AETHERIA evolves: from the end of the ‘labyrinth’ to a connected medical record
Every day, the healthcare sector generates an enormous amount of information, yet a large part of this flow remains trapped in a mosaic of reports, images, diagnostic tests, systems and centres that do not always communicate with one another. It is in this context that AETHERIA, the project driven by Izertis, was created to tackle one of the sector’s major challenges: enabling clinical data to be brought together, interpreted and shared in a secure, interoperable and genuinely useful way for both patients and professionals.
Supported by artificial intelligence, data standardisation and Health Data Spaces, the platform proposes a new way of managing medical information: more connected, more agile and more closely aligned with the real needs of the healthcare system. The goal goes beyond organising fragmented records; it is about transforming this volume of information into actionable knowledge, available when needed and under the control of those who generate it.
Barriers to connected medical information
A person’s healthcare journey is typically shaped by multiple interactions with the system: hospital changes, consultations in both public and private centres, tests carried out in external laboratories, care received in another autonomous region or even in other countries. Each of these interactions leaves an informational footprint which, too often, is not properly integrated with the rest.
The result is a fragmented medical record, built from PDF reports, images, scattered notes or databases that do not always “communicate” with one another, forcing professionals to spend time reconstructing a complete view of the patient.
Fragmentation in the healthcare system complicates care and introduces inefficiencies
When information is not immediately available in a structured format, the likelihood of repeated tests increases, clinical context may be lost and decisions may be made based on partial information.
All of this takes place in a sector already under pressure, where rising demand, an ageing population and increasing case complexity make it more essential than ever to have tools that reduce administrative burden and allow more time for high-quality care.
AI and standardised data to better harness information
AETHERIA is built around this need, proposing a solution based on two key capabilities: converting medical information into a standardised format and equipping it with intelligence so it can be more easily queried, interpreted and reused.
In this context, the application of the HL7 FHIR standard makes it possible to transform heterogeneous clinical documents into structured data that can be understood by automated systems, facilitating both data exchange and subsequent use. This represents a significant shift, moving beyond a purely document-based model and opening the door to an environment where information can flow more efficiently and accurately across different stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem.
On top of this standardisation layer, artificial intelligence adds further value by enabling a more dynamic relationship with the data. It is not just about organising information, but about making it more accessible and usable in real time.
AI models and conversational agents enable going one step further
Through AI models and conversational agents, AETHERIA enables scenarios in which a professional can quickly check allergies, review treatment progress, locate specific results within extensive records or generate clinically useful summaries on demand.
At the same time, these capabilities open the door to more advanced applications, such as pattern detection, decision support and the generation of clinical hypotheses to better guide care.
Shared data, key to connecting healthcare
While standardisation has the potential to solve many challenges, it does not address the underlying issue on its own. For medical information to circulate securely between organisations, a framework is needed that guarantees traceability, control and regulatory compliance. This is where Health Data Spaces become central, conceived as collaborative environments in which hospitals, research centres, public administrations and other stakeholders can share information under common governance rules.
AETHERIA aligns with this approach through connectors designed to operate within these environments, leveraging technologies such as Eclipse DataSpaces to ensure that data flows are interoperable, secure and verifiable.
Izertis has recently joined the OHSIRIS data space
This approach is particularly relevant in healthcare, where trust in data handling is as important as the technical capability to process it.
In this context, initiatives such as OHSIRIS, led by FISEVI and recently joined by Izertis, reinforce the vision of an ecosystem in which data is no longer isolated but becomes a shared infrastructure serving better care.
AETHERIA reaches technological maturity
After months of work, AETHERIA has reached a level of development that allows us to begin evaluating not only its technical viability but also its transformative potential. The standardization of clinical information is now an operational reality, chatbots and AI models are being tested on structured data, and connectors for Data Spaces are being used to validate data exchange in environments increasingly close to real-world scenarios.
All of this confirms that AETHERIA is moving in the right direction: towards a healthcare model in which clinical data is no longer a collection of scattered documents but a useful, interoperable and governed asset. A model in which patients gain greater control over their information, professionals have better context to make informed decisions, and the healthcare system improves its coordination, efficiency and responsiveness.
AETHERIA is already in the technological maturity phase after months of work
Public support and innovation drive
AETHERIA is funded by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, and by the European Union – Next Generation EU, within the framework of the 2024 call for aid for technological products and services for data spaces.
With a total budget of €894,434 and an execution period until June 2026, the project reinforces Izertis' positioning as a reference in the development of AI solutions applied to healthcare, in collaboration with TECNALIA as a subcontracted entity.