A Shared Vision for the Future of Respiratory Care: The Synergy of AI4LUNGS and MULTIPULM

Respiratory diseases represent a major global health burden, affecting hundreds of millions of people and driving significant disability and premature death worldwide. The challenge is particularly significant in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of chronic respiratory disease is often compounded by barriers to timely diagnosis, monitoring, and integrated care.

Diagnosing these conditions has traditionally been time-consuming and costly, often requiring multiple tests and multidisciplinary reviews where certainty can vary.

However, the future of digital health is looking exceptionally bright thanks to two pioneering Horizon Europe projects: AI4LUNGS and MULTIPULM. By joining forces, these initiatives are setting the stage for a realistic, yet deeply transformative leap in lung care.

At AI4LUNGS, we are driven by a mission to pave the way for ethically guided, evidence-based healthcare decisions. We recognise that, currently, no digital solution perfectly combines guideline-based recommendations with AI-driven insights for individual patient diagnosis and therapy.

Our solution are the precision diagnostics and the digital twin. By integrating advanced machine and deep learning algorithms, AI4LUNGS is developing systems to uncover hidden imaging characteristics invisible to the human eye. One of our most promising, realistic innovations is the creation of a "digital twin", a digital replica of the patient that supports clinicians during the stratification process. By assisting physicians in their decision-making, this technology aims to practically streamline procedures, reduce the need for numerous exhausting examinations, and ultimately save valuable time for both patients and healthcare providers.

MULTIPULM: Empowering care where it's needed most

While AI4LUNGS focuses on precision diagnosis, MULTIPULM brings patient-centred digital care to areas facing the greatest need.

Chronic respiratory multimorbidity is rising globally, but it hits low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), such as Brazil, Serbia, and Türkiye, the hardest. In these regions, patients often face fragmented care and limited access to coordinated support, placing heavy financial and emotional burdens on families.

MULTIPULM delivers practical, co-designed digital tools, including AI breathing games, remote monitoring platforms, and decision support systems, directly to these communities. By tracking real-world data from remote wearables and sound-based breathing assessments, MULTIPULM is actively working to empower patients and strengthen local health systems.

Bridging the Gap: A Powerful Synergy

The true optimism for the future of respiratory health lies in the collaboration between these two initiatives. MULTIPULM’s rich, continuous stream of real-world data forms the perfect foundation for the advanced AI analysis being developed here at AI4LUNGS.

While MULTIPULM already utilises algorithms for early risk detection, applying AI4LUNGS’ multimodal data approaches and Clinical Decision Support System (cDSS) could unlock deeper patient stratification and help clinicians interpret incredibly complex health data.

This synergy would allow researchers to realistically understand how our advanced AI models perform when applied to continuously collected, real-world information. 

Although focusing on different areas of innovation, AI4LUNGS and MULTIPULM share a unified, optimistic goal: improving respiratory healthcare through responsible digital innovation. Together, we are not just researching new technologies; we can also actively build a future where coordinated, AI-supported care can be highly precise, globally accessible, and truly life-changing.

If you are interested in the MULTIPULM Project, please reach out to Chris Aguilar at chris@futureneeds.eu

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