Dear Colleagues,

An ecosystem is a decentralized network in which participants establish mutual relationships. They set up interfaces for accessing their own data, share it and thus allow the other actors to work. Joint application/business models are developed, prototypes are experimented on and creative cooperations are entered into. This network enables the actors to engage in professional exchange with other ecosystem participants. In the foreground of a medical ecosystem are its players—patients, physicians, scientists, hospitals, health insurance companies, medical technology producers, pharmaceutical companies, etc.—and their interactions. Important topics that a health ecosystem works with are clinical use cases, the development of physiological reference models, and, in particular, disruptive applications in health care, often based on common platforms.

Artificial intelligence is considered a game-changer for any health ecosystem. It creates new challenges, such as much more complex regulatory issues, but it also brings with it a multitude of new technical possibilities and business opportunities. To name just a few examples, AI can be used for supporting diagnosis, patient-specific therapies (precision medicine), faster drug developments, improved gene editing, automation of processes in the hospital, and new business models for startups, etc.

This Special Issue is intended to cover all areas of the application of artificial intelligence in health ecosystems. Contributions can be of a technical nature, but can also concern the redesigning of business models, processes, and relationships through the influence of AI. Finally, the focus can also be on medical, medical-technical, pharmaceutical, or nutritional issues.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Fischer
Prof. Dr. Jörg Barkhausen
Prof. Dr. Thomas Martinetz
Guest Editors

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• artificial intelligence
• health ecosystem
• platforms
• medical applications
• medical technology
• eHealth
• nutrition
• clinical use cases
• health ecosystem networks
• application-oriented training
• AI-based startups