Representatives from Digital Futures—Annika Szabo Portela, Executive Director, and Urban Forssell, Head of AI Strategy and Innovation—together with Annette Alkebo, Strategist Innovation at Region Stockholm, and Saikat Chatterjee, Professor at KTH, visited the Intervention Centre at Oslo University Hospital in Norway on 19 March. The visit offered a comprehensive insight into one of the world’s most advanced environments for research and development in image-guided interventions and clinical innovation.
The Intervention Centre is organized as a department within the Technology and Innovation Division at Oslo University Hospital and operates as a unique clinic-like research environment. It provides shared access to cutting-edge infrastructure, equipment, and highly specialized staff for both internal and external research groups. Its matrix organization, where clinicians, engineers, and companies work side by side, enables interdisciplinary collaboration and efficient use of resources.
A guided tour of the operating rooms highlighted the Centre’s seamless integration of research and innovative clinical practice. The visitors gained first-hand insight into how new treatment methods involving heart, liver and brain diseases are developed, tested, and implemented in a real clinical setting.
“The Intervention Centre is a truly inspiring environment where clinical practice and research are fully integrated. Seeing how advanced technologies are translated into real patient benefit, and even being able to take part in procedures, was an invaluable experience. We see great potential for collaboration and knowledge exchange going forward,” says Annika, Executive Director of Digital Futures.
The Centre’s work spans several key areas, including the development and comparison of treatment methods and strategies, as well as studies on their social, economic, and organizational impact. To support this, the Centre has established a robust infrastructure covering four main result dimensions: clinical trials, patient experience studies, health economic analyses, and evaluations of organizational consequences.
Research activities focus on cutting-edge fields such as MRI- and CT-guided interventions, radiology-guided surgery, robotics and simulation, AI and big data, telecommunication and sensor technologies, as well as advanced imaging and navigation systems. In addition to academic research, the Centre also collaborates closely with industry partners to test new medical devices.
A key strength of the Intervention Centre lies in its unique infrastructure, including multiple hybrid operating rooms equipped with multimodal imaging technologies, dedicated preclinical facilities, and integrated IT systems for data extraction and analysis. These resources are supported by a multidisciplinary team of medical specialists, engineers, radiographers, nurses, and project leaders.
The visit was highly productive and inspiring, laying the groundwork for continued collaboration. As a next step, a joint workshop in Stockholm will be co-organized together with Region Stockholm, the Intervention Centre (IVS) and Digital Futures in the autumn to further explore opportunities for cooperation and knowledge exchange.
For more information about the Intervention Centre, visit: https://www.ivs.no/
