AI-tech which monitors diabetes during pregnancy wins HSJ Award

Sensyne Health, the British Clinical AI technology company, has won an HSJ Partnership Award for its GDm-Health product in the ‘Medtech, Device or Hardware Innovation’ category.

Diabetes during pregnancy refers to an intolerance of glucose during pregnancy. The condition is increasing in prevalence world-wide, driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. In the UK, the rise is predicted to reach over 16%, from a baseline of around 4% in 2008.

At present 20 NHS Trusts have adopted the product, with the system now live in sixteen of those Trusts. The system has helped to avoid an estimated 1,312 caesarean sections and 532 pre-term births, and 780 mothers have avoided transitioning to further pharmacological treatment. It also displayed the potential for cost-savings to the NHS through improved patient outcomes.

GDm-health is a digital therapeutic for the remote management of women with diabetes during pregnancy by their clinical care team. Comprising a smartphone application connected to a wireless blood glucose monitor, the patient’s near real-time data that has been prioritised by algorithms is communicated directly to the hospital team supervising care.

Dr Lucy Mackillop, clinical lead for the development of GDm-Health, said: “Through GDm-Health, we have been able to make a real, tangible difference to the lives of women during pregnancy. We are very pleased with the rapid uptake of GDm-Health by NHS Trusts, and thrilled by the recognition of this HSJ award. With GDM becoming more prevalent, it is vital that the latest technological insights available be utilised to help women and their clinicians better manage this condition.”

GDm-Health began as a collaboration between Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering. The system was invented, and clinical development led, by Dr Lucy Mackillop, a consultant obstetric physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in women’s and reproductive health at the University of Oxford, and VP of Medical Affairs at Sensyne Health. Her clinical activities and research focus lie in innovation in clinical practice to improve the health of women, particularly during their reproductive years.

The product was exclusively licensed by the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Oxford to Sensyne Health and the company has developed a cloud-hosted, globally scalable version which has been rolled out across NHS Trusts in the UK over the past 18 months and will be launched in the United States later this year. 

Lord (Paul) Drayson, CEO of Sensyne Health, said: “GDm-Health is a great example of a healthcare innovation that has been invented in the NHS and that has enormous potential to improve health, both in the UK and internationally.”