🧠 RHU – eCAN project

🧠 RHU – eCAN Project (2024–2029)

Improving the trajectory of intracranial aneurysm patients using digital and multimodal tools

The eCAN project, funded under the ANR RHU – France 2030 program, aims to transform the care pathway of patients with intracranial aneurysms through innovative digital and multimodal solutions.

Led by Pr Romain Bourcier (CHU Nantes), the project was selected during the 6th RHU call (2023).

🩺 Clinical Background

Source: Cleveland Clinic

An intracranial aneurysm (ICA) is a localized dilation of a cerebral artery.
Although rupture occurs in approximately 1% of cases per year, its consequences are dramatic:

• ~3,000 deaths per year in France
• 1/3 immediate mortality
• 1/3 severe long-term neurological deficits
• 1/3 major psychological consequences

Despite increasing preventive treatments, the overall rupture incidence has not significantly decreased over the past decade.

Major challenges remain:

• Undetected aneurysms

• Lack of structured referral pathways

• High patient anxiety after diagnosis

• Complex medico-economic balance between preventive treatment and monitoring

🎯 Project Objectives

The eCAN project aims to:

• Develop and validate integrated digital tools
• Improve detection of intracranial aneurysms
• Optimize medical decision-making
• Reduce medico-economic burden
• Assess ethical, environmental and international health system impact

🧠 Digital & Multimodal Innovations

1️⃣ AI-assisted detection software

MRI-based tool to assist radiologists in identifying intracranial aneurysms.

2️⃣ Patient mobile application

• Psychological support at diagnosis
• Personalized information on disease and care pathway
• Risk factor monitoring (smoking, sleep, etc.)
• Longitudinal follow-up support

3️⃣ Multimodal prognostic algorithm

Clinical decision-support tool integrating:

• Imaging data
• Clinical variables
• Genetic data

4️⃣ Comparative trajectory analysis tool

Evaluation of optimized care pathways versus current standard practice.

🔬 Technical Contribution

The project relies on a synthetic vascular model designed to:

• Detect vascular bifurcations
• Identify intracranial aneurysms
• Validate diagnostic and AI-based tools
• Provide reproducible benchmarking conditions

🌍 Consortium & Funding

• Total budget: €16.8M
• Government funding: €5.5M (France 2030)
• Duration: 5 years

The consortium gathers 9 partners combining expertise in:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Data science
• Imaging
• Genetics
• Health economics
• Ethics

Academic partners:

• CHU de Nantes (Coordinator)
• INSERM
• INRIA
• Université de Bordeaux

Industrial partners:

• GE Healthcare
• Milvue
• Sim&Cure
• Medtronic

Associative partner:

• Fédération des Spécialités Médicales (FSM)

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🚀 Strategic Impact

eCAN aims to redefine the trajectory of intracranial aneurysm patients, from early detection to optimized therapeutic decision-making, while ensuring sustainable and scalable implementation across healthcare systems worldwide.