Wearable technologies are being used in EMBRaCE, a trial involving patients in Greater Manchester who have undergone cancer treatment.
The commercially available health sensors and devices will produce a digital fingerprint of vital signs that will allow doctors to assess the progress of their patients.
EMBRaCE (Enhanced Monitoring for Better Recovery and Cancer Experience) is a partnership between Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and University of Manchester.
The trial will initially start for patients with blood cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer and the technologies studied will include a finger-worn ring from the Finnish company ourathe Withings ScanWatchand chest carried Isansys system.
The wearable technologies assess vital signs, including electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate, temperature, physical activity levels, and sleep.
dr. Anthony Wilson, Consultant in Anesthesia and Critical Care at Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI)part of MFT, is clinically leading the project.
“Cancer places a huge burden on people’s lives everywhere,” he said in a statement. “This research uses cutting-edge technology that can monitor people throughout their treatment, with devices they can wear all the time. We hope it will provide new insights into how people are coping with cancer treatment and what we can do to help their recovery.” to improve.”
EMBRaCE is funded by the GM Cancer Digital Innovation Fund, UK Research and Innovation and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in partnership with Aptus Clinical and Zenzium Ltdwhose AI will analyze and identify key patterns in patient data.
Anthony D. Bashall, CEO of Zenzium, said: “We firmly believe that the future of healthcare will be driven by continuous rather than episodic measurements to improve patient outcomes on an individual basis.
“We are excited to be part of this groundbreaking collaboration with some of the best entities in the field, which gives us the opportunity to leverage our technology, knowledge and expertise in wearable devices enabled by AI to potentially make a real difference in the lives of patients.”
Steve Sweeney, cancer survivor and chair of the group of patients who advised the project, commented: “A cancer diagnosis presents a variety of challenges for patients, well beyond the clinical course of treatment itself.
“We know that patients are concerned about ongoing monitoring and the gap between primary care physicians and hospital cancer care, issues with fatigue and sleep disturbances, difficulty staying fit and the need for more psychological support.
“The EMBRaCE program directly addresses these challenges, giving participants more proactive control over their cancer journey through wearables and the data they provide to clinicians. These patient pioneers will help shape the future of cancer care in the UK.”
