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The event, focused on finding technological solutions to real-world challenges in healthcare, attracted 80 students and professionals who created innovative projects within 48 hours. Among the awardees was the LEMMA WEB team from the Faculty of Informatics at MU, which secured second place for their project in the "HemoConnect" challenge.

The Award-Winning Team from FI MU and Their Project

The LEMMA WEB team, composed of Antonín Kadrmas, Lukáš Gorazda Hrodek, and Vojtěch Šanda, developed software for the "HemoConnect" challenge aimed at creating an online system for patient appointments and result delivery in outpatient hematology. The project combines modern technologies, including vector databases and artificial intelligence models, to streamline physicians' work with unstructured data.

"Our goal was to simplify how doctors search for specific information within unstructured texts commonly found in healthcare systems," explains Vojtěch Šanda. The software not only finds relevant texts but also provides specific answers, supplemented with excerpts from the source materials. This feature allows physicians to verify the accuracy of the information and understand its context.

Additionally, the application enables efficient data management, neatly organized by patients or diagnoses. "The aim is to automate the process of populating modern registries, which was previously done manually. It also presents existing data in a more comprehensible form, making it easier to navigate between patients and their examinations, and allows doctors to easily edit this data," adds Šanda.

Inspiration, Collaboration, and the Road to Success

Signing up for the hackathon was a matter of chance, according to Lukáš Gorazda Hrodek. "The evening before the deadline, Marko Řeháček approached me, but his team was already full by morning. I quickly gathered colleagues from the Faculty of Informatics who had worked on the website for the FI MU Film Festival. We signed up at the last minute, and the rest is history."

The students collaborated with several industry experts on the project, including Prof. MUDr. Michael Doubek, Ph.D., MSt., who provided expert supervision, and Aleš Dohnal from AstraZeneca, who contributed specific tasks and resources. Technological support came from Stefan Wittmann of InterSystems. "The collaboration was fantastic; all partners helped us immensely," the team remarked.

The project work was intensive. "Those were three demanding days. The first night we managed to rest a bit, but the second night hardly at all. When we ran out of coffee in the evening, it was a real test of willpower," describes Šanda. Despite this, thanks to excellent consultations with Prof. Doubek and Aleš Dohnal, the team brought the project to a presentable form, and the result was worth it. "We secretly hoped for third place or a special award, but second place absolutely surprised and delighted us," he adds.

Hack jak Brno presented nine real-world challenges from the healthcare sector. First place was claimed by the Genomjäger team with their project "PathoScan," which enables rapid detection of bacterial resistance to antibiotics through machine analysis of whole-genome sequencing. Congratulations to them.

"Seeing so many talented young people eagerly tackle complex problems in medical practice during their free time is a positive sign for the upcoming generation," said Tomáš Studeník, the event organizer (excerpted from the event's press release).

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the students of the LEMMA WEB team and Associate Professor Petr Sojka for their success and thank them for their outstanding representation of the Faculty of Informatics at MU. Their project showcases how FI students can bridge theoretical knowledge with practical application, bringing innovations that have a tangible impact on improving healthcare.