Near East University Health Operations Center is providing guidance to make the most appropriate and accurate decision in a wide range with the support of artificial intelligence, from deciding which nuclear medicine imaging device is better in different types of cancer, to determining which drug is most suitable for a patient, as well as determining which COVID-19 antigen or PCR test is more appropriate to use for each patient.
The Health Operations Center, which is the first center in the world to apply the “Multi-Criteria Decision Making” model to health processes, was opened within the body of Near East University. The multi-criteria decision-making method, of which importance is increasing day by day in the world, is a product to be used in any field and enables the most suitable option to be determined by comparing it with its alternatives on dozens of criteria such as cost, effectiveness, accessibility, and user-friendliness.
Near East University Health Operations Center will apply the multi-criteria decision-making model through its artificial intelligence supported infrastructure in the health sector for the first time in the world, in a wide range from determining which drug is suitable for which patient, to determining the most suitable devices to be used in hospitals, as well as determining the most suitable PCR and antigen kits to be used in the diagnosis of COVID-19.
Thus, a road map will be created for a wide range of people, including physicians, hospital administrations and the Ministry of Health, which determines the health policies of the country, to make the most accurate decisions.
One-of-a-kind at Harvard Medical School
The only similar center to the Near East University Health Operations Center in the world is located at Harvard Medical School in the USA. However, while the center at Harvard focuses only on health management, the Near East University Health Operations Center is the only center in the world that works on treatment processes in addition to health management.
The team, led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilber Uzun Özşahin as the Near East University DESAM Research Center Research Group, has published over 100 articles and 6 books that have been included in important academic publications to date before being transformed into a center. Most recently, the Center for Health Operations team received the best oral presentation award from the European Biotechnology Congress for their study evaluating the performance of 48 different antibody tests, which were authorized for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The board of directors of the Health Operations Center, which carries out multidisciplinary studies, also reflects this diversity. Near East University Biomedical Engineering Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilber Uzun Özşahin is the person-in-charge of the center. In the board of directors, Assist. Prof. Dr. Berna Uzun, Prof. Dr. Murat Sayan from the Department of Microbiology, and Assistant from the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Assist. Prof. Dr. Özlem Balcıoğlu take part.
At the opening of the Health Operations Center, the 33rd center that will operate under the Near East University Center of Excellence, Near East University Deputy Rector Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ, Director of the Health Center Operations Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilber Uzun Özşahin, and Board Member of the Health Operations Center Assist. Prof. Dr. Özlem Balcıoğlu delivered speeches.
Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ: “We will continue to expand our scientific production in 2022 with the contribution of our Health Operations Center and other research centers operating under our Center of Excellence.”
Near East University Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ reminded that the Health Operations Center is the 33rd research center of Near East University, and said that the new center will mainly operate in the field of health, and will also take an active part in engineering projects, which are an integral part of this field, especially in the development of medical products. Pointing out that the Near East University has made a big leap in the lists of the world’s best universities by Times Higher Education and AD Scientific Index due to its academic performance in the last five years, Prof. Dr. Şanlıdağ stated that they are among the top 250 universities in the world in the field of engineering and computer sciences, and among the top 500 universities in the world in the general ranking. Adding that Near East University published over 1,500 scientific articles in 2021, Prof. Dr. Tamer Şanlıdağ said, “In 2021, the number of articles per academician was over 2.3. We will continue to increase our scientific production in 2022 with the contribution of our Health Operations Center and other research centers operating under our Center of Excellence.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilber Uzun Özşahin: “We ensure that the most appropriate decision is made in diagnosis and treatment by evaluating many criteria such as cost, effectiveness, accessibility, and practicality at the Health Operations Center from every angle.”
Near East University Health Operations Center Director and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilber Uzun Özşahin stated that they will continue their operations and studies, which they have been carrying out as an academic research group for six years, within the body of the Health Operations Center, and said, “To date, we have developed over 300 projects with our team and published over 100 articles and 6 books on these projects. We will continue our studies with an artificial intelligence-supported multi-criteria decision-making model with our competent team of undergraduate and doctoral students, physicians and academics from the fields of engineering and health.”
Stating that they will carry out studies not only in the field of health, but also in the field of engineering, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilber Uzun Özşahin said, “Multi-criteria decision-making method is based on the analysis and comparison of all options over many criteria in order to make the most appropriate decision in many areas. We evaluate many criteria such as cost, effectiveness, accessibility, and practicality in our studies at the Health Operations Center and ensure that the most appropriate decision is made in diagnosis and treatment. From deciding which nuclear medicine imaging device is best for brain cancer to determine which drug is most appropriate for an AIDS patient; We can perform a wide range of analyzes, from which COVID-19 antigen or PCR test is more appropriate to use, to determining which drug is the most convenient for which patient.”
Emphasizing that they made all analyzes with the support of artificial intelligence, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilber Uzun Özşahin said that one of their most important goals is to develop an application related to their infrastructure and make it available to physicians. Thus, when deciding on the treatment process for their patients, physicians will be able to determine the most appropriate drug and other treatment components for their patients by entering the necessary information into the application of the Near East University Health Operations Center.
Assist. Prof. Dr. Özlem Balcıoğlu: “It is exciting to be able to apply the multi-criteria decision-making model to the field of health with mathematical modeling and artificial intelligence.”
Assist. Prof. Dr. Özlem Balcıoğlu, on the other hand, said that artificial intelligence and multi-criteria decision-making model is an ever-growing field in the world and said, “We, doctors, make decisions based on live cases. However, it is exciting to be able to apply the multi-criteria decision-making model to the healthcare field with purely Mathematical modeling and artificial intelligence, without the need for live materials, at the Health Operations Center.”