Seven innovations that support stroke patients have been awarded a share of £5 million, through a funding programme led by The Accelerated Access Collaborative and SBRI Healthcare, in collaboration with the Stroke Association.
The programme focuses on using digital solutions to address challenges around pre-hospital diagnosis, rehabilitation, and life after stroke.
Initially funding supported the projects for six months last year, where the innovations demonstrated technical feasibility and impact. This second phase of funding aims to provide the innovations with support for up to 12 months, to help further their development, evaluation and implementation.
Innovations in the programme include a home-based virtual therapy platform, point of care testing, a triage and referrals system, and tools to support rehabilitation and long-term care.
The awarded projects are:
Pockit Diagnostics Ltd – awarded £798,919
A point-of-care blood test for the pre-hospital identification of stroke patients suitable for emergency thrombectomy treatment.
Cognitant Group Ltd – awarded £423,981
The ‘My Stroke Companion’ hub provides personalised and shareable information about stroke for patients, carers and family. It helps to communicate and explain how the local stroke pathway fits together.
NeuroVirt Limited – awarded £754,388
NeuroVirt utilises immersive virtual reality to gamify and individualise movement rehabilitation for stroke survivors whilst quantifying recovery progress for clinicians.
Imperial College London – awarded £800,000
OnTrack is a system to help stroke survivors recover the use of their impaired arm after a stroke with potential to improve experience and outcomes of arm rehabilitation.
Sonalis Imaging Limited – awarded £798,968
Sonalis is developing technology that uses ultrasound to generate accurate high-resolution three-dimensional images of the brain and its blood supply using a device that is fast, portable and universally safe.
Odstock Medical Limited – awarded £800,000
Odstock Medical Ltd is developing a new neuromuscular stimulator to help improve walking and arm function for people with partial paralysis.
Evolv – awarded £791,815
EvolvRehab® is a CE+UKCA marked virtual therapy platform used to treat neurological and age-related conditions from hospital to home. It supports therapists with remote prescribing and monitoring gamified exercise programs for patients at home.
