(Photo: Max Lautenschläger / Stiftung Jugend forscht e V. , from Der Spiegel)

The winners of the national competition were honoured at a ceremony held in Bremen, where more than 170 young talents from across Germany presented their research projects over the course of four days. The theme of the competition was "Make ideas big!" and encompassed diverse subjects ranging from environmental protection to medicine. 

Auer's exceptional work earned him the Federal President's Prize. His innovative ECG concept revolutionizes patient care by reducing the number of electrodes required from 10 to just 4. Auer's solution employs neural networks to reconstruct data, enabling a complete cardiogram to be generated using only six of the original twelve measuring channels. This eliminates the need for the six chest wall electrodes, reducing the application time to just 20 seconds instead of the previous 300 seconds. The project has received support from the Helmholtz AI consulting team for matter at HZDR since the summer of 2022, assisting with model design, science communication, and infrastructure management. 

The significance of Auer's work is magnified by the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, which account for approximately 340,000 deaths in Germany each year.  The new approach is more robust, accommodating patient movement, and offers cost-effectiveness, considering the reduced device requirements. Ultimately, it has the potential to save lives by facilitating timely and accurate diagnoses. Auer’s innovative ECG concept showcases the transformative potential of AI in improving patient care.