Brainomix Wins Award to Develop Life-saving Oxford Stroke Software
4th September 2013
Brainomix, a start-up from Oxford University Innovation the Oxford University Technology Transfer Company, has been awarded over £900,000 to develop the software version of a stroke assessment system that has already saved lives. The software can be used by any hospital, helping physicians to identify patients more likely to benefit from life-saving treatment.
The funding is part of the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) run by the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board. The £819,000 of funding is in addition to £89,000 that Brainomix received during the first phase of the same competition. The funding is for 18 months and will help the company develop the software, carry out validation studies and make sure it complies with European regulations.
Dr Michalis Papadakis, Managing Director and co-founder of Brainomix said: “After incorporating less than 6 months ago, this funding is a great vote of confidence in us and the medical importance of our stroke e-ASPECTS software.”
e-ASPECTS automates the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) pioneered by Brainomix co-founder Alastair Buchan, Professor of Stroke Medicine and Head of the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. Over the last 12 years ASPECTS has been adopted worldwide. The original ASPECTS system relies on a scoring system to assess brain CT (X-ray computed tomography) scans but requires a stroke expert to gauge the images. The automated e-ASPECTS encapsulates the expertise of Prof. Buchan and his team in software that processes CT images.
There is only a four and a half hour window from the time which a stroke occurs when a clot busting thrombolytic treatment can be given. Quick, expert assessment and successful treatment of stroke patients saves an average of £10,000 per patient per year and gives the patient a fuller life. In Europe, there are 1.1 million stroke deaths annually. With 110,000 new stroke patients every year in the UK alone, the new system has the potential to increase the number of patients treated, save lives and improve patient recovery.
Brainomix came out of the Isis Software Incubator which supports software ventures in the development of products or services.
Dr Papadakis said: “Time is brain. Brainomix can now develop the e-ASPECTS software in a robust and timely manner so that the benefits to stroke patients and the healthcare system, both in the UK and worldwide, can be realised as soon as possible”.
About Brainomix
Brainomix is a start-up company from the University of Oxford (incubator.innovation.ox.ac.uk). The co-founders of Brainomix are University of Oxford and National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre academics and physicians specialising in the field of stroke.
Brainomix is now developing e-ASPECTS, that automatically implements the ASPECTS clinical scoring methodology for detecting and assessing signs of early infarction on brain CT scans from patients with acute ischemic stroke. The software will assess patient eligibility for life saving clot busting treatment (thrombolysis), providing two major benefits for patients and the healthcare system. Firstly, it will reduce the risk of adverse events and in particular hemorrhage. Secondly, it will improve patient outcome thereby reducing disabilities. More information can be found at www.brainomix.com.
Press release sign up
