June 8, 2023 - Med-Tech Innovation Conference, Birmingham, UK - Keynote report

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The Med-Tech Innovation Conference began its second day with a keynote ‘fireside chat’ between Dr Paul Bhogal, Consultant Interventional Neuroradiologist at the Royal London Hospital, a centre within the Bart’s NHS Trust, and Gianluca Casali, Senior Medical Director at Ethicon Inc., which is part of the Johnson & Johnson group.

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Bhogal is a pioneer in the exploration of applying AI-enabled imaging technology to improve the NHS’ stroke care pathway, and in particular the use of a mechanical thrombectomy technique for the rapid intervention of serious strokes.

Bart’s NHS Trust sits at the centre of the Brainomix’s e-Stroke platform which links the Royal London Hospital with regional sites which refer into it ­– including the Colchester Hospital, Darent Valley Hospital, Maidstone Hospital, Kent & Canterbury Hospital, Ipswich Hospital, and Peterborough Hospital.

“It is essential to get imaging done fast and we have the assistance of AI integration with Brainomix. It allows a consultant to see images on their phone at any location,” said Bhogal.

Brainomix’s e-Stroke system enables fast, effective and accurate analysis of images. It is a ”decision support tool,” said Bhogal. The pathway still requires the skills of a radiologist that performs a contrast CT on the patient presenting with suspected stroke.

“We’re always looking at patient pathways and trying to make a series of one per cent incremental gains,” said Bhogal.

“Reduction of the DIDO time is a major factor in success,” of improving patient outcomes. DIDO is the ‘door-in, door-out’ time between the local hospital and the specialist hub at the Royal London and it is essential to triage patients for surgical intervention as fast as possible.

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Use of the Brainomix AI system has been shown to reduce the DIDO time by a statistically significant amount – on average – cutting the time by around an hour.

But success for the stroke patient still requires the wider multidisciplinary team to continue to work well together, explained Bhogul.

“It’s a question of process optimisation.”

Bhogul went on to explain that, in his experience, partnering with industry has led to the avoidance of the silos that can pop-up in NHS – perhaps simply because of different geographical areas – because industry partners offer cross-discipline application and development of existing solutions.

The Bart’s regional specialism network for interventional neuroradiology and stroke thrombectomy was set up during the COVID-19 pandemic with low minimal capital expenditure.

“Where there is a problem, there is an opportunity,” concluded Bhogal.