BRC-supported invention to be showcased at major industry fair

A digital health invention supported by NIHR Cambridge BRC is to be showcased at a major industry fair in London.

BloodCounts!, developed by NHS Blood and Transplant’s Dr Nicholas Gleadall and Dr Michael Roberts at the University of Cambridge, will be presented by NIHR Cambridge BRC partner Cambridge Enterprise at the IP4U University Tech Fair on 19-20 September.

It’s the first time that the Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) of the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Oxford University and University College London have held such an event, which will showcase 80 inventions in sustainability and health.

IP4U will be an opportunity for industry to some of the researchers behind the innovations, and find out how they can partner with academics to commercialise their research.

Early warning system

BloodCounts! uses data from routine blood tests and powerful AI-based techniques to scan for abnormal changes in the blood cells of large populations. Based on this information, doctors can then alert public health agencies to potential emerging infectious disease outbreaks,

The development of the algorithms used in BloodCounts! was only possible due to the EpiCov data-sharing initiative pioneered by Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) and funded by NIHR Cambridge BRC. The EpiCov database contains de-identified patient and NHS staff data from the CUH Electronic Health Record systems, including scan images and laboratory results.

It includes routinely collected information about patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspected of having COVID-19, and staff who have been tested for COVID-19. It also includes information about a large number of control patients who do not have a diagnosis of COVID-19.

• For more information including how to register visit https://ip4u.tech.