The awards programme is designed to provide a platform for projects and innovations that are helping to shape future services and to showcase how AI and data tools that have been supporting health promotion, personalisation, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, interventions, and system efficiency. And we’re keen to hear about your projects!

From novel uses of data to improve care, processes or services, to AI for digital epidemiology, disease surveillance, national screening programs, preventative advice, self-management, symptoms checkers, decision support for differential diagnosis, risk stratification, prediction of deterioration, personalised treatments, communication, knowledge, saving time, optimisation of care pathways, and more – there are lot’s of ways AI and data is transforming health and care. We’re keen to hear how these technologies support health and care.

The HTN AI and Data Awards are open to all, offering different categories for your consideration, including:

• Best use of Data
• AI Solution of the Year
• Best use of AI for diagnosis, treatment and patient care
• Best use of AI for promotion, communication and prevention
• Best use of AI and data for system efficiency
• Best use of AI applications within solutions and platforms

To enter, simply select the most appropriate category for your project or programme, then provide a summary telling us about the AI or data project, the challenge it’s addressing or solution it brings to health and care, any results, and what this means to stakeholders.

To find out more click here!

Key information 

The results from the 2023 NHS Digital developer integration survey, to find out more about what developers have had to say about integrating with the NHS’s APIs, have been published. Although improving significantly in terms of overall satisfaction, findings suggest that there remain “key pain points” for software developers.

In the survey, NHS Digital asked developers to rate on a 1-to-5 point scale a number of different areas, also asking for feedback on potential improvements or changes. Those taking part in the survey were mainly from larger companies with more than 100 employees, and most of the companies that took part were in the business of commercial software development, working on solutions from patient-facing apps to GP software.

The six areas NHS Digital asked developers to rate them on were learning, design and build, testing, onboarding, help and support, and overall.

Learning – documentation and tutorials

Under this category, an average score of 3.67 was given, which it noted is an increase “from 3.1 and 2.1 in previous years”. Positive comments included “a breath of fresh air”, “on par with what we find in the private sector” and “well laid out and explained”. Suggested improvements included “multiple portals when a single one would be helpful”, “too many places to find documentation, it doesn’t seem centralised” and “hard to see what has changed when FHIR APIs change”.

Design and build integration 

NHS Digital scored an average of 3.74 under this header, up “from 3.1 and 2.4 in previous years”. Positive comments left by developers included “generally good with useable code examples” and “since the move from spine mini service to the new REST API the integration has been relatively easier”. Suggested improvements included “wasn’t an example in our chosen language, Node” and “dependence on JWT complicated integration”.

Testing

Under “testing”, NHS Digital scored an average of 3.6, up “from 3.0 and 2.3 in previous years”. Positive comments included “having integration environment APIs is great” and “included Postman collection is perfect”. Suggested improvements included “it would be good if the available test data sets were made more easily accessible” and “the call rate limit makes it really hard to test”.

Onboarding

An average score of 3.31 was generated for NHS Digital in this area, up “from 2.9 and 2.1 in previous years”. Positive comments included “digital onboarding is a HUGE improvement from the Excel documents” and “digital onboarding is much easier and allows you to make progress in stages”. Suggested improvements were “it would be very helpful to understand the requirements prior to the formal onboarding process” and “a bit too much silos between teams/departments within NHS”.

Help and support

Developers scored 3.77 on average under this heading, up “from 3.5 and 2.5 in previous years”. Positive comments included “NHS API people tend to be friendly and helpful” and “the new dev community will be a welcome addition”. Suggested improvements included “a simple video reply would be great” and “variable again. CIS2 onboarding excellent due to dedicated support team and regular meetings. MESH and PDS is still ongoing but the support does not appear as freely available”.

Overall

Finally, developers were asked to give NHS Digital an overall score, which averaged 3.78, up “from 3.0 and 2.3 in previous years”.

NHS Digital noted the general uptrend across all areas measured by the survey, but also that there remains a great deal of work to do to meet the needs of API consumers. The following areas of priority set out in response to the survey are:

• increasing the number of APIs with consistent test data
• giving developers access to API onboarding requirements upfront
• including Node coding examples
• clarifying “dependencies between APIs”

To learn more about the survey and its findings, please click here.

Researchers from Cardiff University, in collaboration with Astra Zeneca, have used artificial intelligence to create microscopic particles capable of transporting medicines to target and treat diseased cells – a process which they hope will have future applications in treating genetic and infectious diseases along with cancer.

