The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is providing around 4.1 million euros to set up a research database in which the medical data of recipients of blood transfusions will be registered together with the antigenic properties of the blood products received. The joint project ReMeDi:Blut is intended to help optimize the handling of the valuable resource "blood" and support the best possible care.
The project, which has just been launched and will run until the end of March 2026, is headed and coordinated by Prof. Dr. Britta Böckmann from the Faculty of Computer Science at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. "In the future, we want to establish a nationwide register," she announces. Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) are playing a key role. The project is being carried out in close cooperation with the Essen Institute for Transfusion Medicine. Almost 3 million euros of the funding will go to Essen and around 1.1 million euros to Dortmund.
Fewer side effects after transfusion
Blood transfusions can save lives - using them optimally is both medically and ethically advisable. The decisive factor is how to select the best blood product for the recipient. "The better the blood product fits the person concerned and the more criteria we know in advance, the fewer side effects we can expect after the transfusion, for example," says Prof. Dr. Peter Horn, Director of the Institute of Transfusion Medicine at Essen University Hospital. "The new research register will help us to improve the selection process."
To date, there is no central registry in Germany that systematically collects clinical data on blood transfusions that have taken place. Doctors and researchers currently have no way of comprehensively analyzing the factors that influence the clinical outcome of a blood transfusion. The planned registry should make this possible within the next three years - also thanks to artificial intelligence. This will help researchers to identify donors with rare blood group characteristics and prevent incompatibilities.
Background
- The name ReMeDi:Blut stands for "Register for medical data and antigen properties of blood products".
- The joint project is part of the "Medical technology solutions for digital healthcare" funding measure of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is embedded in the "Healthcare industry" field of action in the healthcare research framework program.