"Game changing" software set to save lives in Plymouth
Derriford Hospital has joined a multi-centred regional assessment to use a software to help stroke patients
Artificial intelligence is set to save lives at Derriford Hospital.
The team at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) has joined a multi-centred regional assessment to use Brainomix software to help stroke patients and save lives.
This gives stroke teams "vital extra minutes" to treat patients and ensure the best possible outcomes.
UHP (working in collaboration with other trusts in Devon and Cornwall) is one of five networks in the UK within this programme of works.
Every year, around 100,000 people in the UK suffer a stroke and Brainomix software uses artificial intelligence to interpret scans and identify the right treatment, faster.
Having heard about the advances in artificially intelligent software for identifying stroke patients, the team at UHP discovered Brainomix and investigated funding for a trial.
As part of the prestigious national AI in Health & Care Award, the project will be funded for three years by NHSX.
"Brainomix is game changing. Its real strength, for me, is how quickly it identifies patients from all over Devon and Cornwall who will benefit from a potentially life-saving thrombectomy."
Dr William Mukonoweshuro - Lead Consultant
A thrombectomy is where a blood clot is removed by pushing a flexible tube along an artery. The clot is then pulled out with a special device. Not all patients who have a stroke are able to have a thrombectomy, but when it is possible the outcomes can be spectacular with many patients able to make a full recovery.
Teams say time is "critical", with patients standing the greatest chance of returning to normal if they are treated within three hours of the stroke.
In an area such as Devon and Cornwall, where patients may need to travel many miles to get to the team at Derriford, teams say the ability to cut the time between having a scan and being sent for treatment can make all the difference.
The Brainomix software can flag patients on the system in less than a minute where previously it might have taken 20 minutes or more. It also helps to standardise care by objectively analysing the data and ensuring all patients who could benefit are identified early.
Last year, the dynamic team at UHP that includes specialist nurses, radiographers and anaesthetists as well as radiologists doubled the number of thrombectomy procedures to 90 and expects to double this yet again this year to around 180.
Eventually, it is hoped that around 300 patients a year in Devon and Cornwall could benefit from this intervention. To this end, the team has processed over 400 scans on the Brainomix software since January 2021, including patients from Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust as well as UHP.