The study made use of nanoparticles, tiny particles “that can act as microscopic shuttles to transport and deliver therapeutic molecules – medications – around the body to reach the specific site that needs a therapeutic intervention.” AI was used to design a bespoke nanoparticle to deliver a drug molecule, mRNA, to cancer cells.

Cardiff University states that the AI-designed nanoparticle was “proven to be more effective as a delivery shuttle compared with other prototypes”, and adds that the research showed how “machine learning and artificial intelligence can form an integral part of the design process for constructing more effective nano therapeutics”.

There are hopes also that the benefits of this technique could eventually become more widespread, with Professor Arwyn T Jones from Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences saying: “Whilst the nanoparticle generated through this study was within a narrow field of biomedical research, the new technique — based on computational learning and subsequent design of a new nanoparticle shuttle — was proven to be effective.  This means this new technique could be used to analyse and design thousands of different types of nanoparticles and deliver hundreds of different types of therapeutic molecules to target a very wide range of diseases.”

Noting that the process of manufacturing and testing “often hundreds” of nanoparticle designs before identifying the most useful one “can take years, the university adds: “This new method shows how AI can rapidly accelerate the development of nanoparticles.”

Professor Jones concludes: “We are continually looking for new and improved ways of delivering drugs around the human body… By taking these drug molecules to the right location in the body, the nanoparticles can help to treat several different diseases.”

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced a £36.5 million investment in healthcare technology, with £20 million to develop and test treatments and tools using advancements in quantum, robot technology and imaging, and the remaining £16.5 million going towards new digital health hubs across England.

Five projects designed to “create healthcare technologies for the future” are to receive funding, including self-propelled robot endoscopes able to “move seamlessly and carry miniature surgical lasers and powerful tissue analysis”. They are being developed by scientists at Imperial College London and it is hoped that they will be able to find and treat early gut cancer.

In another project, scientists at the University of Oxford plan to “use the exciting new development of micro bubbles as image contrasting agents which can be stimulated using the light of ultrasound”. It is hoped that this treatment could be used to manage diseases including cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and drug-resistant infections.

Elsewhere, University of Strathclyde researchers hope that using digital twins of patients to test procedures and predict outcomes will support then in adapting and personalising treatment for each patient, ultimately helping to “significantly improve patient outcomes and recovery times”.

Scientists at Imperial College London plan to “develop a portable brain imaging ultrasound tool that can diagnose and treat neurological conditions such as stroke”. They will use advanced computer modelling to remove distortions, allowing for a high resolution, high contrast image of the brain to be produced.

DigitalHealth.London has announced the latest 17 additions to be made to the Accelerator programme in 2023/24, with SMEs delivering artificial intelligence robotics, apps, remote monitoring solutions and more making the cut.

The selected SMEs have “digital solutions or services that have the highest potential to meet London’s NHS and social care challenges,” DigitalHealth.London states.

The Accelerator programmes provides tailored support over a 12-month period, including expert-led workshops and events, one-to-one advice sessions with digital health and NHS advisors, an assigned NHS Navigator with clinical or service manager expertise, and brokering of “meaningful connections” between innovators and NHS organisations facing specific challenges.

The 17 companies chosen for the programme include:

• Abtrace: an AI-based solution centred around delivering preventative and personalised care at population scale
• Aide Health: a digital health service designed helps patients and clinicians in the management of long-term conditions
• Akara: using “innovative technologies” to maximise operational efficiency through increasing room utilisation, enhancing environmental hygiene and improving environmental sustainability
• Kidney Beam (Workout Online Ltd): an online exercise, education and wellbeing platform for chronic kidney disease patients
• Bingli: an AI-based solution directing patients to the right caregiver “by asking the right questions”
• Blinx Healthcare: supporting primary care in patient identification, engagement and scheduling through PACO (Patient And Care Optimiser)
• CyberLiver Ltd: working to reduce alcohol use and maintain abstinence in individuals with established alcohol-related liver disease through AlcoChange. In addition, their solution CirrhoCare is designed to help with assisted diagnosis, recommendations and therapeutic intervention for the management of decompensated cirrhosis complications.
• Florence: an app connecting healthcare organisations to nurses and healthcare assistants looking for extra shifts
• Fruit Street Health Limited: a 12-month diabetes prevention programme, designed to help pre-diabetic individuals to lose weight and reduce risk of developing Type 2 diabetes
• Healthy.io (UK) Ltd: supporting “better, more accurate decision making” in wound management through Minuteful for Wound, a solution consisting of app, caseload management portal and business intelligence dashboard
• Hero Health: a “digital front door solution” with communication and scheduling tools to automate workload
• Hippo Labs Ltd: streamlining and automating GP proactive care processes through The Hippo Recaller, a solution designed around intelligence analysis, automated invitations and provision of “clear, consolidated lists of remaining patients who need a human touch”
• Mobilise: using digital technologies to reach unpaid carers and deliver support with the aim of equipping them with the “knowledge, skills and emotional support to create a healthy and sustainable caring situation”
• Opto Health: a digital triage and streaming platform for urgent and emergency care
• Perci Health Ltd: a digital cancer survivorship clinic, providing personalised healthcare for people living with and beyond cancer
• PMD Device Solutions Ltd: monitoring for the early detection of respiratory failure due to COPD, pneumonia, COVID and general infections through RespiraSense, a motion-tolerant respiratory rate monitor
• TestCard Ltd: providing at-home testing for UTIs, including an app which “converts a mobile phone into a clinical grade scanner to read and interpret results, providing an end-to-end test, triage and treat service”

Now its seventh year, the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator is funded by the Health Innovation Network (HIN) through the Office for Life Sciences, and by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Sara Nelson, programme director for DigitalHealth.London, comments: “We are delighted to announce the 17 digital health companies joining our seventh DigitalHealth.London Accelerator cohort. The application process for this year’s programme was extremely competitive and as such, the final 17 companies truly are the ones to watch in the digital health space. We look forward to working with them over the next year to support the NHS and social care through digital transformation.”

The Department of Health and Social Care has announced £21 million in funding for artificial intelligence technologies.

It’s intended to enable the roll-out of AI technology which, according to the announcement, will “help diagnose patients more quickly for conditions such as cancers, strokes and heart conditions”.

The announcement sets out the following key points about the funding and how it will be deployed:

• NHS Trusts will be able to bid for funding to “accelerate the deployment of the most promising AI tools across hospitals to help treat people more quickly this winter”
• The government “commits to deploying AI decision support tools in all stroke networks by the end of 2023 to help treat strokes through improved diagnosis and access to treatment”

This latest funding recognises that “access to new technologies means patients benefit enormously, with breakthroughs enabling prevention of ill-health, earlier diagnosis, more effective treatments, and faster recovery”.

Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, commented on the funding: “Artificial intelligence is already transforming the way we deliver healthcare and AI tools are already making a significant impact across the NHS in diagnosing conditions earlier, meaning people can be treated more quickly.

“As we celebrate the NHS’s 75th birthday and look ahead to the future, I’m focused on adopting the latest cutting-edge technology across our health and care system to ensure we can continue to deliver the best care for our patients and cut waiting times, which is one of the government’s five priorities.”

The announcement goes on to highlight the importance of “value for money” and a “regulatory approach” in introducing new AI-driven technologies.

The government also recently announced a new AI & Digital Regulation Service to help NHS staff find the right information and guidance when it comes to deploying AI devices safely.

To read the announcement in full, please click here.

UCL announced last week that its Global Disability Innovation Hub has successfully secured £31 million investment from UK Aid, a funding programme which is part of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

The funding announced for UCL’s Global Disability Innovation Hub will help the programme to develop its policy and practice frameworks, work towards ensuring physical and digital environments are accessible for assistive technology users, and trial a scaled version of innovation support.

It will also see the development of tools to make better use of data, build on human-computer interaction and AI, as well to develop tools to allow for more affordable and informative data sets for the second global report on assisted technologies.

Thus far, the Hub has worked on projects allowing researchers, innovators and adaptive technology users to experiment with products including eyeglasses, wheelchairs, prosthetics and digital devices. This has included accelerating new technologies and service delivery models through a pilot assistive technology impact fund, trialling market shaping techniques that have worked in other sectors, and developing new tools and training to support governments to build capacity to deliver assisted technologies.

Dr Michael Spence, UCL President and Provost, commented: “The Global Disability Innovation Hub is an immensely valuable part of UCL, enabling us to use our institutional strengths in technology, innovation, design and social research, while working alongside partners in London and across the globe, to improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities. It is excellent news that the GDI Hub has further support to continue their vital work in improving access to transformative assistive technologies.”

UK Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Tom Pursglove MP, made the announcement at the UN Disability Conference at the United Nations in New York, stating: “We know that as a global ageing population, the need for ATech is growing; and so must our efforts. If we are lucky enough to grow old, all of us will need ATech at some point in our lifetimes. This investment will redouble our efforts on Inclusive Innovation and ATech access as we approach the last six years of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

With the Global Report on Assistive Technology revealing that 2.5 billion people require one or more assistive products, and with this figure being expected to grow to more than 3.5 billion by 2050 as the global population ages, UCL’s staff are quoted as being “delighted” that the Hub has been recognised for its contribution to inclusion and equality.

The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust has announced that work has started to develop an AI-driven app to predict and prevent “patient safety incidents” for those recovering from brain injury or other brain conditions.

Recognising the challenges that these types of conditions can pose, the Northern Care Alliance’s Salford Royal Hospital is working with Decently, an information technology company, to use AI to detect challenging behaviour earlier. It is hoped that this early detection can help clinicians to prevent patients’ mental health from deteriorating.

Melo will add to existing methods used to assess agitated behaviour and to record incidents, adding a simplified data collection platform which offers smart analytics to “support clinicians in making more evidence-based care decisions”.

Initial project funding has come from the 2022/23 Salford Innovation & Improvement Fund. This has helped to create a clinical research post at the hospital, as well as to fund testing on the neurorehabilitation ward.

Decently have also been accepted onto the GM Research & Innovation Health Accelerator Programme, which will help to build on the concept to prepare it for wider adoption.

Dr Alistair Teager, Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist, is leading the work at Salford Royal, commented: “We are excited to be working with Decently to share our specialist insight, to help ensure Melo is built in the right way and ultimately that it helps clinicians make better decisions for our patients. Reduced incidents can help improve patient experiences and outcomes as well as improve working conditions for colleagues.”

With around 50 staff from the hospital sharing their experience and insights toward the pilot phase of the app, and dedicated research assistants on the ground who will be able to observe the app’s implementation first-hand, it is hoped that this project will sign-post the beginning of a better understanding of challenging behaviours exhibited by patients recovering from brain injury or other brain conditions.

The UK Research and Innovation unit has revealed a series of new digital therapeutic solutions to receive a share of £3 million in funding.

The projects feature a range of immersive technology including VR, remote touch and mobile gaming. They are intended to support conditions such as bipolar disorder, psychosis, autism, dementia and anxiety.

“Delivering therapies via VR can achieve outcomes two to three times faster than traditional treatments, can cut wait times, improve access to services, and reduce the severity of symptoms,” UKRI said.

With a budget of £20million, the Mindset programme seeks to grow the UK’s immersive digital mental health sector by “investing in projects which deliver immersive digital mental health therapeutics”. It also looks to “create a supportive ecosystem which will help companies bring these innovations to market”.

George McGinnis, Innovate UK’s UK Research and Innovation Healthy Ageing Challenge Director, said: “These new tools provide clinicians the ability to deliver a more engaging experience, improve access to care and enable those clinicians to see and treat more patients effectively. The UK has a huge talent devoted to developing immersive digital experiences and applying this to create novel solutions for mental health could be a real game-changer.”

The innovations in the programme include:

Mediprospectsai Limited

NeuroXRFitness, a game-changing AI-enabled and gamified XR technology for digital mental health using music therapy.

Good With Limited

XR cognitive defusion experience building financial wellbeing in young adults.

Neuhealth Ltd

M-Fit, improving the wellbeing and mental fitness of people and productivity of companies.

Scenegraph Studios Ltd

SpiritVR, a VR application to aid with mental health and wellbeing.

Zecora Ura Theatre

Within Touching distance, scaling empathy through patient-centred affective touch.

I2 Media Research Limited

WAVE, designing and testing ways to help people to manage cognitive, emotional and physical anxiety symptoms.

Recreo VR Ltd

The application of VR to tackle mental health issues and improve wellbeing within elderly care.

Vision 3 Ltd

TheraVR, a closed-loop mixed reality interface offering highly personalised mental health solutions.

Animorph Ltd

Staying Well XR, a wearable VR software allowing service users to explore their ‘relapse signatures’ and coping strategies with and without a therapist.

Brainspark Games Ltd

NeuroWellbeing Immersive Tech, AI-enabled, augmented reality (AR), 3D open world, immersive educational mobile games.

Elucidare Limited

Spatial Audio for Managing Mental Illness, for the detection, tracking and isolation of sound sources with no prior knowledge of their presence, number or location.

Blying Limited

An AI based platform delivering group cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in the metaverse.

