MEDICAL technology firm Snap40 has won a £1 million contract with NHS England for its “doctor on your arm” wearable technology device.
The small business research initiative (SBRI) healthcare development contract will allow the start-up to further enhance its technology and provide critical validation funding for two clinical studies with NHS Fife and NHS Lothian.
Snap40 was founded by Christopher McCann, a former medical student at the University of Dundee who left in his third year having identified a requirement for the continual monitoring of ward patients. His co-founders are technology and life-sciences veteran David Bowie, and computer scientist Stewart Whiting.
The device is strapped to the upper arm of ward patients and monitors respiratory rate, heart rate, relative change in systolic blood pressure, oxygen saturations, skin temperature and movement, transmitting data every 30 seconds to a proprietary software platform, which then analyses the data to recognise indicators of health deterioration. If a risk is considered sufficiently high, clinical staff are alerted.
Mr McCann said: “With increasing pressure on healthcare systems and challenges in prioritising competing demands, access to doctors and nurses is at a premium. Our society cannot afford one-to-one care. Snap40 changes that.”
In October 2016, Snap40 raised £2m in its first tranche of funding, led by Par Equity, thought to be the largest ever seed funding for a Scottish business.
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