University Hospitals Plymouth trials AI software for stroke treatment

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) is trialling Brainomix software thanks to funding through provided by the national AI in Health and Care Award.

Brainomix AI software will be used to interpret scans and identify the most appropriate stroke treatment for patients.

When it comes to stroke care time really is of the essence, with the best outcomes achieved if patients can be treated within three hours of the stroke. The use of Brainomix means patients can be flagged on the system in under a minute, a significant reduction from the 20 minutes or more that traditional methods can take.

Additionally by analysing the data it receives objectively, Brainomix is helping to standardise care and identify those patients who would benefit from interventions such as a thrombectomy [removal of a blood clot].

Lead consultant at the trust, Dr Willian Mukonoweshuro, said the software “is game changing”.

The trust has been awarded funding for the software for the next three years via NHSX’s AI in Health and Care Award – a programme which involves £140million being made available over four years to accelerate the testing and evaluation of technologies most likely to meet the aims set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Riaz Rahman, VP healthcare global, Brainomix, added: “From the outset of working with the clinical team at UHP, it was self-evident that our priorities were closely aligned.

“Our ambition is to provide a world class stroke AI platform that provides instantaneous clinical information to inform treatment. We understand and recognise that every minute matters for a stroke patient. The team at UHP can now simultaneously view images with their associated referring centres to ensure every eligible patient for treatment is identified as soon as possible.”

The software is already being used elsewhere, including Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital.