Media release  

21st June 2021

DemDx is delighted to announce the launch of the Research Steering Committee with a mandate to advise on the project development and evaluation of its AI-powered clinical reasoning tool ‘Ophthalmology Triage Platform’ for eye health services. 

Funded by the Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care Award and developed in collaboration with Moorfields Eye Hospital, the project will generate clinical safety and efficacy data on the DemDx AI-powered ‘Ophthalmology Triage Platform’. 

This Ophthalmology Triage Platform aims to help address shortages of specialists by empowering all frontline healthcare practitioners to provide clinically accurate, safe and consistent triaging at the point of the first contact with the patient. DemDx’s platform supports the practitioner during a patient’s clinical assessment. It uses a combination of a database built by world-leading doctors and AI to guide the frontline practitioner to determine the most appropriate next step on the patient journey. For example, it could be whether an immediate referral to the ophthalmologist or which investigations should be ordered before the patient sees the doctor. As a result, doctors’ time is used more efficiently, allowing them to focus on the most critical or complex cases.

The world-renowned Ophthalmology Professor Miles Stanford will chair the quaternary meetings. The steering committee members include patients, clinicians, researchers and innovators, representing all stakeholders impacted by this transformation of NHS Eye Care delivery. 

The members of the Steering Committee are:

• Prof. Miles Stanford, Professor of clinical Ophthalmology at Guys and St Thomas Hospital,  Steering Committee Chair 
• Mr Michael Dykes, public and patient representative 
• Dr Alex Day, Moorfields Ophthalmologist Consultant and Project’s Chief Investigator 
• Dr Mariane Melo, Medical Director DemDx and project manager 
• Prof Paul Taylor, Professor of Health Informatics at UCL, project’s academic adviser 
• Mr Hugh Risebrow, CEO at Latchmore Associates, project’s independent adviser in healthcare business strategy 
• Dr David Parkins, Optometrist, project’s independent clinical adviser in optometric practice 
• Dr Duncan Rogers, Ophthalmologist consultant at Mater Hospital Independent clinical adviser in ophthalmology practice
• Mr Max Dillon, Machine Learning Engineer at Callsign, project’s artificial Intelligence advisor
• Dr Graham Rich, DemDx chair 

Dr Lorin Gresser, CEO & Founder of DemDx

“We could not ask for a better partner than Moorfields, the leading eye hospital in the world, to develop and validate our Ophthalmology AI technology in the clinical setting. DemDx’s triage platform will revolutionise patient care and transform the healthcare workforce by supporting frontline practitioners in assuming increased clinical responsibility.”

Prof Miles Stanford, Steering Committee Chair , said:

“I am delighted to be the Chair of the Research Steering Committee and oversee the progress of this exciting initiative between Moorfields Eye Hospital and DemDx.”

Peter Thomas, Director of Digital Innovation at Moorfields Eye Hospital:

“Moorfields has established a reputation as an early leader in researching clinical applications of artificial intelligence. This Ophthalmology Triage Platform will expedite patient access to the appropriate care. We are delighted to continue our partnership with DemDx in working towards validating this platform in the clinical setting.”

END

Note to editors 

For further information and images please contact Mariane Melo at mariane@demdx.com or call 07367205215

About DemDx 

DemDx is the first to combine expert knowledge with AI to deliver a clinical reasoning tool that can be used by all frontline healthcare professionals to make triaging more effective.

As a global leader in AI driven health technology, we are committed to maintaining the quality of clinical care despite the workforce shortages our health services face, by enabling frontline practitioners to make clinically accurate, safe, transparent and consistent triage decisions. We help improve overall clinical care, reduce healthcare delivery costs and use doctors’ time more efficiently and effectively. 

Our medically-certified clinical reasoning tool is the only licensed tool available to frontline practitioners working in triage. The web, tablet, and smartphone app includes clinical algorithms covering 15 specialties, over 2000 diagnoses across more than 50,000 clinical pathways.

About Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the leading providers of eye health services in the UK and a world class centre of excellence for ophthalmic research and education. Our main focus is the treatment and care of NHS patients with a wide range of eye problems, from common complaints to rare conditions that require treatment not available elsewhere in the UK. Our unique patient case mix and the number of people we treat mean that our clinicians have expertise in discrete ophthalmic sub-specialties.

We treat people in a number of locations in and around London, the south east and Bedford, enabling us to provide expert treatment closer to patients’ homes. We also operate commercial divisions that provide care to private patients in both London and the Middle East.  

With our academic partners at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields is recognised as a leading centre of excellence in eye and vision research. Together we form one of the largest ophthalmic research sites in the world, with the largest patient population in Europe or the USA. We publish more scientific papers than any other eye and vision research site and have an extensive joint research portfolio.

About the NHS AI Lab

The NHS AI Lab is a focal point to accelerate the safe adoption of AI into the front line of health and care. It brings together government, the NHS, academics and technology companies to help tackle some of the toughest challenges in health and care.

The NHS AI Lab believes in creating a sustainable health and care system which achieves better outcomes, equality and fairness for all.  We want to support AI technologies that have potential to improve the quality of health and care services while building a robust ethical and regulatory framework to ensure patient and citizen safety.  https://www.nhsx.nhs.uk/ai-lab/

About the Accelerated Access Collaborative

The Accelerated Access Collaborative brings together industry, government, regulators, patients and the NHS to remove barriers and accelerate the introduction of ground-breaking new treatments and diagnostics which can transform care. The AAC supports all types of innovations: medicines, diagnostics, devices, digital products, pathway changes and new workforce models. www.england.nhs.uk/aac/

About NIHR

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation’s largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR:

• Funds, supports and delivers high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care
• Engages and involves patients, carers and the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research
• Attracts, trains and supports the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future
• Invests in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services
• Partners with other public funders, charities and industry to maximise the value of research to patients and the economy
• The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR supports applied health research for the direct and primary benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, using UK aid from the UK government.