Peter van Ooijen

Presentation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping the landscape of healthcare, particularly in radiation oncology, where it offers both promising advancements and notable challenges. On the positive side, AI enhances diagnostic accuracy by analyzing medical images with high precision, often matching or surpassing human performance. It streamlines workflows by automating routine tasks, accelerates image interpretation, and supports personalized treatment planning by integrating diverse data sources such as imaging, genomics, and clinical records. These capabilities not only improve patient outcomes but also reduce clinician workload and healthcare costs. However, the integration of AI is not without concerns. Many AI systems operate as opaque “black boxes,” making their decision-making processes difficult to interpret. There are also issues related to data privacy, potential biases in training datasets, and the risk of perpetuating healthcare disparities. Furthermore, the clinical reliability of AI tools remains under scrutiny, with some models demonstrating only moderate accuracy in complex medical scenarios. Regulatory uncertainty and ethical considerations further complicate the adoption of AI in clinical practice. As such, while AI holds transformative potential in radiation oncology, its implementation must be approached with careful validation, transparency, and a strong ethical framework.

Bio
Peter van Ooijen is a professor of AI in Radiotherapy at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). With a background in technical computer science from Delft University of Technology and a PhD from the University of Groningen, his research focuses on applying machine learning and deep learning in medical imaging. He leads innovative projects in AI and radiotherapy. Besides his work in the field of Radiotherapy he is also the Machine Learning Lab Coordinator at the Data Science Center in Health (DASH), Content expert of the Digital Healhcare Education team and Theme coordinator “Digital Healthcare” at the Jantina Tammes School of Digital Society, Technology, and AI of the University of Groningen.