A £36.5 million investment in healthcare technology will transform the way patients are treated for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.
Funding of £20 million will support scientists to develop and test innovative medical treatments and diagnostic tools using the latest advances in quantum, robot technology and imaging.
A further investment of £16.5 million in new digital health hubs across England will promote knowledge and skills sharing across a range of partners including:
- the NHS
- social care providers
- universities
- businesses
New healthcare technologies
Five projects will create healthcare technologies for the future supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with £2 million funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC).
They will develop:
Self-propelled robot endoscopes
Endoscopes are tube shaped instruments that can film procedures inside the body.
Self-propelled robot endoscopes, being developed by scientists at Imperial College London, aim to move seamlessly and carry miniature surgical lasers and powerful tissue analysis.
This one-stop device will have ability to find and treat early gut cancer, reducing the need for further surgery.
An innovative way of managing diseases using low intensity ultrasound
Scientists at the University of Oxford will use the exciting new development of microbubbles as image contrasting agents which can be stimulated using the light of ultrasound.
The treatment could be used to manage diseases such as:
- cancer
- stroke
- Alzheimer’s disease
- drug resistant infections
Digital twin assisted surgery
Digital twins, or exact computer models, of patients will be used by doctors to test procedures and predict outcomes, enabling doctors to adapt and personalise the treatment for each patient.
University of Strathclyde researchers believe this will significantly improve patient outcomes and recovery times.
Portable brain imaging for stroke patients
Scientists at Imperial College London will develop a portable brain imaging ultrasound tool that can diagnose and treat neurological conditions such as stroke.
The technology uses advanced computer modelling to remove distortions producing a high resolution, high contrast image of the brain.
It will enable ultrasound to be used successfully for the first time.
Computer engineered models of leukaemia to better predict the disease and improve drug screening pathways
Scientists at the University of Glasgow will develop a way of detecting leukaemia many years before cells become malignant.
They will use developments in the field of methanobiology, the process of detecting very early cellular changes in the body.
Digital health hubs
A further £16.5 million will support new digital health hubs across England that will drive the development of innovative digital technologies for healthcare.
They will promote knowledge and skills sharing across healthcare, academia and business, and drive innovation in digital health.
The hubs will be led by the universities of:
- Bristol
- Newcastle
- Sheffield
- University College London
- King’s College London
They will focus on five key healthcare challenges:
- antimicrobial resistance
- health and care outside hospital and disease prediction, diagnosis and intervention
- tackling health inequalities by developing digital healthcare technologies to the point of use in the NHS
- addressing the unmet health needs of underserved communities, and digital exclusion
- development of digital technologies such as symptom tracking apps or wearable devices to improve health
Investing in new technologies
Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director of Cross-Council Programmes at EPSRC, said:
The projects and hubs announced today will deliver a variety of innovative approaches to improve healthcare outcomes for patients.
This investment will support scientists and engineers who are transforming the way we treat and diagnose diseases by using the latest developments in robotics, computer modelling and imaging.