Heart device on trial that could save the NHS £200 million a year

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Heart device on trial that could save the NHS £200 million a year

Date: February 27, 2017

A new cardiac scanning device that could save the NHS £200 million a year is being trialled at four of the UK’s largest emergency departments (Bristol, Nottingham, Leicester and Sheffield).

The British-made Vitalscan device, which has been developed by Creavo Medical Technologies and could revolutionise the way patients with chest pain are managed in emergency departments, works by conducting a non-invasive three to five-minute scan at a patient’s bedside to rule out significant cardiac conditions, such as heart attacks.

Steve Parker, CEO Creavo Medical Technologies says: “Cardiac-related chest pain is one of the biggest issues facing emergency departments in the western world due to the economic burden it places on healthcare services and the disruption it causes to inpatient care.

The triage process for someone entering an emergency department with chest pain can take anywhere from six to 24 hours which places a huge amount of strain on resources”.

Creavo Medical Technologies was established to commercialise the work undertaken by Professor Ben Varcoe* at the University of Leeds to develop Vitalscan, a portable, passive magnetocardiography device that measures the electromagnetic fluctuations of the heart, while maintaining the accuracy and efficacy of older SQUID devices. The start of clinical trials at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, North Bristol NHSTrust and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust marks the largest ever clinical trial of a magnetocardiography device. This will be followed by a second stage starting at three centres in the United States at Mayo Clinic Rochester, Cincinnati and Baylor Texas.

*Professor Varcoe was awarded IKC proof-of-concept funding in 2010 to accelerate commercialisation of the technology.

Read the original story on the Creavo website.

 

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