20.05.14
Kidney care receives innovation boost
The winners of a £3.6m funding competition to address the life-changing effects of kidney failure have been announced.
The competition, launched last year, was funded by the Department of Health via SBRI Healthcare, whose chief executive Karen Livingstone was recently interviewed by NHE.
There were 14 winners in the competition, which was managed by the National Institute for Health Research Devices for Dignity Healthcare Technology Co-operative (NIHR Devices for Dignity HTC), hosted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
End-stage renal failure affects only 0.05% of the population but takes up 1-2% of the annual NHS budget. There are 41,000 patients across England being treated for kidney failure.
The competition was aimed at finding innovation to diagnose kidney disease earlier, and to improve treatment and independence for those already living with it.
Health minister Lord Howe said: “This will also build on Britain’s reputation as a world leader in science, research and development. I look forward to learning more about the progress and success of this initiative now that these winners have been announced.”
David Coyle, who has had kidney disease for more than 25 years, was a judge for the competition. He said: “I was delighted to be asked to use my kidney patient knowledge and experience as a judge on the D4D selection panel to identify innovative ideas to use technology to benefit patients.
“The competition has produced some truly excellent technology initiatives which, I believe, will greatly transform patient welfare and facilitate greater independence. D4D has found a winning formula to leverage technology for the benefit of patients at every stage of renal disease.”
The winners of the SBRI competition are:
- University of Cambridge and SensorHut Ltd - development of an innovative sensor that can detect early AKI by sensing volatile molecules in the urine, at the bedside.
- Helier Scientific Ltd - development of a sensitive test for urinary K-Cadherin, a marker of kidney disease progression in patients with diabetes
- Jasmine Media Productions LLP - a virtual 4D technology to increase patient confidence towards vascular access cannulation and promote self-care and home haemodialysis treatment options
- Patientrack Limited and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust – automated information technology system to calculate risk and alert clinical teams
- DocCom Careflow (tm)- ensuring faster treatment of Acute Kidney Injury using secure messaging to deliver alerts to clinicians in real time and then enabling instant, mobile cross team referrals and conversation
- UK Renal Data Collaboration-– delivering patient results in real time and modules to allow patients to flag up mistakes and changes in their medical records
- East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust - a telemedicine platform to reduce patient hospital attendance
- IF Sensing Ltd - a device for monitoring renal function at home using interstitial fluid allowing out of hospital monitoring of kidney function
- Atlantis Healthcare - an online support programme using coping exercises to improve self-management in order to delay disease progression and aid shared decision-making around dialysis in order to reduce distress and decisional conflict
- Randox Laboratories Ltd - a test for Aminoacylase-1, a biosensor for early transplant function
- University of Leeds - an immunoabsorption system for patients due to have blood group incompatible transplants and can be used simultaneously with haemodialysis, reducing treatment time and time spent in hospital.
- Microsensor Limited - infection sensors that can be incorporated into existing peritoneal dialysis products
- Frazer-Nash Consultancy Ltd – modelling the ‘dialysis day’ with the aim of minimising delays in haemodialysis patient treatment
- 365 Response Ltd - a booking app for transport, one key factor for delays in haemodialysis treatment
Visit: www.devicesfordignity.org.uk
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