Oxford Heartbeat

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Oxford Heartbeat

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NHS problem

Common cardiovascular diseases like brain aneurysms are often treated by placing stents inside the affected blood vessels. Brain stents are just a few millimetres in size and their size and position needs to be selected for each patient with the highest precision for the surgery to succeed. However, their complex mechanical structure means they can behave unpredictably, even doubling in length, when inserted into the patient’s anatomy. Currently, lack of accurate and consistent stent selection leads to poor patient outcomes such as strokes, repeat surgeries (20%), and increased costs (10% of stents are discarded or multiple ones used, each over £10,000). All of these place an unnecessary burden on the NHS.

The solution

Oxford Heartbeat develops technology to make high-risk brain stenting surgeries safer and more accurate. Its CE-marked technology, PreSize® Neurovascular, helps clinicians plan and rehearse brain stenting procedures in a safe virtual environment. PreSize enables clinicians to explore different stent sizes/makes prior to the surgery, facilitating selection of the best-fit stent for the patient. PreSize aims to optimise surgical efficiency, diminish surgical complications, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

Impact

PreSize® Neurovascular is co-designed with clinicians to fully meet their pre-operative needs. It has the potential to:

  • Greatly improve the safety, precision and efficacy of brain stenting treatments
  • Reduce preventable risks leading to surgical complications, thus improving patient outcomes
  • Minimise pre-operative anxiety for both clinicians and patients
  • Support the NHS in fulfilling a Long Term Plan goal to provide better care for major health conditions