AI to improve stroke care at Barking, Havering and Redbridge

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust is improving its response to stroke care with the launch of new software which uses artificial intelligence. 

The Brainomix software acts as a second opinion by analysing CT images of the brain and blood vessels, and automatically highlighting blocked blood vessels to indicate possible areas of damage.

It also means stroke teams will be able to easily share scanned images to aid rapid diagnosis and support clinical decisions and treatments.

Amanda Martin, stroke co-clinical lead at the trust, said: “At a local level, this decision support tool will help us to speed up diagnosis and therefore patient care in a simple and safe way… we are hoping that the implementation of Brainomix will support the highly specialised thrombectomy pathway, facilitating the timely transfer of those eligible for treatment to the trust.”

The AI technology can be used as a mobile app, meaning clinical decisions can be made swiftly and from anywhere.

It will also connect the trust’s stroke team with colleagues at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Barts Health NHS Trust and provide a 24/7 service. This ensures clinical information is reviewed quickly to enable faster patient transfers and improve patient outcomes.

The use of artificial intelligence across healthcare is growing and most recently, the government announced it was pledging £36million for AI projects to help “revolutionise” care and diagnostics in the NHS.

Some 38 artificial intelligence (AI) projects are set to benefit from the funding as part of the NHS AI Lab’s £140m AI in health and care award.

The new technology includes a tool to help doctors and nurses diagnose heart attacks more accurately; an algorithm to fast-track lung cancer detection; a mental health app to help tackle anxiety and depression; and technology to spot undiagnosed spinal fractures.