Integrating an AI Platform into Clinical IT: BPMN Processes for Clinical AI Model Development

Abstract Background: There has been a resurgence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on a global scale in recent times, resulting in the development of cutting-edge AI solutions within hospitals. However, this has also led to the creation of isolated AI solutions that are not integrated into clinical IT. To tackle this issue, a clinical Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform that handles the entire development cycle of clinical AI models and is integrated into clinical IT is required. This research investigates the integration of a clinical AI platform into the clinical IT infrastructure. This is demonstrated by outlining the stages of the AI model development cycle within the clinical IT infrastructure, illustrating the interaction between different IT system landscapes within the hospital with BPMN diagrams. Methods: Initially, a thorough analysis of the requirements is conducted to refine the necessary aspects of the clinical AI platform with consideration of the individual aspects of clinical IT. Subsequently, processes representing the entire development cycle of an AI model are identified. To facilitate the architecture of the AI platform, BPMN diagrams of all the identified processes are created. Clinical use cases are used to evaluate the processes using the FEDS framework. Results: Our BPMN process diagrams cover the entire development cycle of a clinical AI model within the clinical IT. The processes involved are Data Selection, Data Annotation, On-site Training/Testing, and Inference, with distinctions between (Semi-Automated) Batch Inference and Real-Time Inference. Three clinical use cases were assessed to evaluate the processes and demonstrate that this approach covers a wide range of clinical AI use cases. Conclusions: The evaluations were executed successfully, which indicate the comprehensive nature of our approach. The results have shown that different clinical AI use cases are covered by the BPMN diagrams. Our clinical AI platform is ideally suited for the local development of AI models within clinical IT. This approach provides a basis for further developments, e.g. enabling the training and deployment of an AI model across multiple sites or the integration of security- and privacy-related aspects.