AI technology developed in Oxfordshire speeds up stroke care and reduces costs

Published by

Nicky Godding

Clinicians are making swift, accurate decisions around stroke care thanks to AI-enabled imaging software.

The technology enables high quality CT brain scans to be shared securely and read anywhere – overcoming disruption to services caused by Covid-19. It delivers benefits to patients and reduces health and social care costs.

The CE-marked e-Stroke Suite software was developed by Oxford-based Brainomix and implemented at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBH) in Reading. Backed by NHS England, the Oxford AHSN is supporting wider rollout across 30 sites in the South East of England and will evaluate its impact.

The system supports clinical decision-making by helping physicians to quickly and accurately identify patients most likely to benefit from specific interventions, such as thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy. It also facilitates new ways of working – a key benefit during the Covid-19 pandemic which has caused sudden changes to normal service provision.

Dr Guy Rooney, the Oxford AHSN’s Medical Director, said: “The e-Stroke Suite is a valuable resource in a world disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. It aids clinical decision-making by facilitating the rapid and secure transfer of high quality images to new settings, speeding up accurate diagnosis and treatment related to stroke.”

Dr Kiruba Nagaratnam, Clinical Lead for Stroke Medicine at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Using Brainomix’s AI-driven imaging support software I can now see the images within two minutes of them being processed. I can look at the scans and give advice immediately on treatment.”

The Oxford AHSN, Brainomix and RBH are partners in the National Consortium of Intelligent Medical Imaging (NCIMI), a new network including NHS hospitals, clinical leaders, industry experts in AI and medical imaging and world-leading researchers.

This work complements a wider stroke programme led by the Oxford AHSN Clinical Innovation Adoption team.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.