The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has launched an Innovation Catalyst pilot for innovations that could support the neighbourhood health service.
The initiative is open to applications from NHS and social care service providers, universities, research institutes, SMEs, and not-for-profit organisations, with projects needing to involve collaboration across at least two organisations. By 2030, according to the NIHR, the ambitions is for at least two interventions to go through regulatory approval or be considered for adoption.
Eligible interventions include medical devices and device-enabled procedures, digital health technologies, software as a medical device, AI and machine learning tools, clinical decision support systems, and remote monitoring platforms. NIHR outlines that at a minimum, “medtech and digital health interventions must be at least Technology Readiness Level 4 (TRL 4)”.
Funding is offered to projects based on a lifecycle model, with the achievement of pre-agreed milestones. “By directly synchronising funding with performance, the traditional downtime between standard grant cycles is minimised, allowing successful projects to progress towards the next wave of funding without unnecessary delay,” NIHR explains.
The closing date for applications is 14 July at 1pm. To learn more, or to apply, please click here.
Wider trend: Health tech funding and development
NIHR has awarded £8 million to six innovations using AI and digital to speed up diagnosis and improve patient care. Innovations granted a share of the funding include SAMURAI-CT, an AI tool designed to detect “serious findings” from head CT scans with aims of reducing discharge times by more than 20 percent. It is currently being tested across Oxford University Hospitals, Royal Berkshire, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has announced plans to launch a regulatory AI sandbox with the aim to explore how artificial intelligence can support medicines development and safety. The sandbox, funded by the Regulatory Innovation Office, will enable AI tools to be tested that have the potential to predict how medicines will be absorbed, processed, or whether they may cause harm. The sandbox will also be used to inform the MHRA about the reliability of whether AI tools can support in deciding the safety of new medicines.
The CQC has shared progress on how its developing the regulatory model and assessment frameworks for the use of AI in health and social care, noting its role in assessing how AI meets fundamental standards, the impact on risks, safety or access to care, and to recognise when AI contributes to outstanding care. Providers should follow a number of principles, the CQC explains, including the use of AI to enhance but not replace human decision making, human oversight and continual monitoring of outputs and processes, transparency and choice to support informed decisions, safety and reliability, and security.
