#MayTheFourthBeWithYou - These ARE the droids you’re looking for
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust may not have R2D2 or C3PO but Star Wars Day is an appropriate time to look how the Trust is utilising the latest in robotics and artificial intelligence to improve the quality of service patients receive at our hospitals. Here are a few examples of what NUH are doing:
Consultant on wheels
HCOP have been trialling one of the UK’s first remote Consultant on Wheels – introducing modern technology into older person wards. This piece of equipment can help improve patient/consultant interaction in times of consultant self-isolation or short staffing, whilst also supporting the Junior Doctors on the ward virtually. Praminda Caleb-Solly, Professor of Embodied Intelligence from the University of Nottingham and Robotics for Good CIC, has developed the Remote Consultant on Wheels (Robotics4Good).
£1.7M funding to ‘digitally revolutionise’ maternity services
Mums-to-be in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire will be able to access their maternity records on their smart phones thanks to funding which is set to ‘digitally revolutionise’ maternity services in the county. As part of national funding from NHSX and the United Tech Fund, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and Sherwood Forest Hospitals have been awarded £1.7 million after a successful bid by the Local Maternity and Neo Natal System (LMNS) to help support digital improvements across its maternity services.
Robotic cancer surgery
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has invested £3.5 million in two state of the art robotic surgery machines to be used for cancer surgery in Nottingham. The expansion will see the number of robotically trained surgeons increase from 8 to 21 over the coming months and years and will enable more procedures to take place using the new machines, particularly focusing on patients who require cancer surgery. This will enable surgeons who specialise in different cancers, such as oesohageal and throat cancer, to start undertaking robotic procedures. This is in addition to the established services, which include Urology, Colorectal, Gynaecology and Thoracic Surgery. Both robotic machines have arrived and staff will start their training on the new robots shortly.
World-first test into ‘sci-fi like’ artificial pancreases
Almost 1,000 adults and children with type 1 diabetes - including some patients at Nottingham University Hospitals - have been given a potentially life-altering ‘artificial pancreas’ by the NHS in England as part of the first nationwide test into the effectiveness of this technology in the world. The innovative ‘hybrid closed loop technology’, continually monitors blood glucose and automatically adjusts the amount of insulin given through a pump. It can eliminate finger prick tests and prevent life-threatening hypoglycaemic and hyperglycaemia attacks, which can lead to seizures, coma or even death for people living with type 1 diabetes.
Multi-million pound AI tool detects lung cancer faster
Nottingham is one of seven NHS Trusts piloting a multi-million pound artificial intelligence project, which detects lung cancer faster. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the UK, accounting for 18% of all cancer deaths in any one year. Early, accurate and fast diagnosis is critical to improve outcomes. If diagnosed at an early stage, about 80% of people in the UK will survive for five years or more, compared with only a few when the disease is at the latest stage. Currently, around 65% of UK lung cancer cases are diagnosed at a late stage.