Title
Autonomous Remote Cancer Triage

CoPED ID
a4dd4556-a4cc-4fc6-b50b-dae128495c71

Status
Closed


Value
£118,478

Start Date
Sept. 30, 2020

End Date
Dec. 31, 2020

Description

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Ufonia are seeking the SBRI grant in order to develop their technology of Artificial Intelligence (AI) delivered telephone conversations with patients to referrals to St George's University NHS hospital's Head and Neck cancer department. Ufonia proposes the triage of urgent suspected head and neck cancer referrals with an autonomous AI delivered telephone conversation using a validated head and neck cancer risk calculator, thereby reducing the need for many face-to-face consultations. Head and neck cancer rates are increasing with an increasing number of suspected cancer referrals seen each year. Alongside this, the COVID-19 pandemic has demanded a re-rationalisation of healthcare services and required profound changes in the way we deliver care in order to protect patients and staff. Head and Neck (H&N) surgeons who traditionally triage these patients are uniquely vulnerable to the disease through their close interaction with virus reservoirs in the nose and throat. This innovation therefore has the potential to benefit patients, clinicians, NHS trusts and society as a whole, with a primary focus on COVID-19 recovery and sustainability. These are summarised below. _COVID-19 recovery:_ * Facilitates non-contact interactions supporting social distancing measures, and therefore prevents disease spread protecting both patients and staff. * Rationalises healthcare resource allocation, freeing up clinician workforce capacity which has been impacted by redeployment, sickness and self-isolation. _UK Government's Clean Growth Strategy and net zero ambition:_ * Reduced patient travel to hospital for in-person consultations reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.Reduced need for single use disposables and cleaning chemicals helping to reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare delivery. _Wider patient benefits:_ * Timelier triage will allow patients to be seen and investigated sooner with an overall reduced time to cancer diagnosis and treatment.Patients can be triaged at home and at their own convenience with no need for time off work or childcare. The NHS is one of the UK's proudest assets and is uniquely placed to lead the way on the government's timely ambition to ensure growth in an environmentally sustainable way. During this project Ufonia will be partnering with the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare who will be providing expert analysis of the project's social, financial and environmental impacts, with a strong focus on patient empowerment and self-care. If proven efficacious this technology has the potential to expand to many patient groups beyond the scope of this feasibility project and provides and exciting area for future development.

Ufonia Limited LEAD_ORG
Ufonia Limited PARTICIPANT_ORG

Subjects by relevance
  1. Cancerous diseases
  2. Patients
  3. Public health service
  4. Forecasts
  5. Head
  6. Hospitals
  7. Neck
  8. Diseases of the throat
  9. Nose diseases

Extracted key phrases
  1. Autonomous Remote Cancer Triage
  2. Neck cancer referral
  3. SBRI grant
  4. Project Ufonia
  5. Wide patient benefit
  6. Neck cancer risk calculator
  7. Patient group
  8. Patient travel
  9. Patient empowerment
  10. Neck cancer rate
  11. Neck cancer department
  12. Cancer diagnosis
  13. University NHS hospital
  14. Timely triage
  15. Telephone conversation

Related Pages

UKRI project entry

UK Project Locations