“During the internship I expanded my knowledge of Artificial Intelligence and found out about explainability in detail”

Mariona Quintana, 22 years old, has worked for 8 months with the Artificial Intelligence team at the TIC Salut Social Foundation, as a curricular internship and to produce her final dissertation in the biomedical engineering degree course at the Polytechnic University of Barcelona

A few days ago, the university notified her of her dissertation mark: a 10 with a proposal to be granted the highest distinction! We spoke to her to learn more about her work, motivation and next professional steps.  

What was your dissertation about?
The work consisted of carrying out a study on the application of various explainability techniques to an Artificial Intelligence algorithm based on medical images. It started with a model trained on a dataset of chest X-rays of babies aged one to five years. The purpose of the algorithm was to detect pneumonia. The explainability methods were then implemented to perform a parameterisation to optimise the results and, finally, a comparison between the different methods.

What motivated you to specialise in the field of Artificial Intelligence?
The project arose from carrying out a curricular internship at the TIC Salut Social Foundation, in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Department, where I was carrying out tasks within the context of AI. But my main task focussed on supporting the definition of the most appropriate methodologies for the explainability of AI solutions in the health environment. Through this work I learned about this area and that is when my great interest arose. This gave me the opportunity to put into practice all the knowledge I had acquired during my stay by producing the thesis with their collaboration.

How was your experience at the TIC Salut Social Foundation?
My experience at the TIC Salut Social Foundation has been very enriching. During the internship I expanded my knowledge of Artificial Intelligence and found out about explainability in detail. At all times I had the support of my colleagues and they helped me with whatever I needed, both when working face to face and teleworking. During the second part of my internship, when I was producing my dissertation, I was constantly supported by my two tutors at the foundation. Every week we reviewed the work done and tried to solve the problems that arose. I felt that the work I was doing was highly valued and I am very glad I had the opportunity to work in a professional environment while I was producing my dissertation.

What new path are you starting now?
The project has allowed me to discover the world of medical imaging and all the potential it has in the field of health. So next year I will start the Master’s Degree in Medical Image Computing (MIC) at the University of Girona (UdG). It offers high-quality education in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and software development for computer-aided diagnosis in medical settings. It also provides an introduction to robotic applications in this environment.