The Operating Theatre Journal November 2020

Manchester hospitals deploy new remote monitoring
technology to free up beds for the sickest Coronavirus patients
Manchester hospitals implement the Patient Status Engine to monitor Covid-19 patients in hospital and at home.
The surge in Covid-19 patients
in Greater Manchester has
provided the opportunity for
two hospitals to deploy a new
wireless monitoring platform
which they hope will allow
clinicians to identify and predict
deteriorating patients faster
and with less nurse to patient
contact. Originally planned for
use in clinical research, the new
technology holds the promise of
saving many lives in Manchester
and many thousands if rolled out
across the whole country.
Earlier this week Dr Indy Kapila,
intensive care consultant and
chair of the North West Regional
Consultants Committee of the
British Medical Association,
deemed the current situation
in critical care units across the
region as ‘very concerning’. He
said that while units do have
capacity ‘at the moment’, beds
may start to run out ‘over the
next week or so’.
Now, to ensure critical care
beds are available for only the
sickest Covid-19 patients, The
Christie NHS Foundation Trust
and the Manchester University
NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) have
implemented the Patient Status
Engine, a Class IIa CE-Marked and
FDA approved state-of-the-art
monitoring platform to monitor
Covid-19 patients both in hospital
and at home.
The PSE, designed and developed
by UK company Isansys Lifecare
Ltd, automatically collects
continuous physiological data,
including heart rate, respiration
rate, heart rate variability, ECG,
oxygen saturation, blood pressure
and body temperature.
It then uses these measures
together with nurse scored
data such as consciousness
levels to calculate a minute
by minute NEWS 2 score, the
standard early warning measure
of patient deterioration used by
NHS hospitals that enables rapid
identification of those patients
most in need and their clinical
care to be escalated fast.
Professor John Radford, director
of research at The Christie, who is
leading the RECAP project which
is monitoring patients recovering
at home with the PSE, said:
“The technology offers us a way
of keeping a close eye on our
patients while they’re at home.
We hope the PSE will help us
detect when a cancer patient
with COVID-19 is deteriorating
and needs to be reviewed in
hospital. This is the first time
this technology has been used for
patients who aren’t in hospital in
the UK, so it’s truly innovative,
and if successful, could be used in
other areas of medicine.”
The Manchester University NHS
Foundation Trust (MFT) and The
Christie NHS Foundation Trust in
Manchester are using the PSE as
part of the Cosmic (COntinuous
Signs Monitoring In Covid-19
patients) study to monitor Covid-19
patients in hospital. Clinicians aim
to identify in advance patients
who will deteriorate and predict
those who will need intensive
care treatment.
Dr Anthony Wilson, intensive care
consultant at Manchester Royal
Infirmary, part of MFT, where
approximately 10 to 20 per cent of
hospital inpatients with COVID-19
will need to be admitted to
intensive care, said:
“The intensive care team at MFT
has cared for many people with
the COVID-19 infection in the last
few months. This new technology
may allow us to intervene earlier
and give patients a greater chance
of getting better.”
Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite,
medical oncologist at The
Christie, said: “Unfortunately
some patients who are suffering
from COVID-19 on our hospital
wards can become seriously
unwell. By using the PSE, we
hope to be able to identify these
patients early and this means we
can optimise their management
without the need for them to go
to intensive care.
We can also monitor the patients’
vital signs on a screen located in
a different part of the hospital
and we hope that, eventually,
this will mean that as well as
keeping our patients safe, we can
reduce exposure to the virus for
our staff.”
Keith Errey, CEO of Isansys
Lifecare, said: “The situation
across the country and globally
is worrying. All indications are
that Covid-19 infections and
hospital admissions will continue
to rise, so we all need to do what
we can by adhering to safe and
socially responsible behaviours.
At Isansys we are privileged to
be able to support the frontline
clinical teams by providing
our technology and predictive
tools that enable earlier stepdown
and discharge of patients
in hospital whilst at the same
time ensuring Covid-19 patients
at home remain safe. “The PSE
has the capability to expand
overall critical care capacity
by continuously monitoring
patients and establishing higher
dependency beds in lower acuity
areas of the hospital. This allows
hospitals to preserve capacity
for those Covid-19 patients who
need escalated care and is also
enabling healthcare providers
to offer the necessary care for
Covid-19 patients being treated
at home.”
Further information:
www.isansys.com
Non-Limited Life medical cylinder launched by Luxfer, as COVID-19
increases demand for solutions to help millions with respiratory conditions
As COVID-19 prompts the development of new technologies to assist in
oxygen therapy for the millions with respiratory-related illness, Luxfer
Gas Cylinders has launched its first Non-Limited Life (NLL) medical
cylinders to support the healthcare industry.
The new cylinder from Luxfer will help patients affected by conditions
that make breathing difficult, including coronavirus but also Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which affects 65 million people
globally and results in over 3 million deaths worldwide each year.
As a direct result of supply related to COVID-19 in early 2020, Luxfer
experienced a spike of 8% of its annual medical orders, from its existing
product range.
Mark Lawday, a Director at Luxfer Gas Cylinders, said: “As people
recover from COVID-19 at home, particularly those who have underlying
health conditions that affect their breathing, they may need home
oxygen therapy and that will be something we could see as the
pandemic plays out. While we can’t say for certain how big an impact
this virus will have on home-use portable oxygen delivery systems, it’s
clear that technology has a role to play, and products that deliver safe,
high performance, durable, cost effective, patient-centric solutions,
will be highly prized.
“We’re proud to be one of the world’s most trusted producers of medical
cylinders, and pleased to offer the healthcare industry an innovative,
non-limited life medical cylinder which will optimize performance,
durability and reliability in proven Luxfer lightweight design.”
Luxfer Gas Cylinders, a business unit
of Luxfer Holdings PLC (NYSE: LXFR)
and the world’s largest manufacturer
of high-pressure composite and
aluminium cylinders, already has
more than 15 million of its medical
cylinders in use worldwide.
The new Luxfer 1.0 litre NLL carbon
composite medical cylinder is its
first product offering with a lifespan
beyond the typical 15-year and
20-year oxygen cylinder offerings
available today. The product is
destined for medical institutions and
will go into the hands of healthcare
professionals who can help patients
who need oxygen therapy on the
move.
As with other Luxfer carbon composite medical cylinders, this latest
NLL cylinder uses Luxfer’s proprietary L6X® aluminium alloy as an inner
liner reinforced with an aerospace-grade carbon fibre wrap. The result
is an ultra-lightweight cylinder with improved performance, durability,
capacity and service life expectancy. It will only be available in
countries which approve NLL cylinders.
Further information: https://www.luxfercylinders.com/
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