'Smart' computer for heart patients hailed

HEALTH experts in Sheffield have won an award for creating an artificial intelligence computer system, which advises when and how to administer drugs to patients following a heart bypass operation.

Consultant anaesthetist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Dr Jonathan Ross worked with Professor Mahdi Mahfouf and Dr Mouloud Denai from Sheffield University's department of automatic control and systems engineering (ACSE) to take the top prize in the Software and ICT category at this year's Medipex NHS Innovation Awards ceremony.

The artificial intelligence system analysed individual patients' vital signs continuously and recommended the drug type and infusion rates required every 20 seconds to the experts caring for the patient.

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A spokesman for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said that the control achieved was excellent and the computer was able to monitor the patients "considerably more rapidly than experts currently manage."

Dr Ross said he was delighted to win the award and added: "This is the first study in the world to demonstrate in a clinical trial the ability for a computer, knowing nothing about the specific patient except what data is shown on the routine monitoring, to suggest to an expert the drugs and infusion rates required for precise control of the cardiovascular system.

"This will mean patients get more individual, tailored care in future, and potentially staff will be freed up from this task for other aspects of care, or maybe to treat more patients simultaneously. There's great potential for delivering more healthcare for the same money with this technology."

The Medipex NHS Innovation Awards, now in their sixth year, showcase new technology developed by the NHS that has benefits that can be adopted and used elsewhere.

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Professor Mahfouf added: "This achievement will not only enhance Sheffield's reputation in this field of study, but should also provide the impetus to seeking equally useful synergies aimed at identifying optimal clinical therapies oriented towards intelligent care, as opposed to intensive care for critically-ill patients in the intensive care unit."

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