Milan, Italy – November 15- 16, 2025 – The Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) made a significant impact at the joint ESC Heart & Stroke 2025 – EuroThrombosis 2025 congress, held on November 15–16 at the University of Milan (Milan, IT). The event was highly insightful and well-organized, bringing together a large international community of clinicians, researchers, and industry experts. Attendance was robust throughout the sessions and poster exhibitions, creating an engaging and dynamic atmosphere that fostered active discussion and knowledge exchange. 

URV was represented by its Intelligent Robotics and Computer Vision (IRCV) lab, a research group of the Department of Computer Science and Mathematics under the guidance of Professor Domenec Puig. URV unveiled a fully automated multimodal MRI pipeline titled “Automated Multimodal MRI with Residual 3D U-Net, Corticospinal Tract Segmentation, and Machine Learning for Predicting Functional Outcome after Ischemic Stroke”. The pipeline focuses on predicting post-stroke functional outcomes, such as the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), using routinely acquired single-shell MRI scans, avoiding the need for advanced diffusion sequences. 

The results presented at the congress demonstrated several key advancements: 

• Integrated Lesion and Tract Analysis: The system combines lesion segmentation with corticospinal tract (CST) evaluation, capturing radiomic, morphological, and tract-based biomarkers that were previously underexplored. 

• Clinically Meaningful Accuracy: Prediction performance exceeded the 75% threshold considered meaningful for clinical application. 

• Interpretability and Transparency: The pipeline produces biomarkers linking lesion and CST damage to patient outcomes, supporting personalized rehabilitation planning and prognosis communication. 

• Clinical Readiness: Designed for routine MRI, the tool is practical, explainable, and ready for multi-center validation and integration into standard clinical workflows. 

The results indicate that AI-driven MRI analysis can provide reliable, interpretable predictions of functional recovery after ischemic stroke, offering a practical tool to guide therapy and rehabilitation decisions. 

“There was a notable level of interest in our poster and the broader TARGET project. Several participants approached me with questions regarding the study’s methodology, preliminary findings, and the potential implications for clinical practice.” said Daniyal Iqbal, TARGET partner from the URV.  A few attendees also expressed enthusiasm for the TARGET project’s future directions and the practical use of its tools. “Overall, the engagement was very encouraging and highlighted the strong relevance of the project.”, concludes. 

URV’s participation at ESC Heart & Stroke 2025 highlights its commitment to advancing cardiovascular and neurological health through the intersection of computer vision, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Their work aligns closely with the congress theme, promoting innovations that can be translated into real-world clinical impact.