Squidsoup Limited

The implementation of the mixed reality submergence technology as a complimentary therapeutic mental healthcare solution.

Get Cerebral Limited

The Sandbox, VR internet-based CBT for children and young people in south Staffordshire.

Virtualspeech Ltd

Overcoming social anxiety through immersion in VR.

Chaotic Order Ltd

Hark, a VR based interactive narrative game and meditation app hybrid to help manage digital addiction in young people.

Tycho Medlink Limited

A VR software for people with seasonal affective disorders to improve their quality of life.

Play Well for Life Ltd

Using AR and AI-driven analytics to personalise wellbeing content in a social board game context.

XR Therapeutics Limited

A new VR platform for accessible treatment of phobias and anxiety.

Cineon Training Limited

Improving Service Access using Virtual Exposure (iSAVE)

We are Anagram Limited

Inside Mental Health, an immersive training tool for staff and clinicians that represents the experience of mental health issues in a way which has shown to have an impact on their empathy to patients.

Syncvr Medical UK Ltd

A VR application to aid self-management of people awaiting treatment for mental health conditions or symptoms.

Rescape Innovation Limited

VR-MELODY, utilising music and AI to advance DR.VR(TM) and co-create a personalised VR solution to reduce anxiety and build mental resilience in adults.

Oxford Dynamics Limited

Empathy-XR, an immersive AI-based tool for mental health wellbeing.

Phase Space Ltd

VR hypnotherapy as an early intervention for anxiety in students and young people.

Insideout 25 Limited

InsideOut XR, using AR and VR for psychoeducation and mindfulness-based intervention self-help tools.

Pixelmill Ltd

Planet WellBeing, using extended reality to improve mental health and reduce loneliness.

Care Reality Limited

Virtual Choirs in Care Homes, a networked XR therapeutic singing intervention to improve mental health.

Cocoon Wellbeing Limited

Mentis, building an AR or VR digital service delivered through a smartphone that incorporates state-of-the-art cognitive-behavioural science and neuroscience.

To learn more about the funded projects, please click here.

A new study published last month has put forward a new framework intended specifically for assessing evidence from digital health interventions (DHIs).

The research entitled ‘rigorous and rapid evidence assessment in digital health with the evidence DEFINED framework’, was published by npj Digital Medicine, proposing a framework to assess Evidence in Digital health for Effectiveness of Interventions with Evaluative Depth (Evidence DEFINED).

Noting “limitations of existing frameworks for digital health-specific interventions”, the authors put forward an alternative which is based around evidence considerations which are unique to digital health interventions. They intend for the development of this kind of framework to promote the adoption of digital health interventions by allowing rigorous assessment of evidence in a more standardised manner.

“The primary goals of Evidence DEFINED are to a) facilitate standardised, rapid, rigorous DHI evidence assessment in organisations and b) guide digital health solutions providers who wish to generate evidence that drives DHI adoption.”

Although the article stopped short of a comprehensive scoping review, it did present a preliminary catalogue of existing frameworks. The paper added that: “Seventy-eight prior frameworks were identified. Some of these may be useful, though many prior frameworks are underdeveloped in the key domain of clinical outcomes assessment. Prior DHI evidence assessment frameworks are typically sections of broader DHI assessment guides, often containing just a few, superficial questions, with minimal evaluation of evidence quality or bias.”

The authors also noted a gap in “evaluation methodologies that were developed for non-digital interventions”. The Evidence DEFINED framework incorporates established evidence assessment methodologies, rather than attempting to “reinvent the wheel”.

Specifically, Evidence DEFINED offers a supplementary checklist of evidence quality criteria which are recommended for DHI evidence assessments. This includes evidence quality criteria that are unique to digital health, “as well as evidence quality considerations that may require enhanced vigilance for assessment of digital health interventions”.

The authors noted that a DHI assessment should address a number of factors in assessing clinical evidence, including patient experience, product design, and code effectiveness. Data governance and digital health equity are two other important domains, ensuring that care is taken over patient data, and that digital literacy is at a level to support DHI assessment.

The framework recognises the need for rapid assessment, first using screening items to determine whether a DHI meets a series of absolute requirements, before moving on to a streamlined approach briefly outlined below.

Step one of the framework is screening for failure to meet absolute requirements; step two is applying an established evidence assessment framework that was developed for non-digital interventions; step three is applying the Evidence DEFINED supplementary checklist to address evidence quality considerations unique to digital health interventions; and step four is making actionable and defensible recommendations around levels of appropriate adoption.