciplines of medicine and subfields of AI. Highlights from the AI4Health Centres included:

Adam Gould- Arguing with physical activity data from a real-world wearable clinical trial with patients with a primary brain tumour

Daolong Chen- BehaviourGPT: Large Behaviour Models to measure health state in neurological diseases
Federico Nardi- Graph neural networks uncover Geometric neural representation in Reinforcement-based motor learning
Gayathiri Mathusuthan- Elevating Stroke Care: Wearable technology for Behavioural insights
Jake Ormond- AI clinician for Treatment of Paediatric Sepsis

Nicolas Calvo Peiro- Deep learning driven EEG analysis for personalised deep brain stimulation programming for Parkinson’s disease
Ruoyu Hu- An AI Platform for Learning to Laugh: A New Approach to Develop a Sense of Humour
Simon Hanassab- Explainable AI to identify Ovarian follicles that optimise clinical outcomes

The workshop also highlighted Imperial College London’s leadership in inventing novel methods for AI and machine learning and translating them into clinical practice. This involves a complex and multidisciplinary process of convergence science, not only developing algorithms and validating them through clinical trials, but also ensuring that these AI systems meet rigorous safety, efficacy, and ethical standards for real-world deployment.

In this context, the AI4Health Centres at Imperial are uniquely positioned to lead, thanks to their partnerships with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). These collaborations enable the critical regulatory and policy interactions required to bring autonomous medical devices safely and effectively into the NHS and other health systems.

More about Imperial’s MedTech Links & AI4Health

MedTechONE is a College-wide Centre of Excellence at Imperial College London, dedicated to stimulating and supporting the research and translation of medical technologies. Based at both South Kensington and White City campuses, MedTechONE addresses the unique challenges faced by MedTech innovators, such as regulatory hurdles, high development costs, and market entry barriers.

The UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Healthcare (AI4Health) offers innovative PhD training in artificial intelligence applied to healthcare. Launched in 2019, the centre hosts a large interdisciplinary AI research programme and aims to train over 200 PhD researchers by 2032. AI4Health collaborates with over 120 research labs, three NHS Hospital Trusts, UK medical regulators, and more than 40 industry partners and start-ups. The programme is structured into unique phases that provide cutting-edge skills and research training, ensuring PhD students can realise their full potential during their research.

You can download a copy of the event's programme here: MedTech Links: AI, ML & Devices with Autonomy - Mar 2025