Isansys Wins Two SBRI Healthcare Development Contracts

Isansys Lifecare Limited has announced that it has won two SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative) Healthcare contracts. Granted as part of NHS England’s initiative to enhance the adoption of innovative devices and new technologies, the contracts have been signed with Papworth NHS Trust (Cambridge, UK) for Isansys to expand the functionality and applications of its CE-marked Patient Status Engine (PSE) in two theme areas- patient safety and cancer.

Isansys is currently working with a number of hospitals and healthcare service providers to deliver patient monitoring services and patient status solutions based on the PSE platform.

The SBRI Healthcare awards are designed to address critical high cost areas of healthcare where the NHS has identified patient and clinician needs that are not being met. Isansys’ successful proposals have been inspired by requests from UK clinicians and nurses who have identified opportunities to extend the applications of the Patient Status Engine and realize new methods for aiding discovery and treatment.

“Every patient monitored” is the ethos behind Isansys’ SBRI Healthcare contract for improving patient safety. Through the SBRI, the NHS has contracted Isansys to re-develop and cost-reduce a number of third-party devices to be used in conjunction with the Patient Status Engine.

Applying the same low-cost and lean-design principles embodied in the company’s already successful Lifetouch™ wearable wireless cardiac monitor, Isansys will produce an integrated suite of low-cost wireless vital signs sensors that will provide new insights into the status of a patient by providing automatic data collection of five vital signs.

Combined with a bedside display and data entry screen for manual input (for example, Glasgow Coma Scales), the Patient Status Engine reimagines the way patients are monitored in, and out of, hospital. Through the economies of scale and new consumer-driven technologies, the Isansys platform will enable all patients to be monitored where and whenever needed.

For its SBRI Healthcare development contract to reduce risk in cancer patients, Isansys will reconfigure its Patients Status Engine for home use in order to monitor and analyze subtle variations in vital signs that are early warning signs of sepsis - a potentially life-threatening condition. Patients who have undergone chemotherapy face a difficult and anxious few weeks at home immediately following their treatment, many of whom could unknowingly deteriorate with sepsis.

Using multiple data streams from wireless vital sign sensors, the project team will develop a unique algorithm that will enable the detection of sepsis much earlier within the 72-hour critical period, facilitating easier, cheaper and less traumatic intervention. The Patient Status Engine allows the patients’ care teams to have remote 24/7 access to their vital sign data and early warning indicators, and also provides a communication channel to patients for real time feedback and support. This virtual “comfort blanket” will bring peace of mind and allow patients to more confidently engage in their recovery and rehabilitation programmes. By monitoring 20,000 at-risk chemotherapy patients, Isansys estimates that this solution would prevent a large number of deaths and achieve a saving of £70 million annually for the NHS.

Speaking about the announcement, co-founder of Isansys Rebecca Weir said: “Receiving these awards is a real endorsement from the NHS, and the decision makers within the NHS, of our platform solution. Whilst already in use in a number of clinical environments, the Patient Status Engine platform has the capacity to be adapted into a range of applications. We are thrilled to be exploring these with the aid of the NHS and SBRI Healthcare.”

Funded by NHS England, the Small Business Research Initiative for Healthcare (SBRI Healthcare) seeks to explore new alternatives to current known practice, with the intention of addressing ongoing difficulties in the healthcare system. The development contracts cover a six month period, to prove feasibility before being expanded to full development and delivery contracts of 18 months.