By Dr Ningrong Lei 

Tuesday 19 March • Viewing time: 4 minutes

We developed a device that detects the early warning signs of stroke – and could save thousands of lives every year.

Every five minutes, a stroke strikes someone in the UK. This life-threatening event occurs when blood flow to the brain is disrupted, starving brain cells of oxygen and causing them to die. Currently, one in seven people with acute stroke die in hospital. For those who survive, the long-term physical and mental effects can be devastating. 

The sooner a stroke is treated, the less damage it causes. So, what if there was a way to detect the early warning signs and speed up treatment? That’s where my research comes in. As a systems engineer, I’ve spent the last seven years working on digital health services that combat cardiovascular disease. 

In collaboration with patients, clinicians and industry, my research team and I developed a real-time heart monitoring device that uses wearable technology and artificial intelligence to detect atrial fibrillation, which is a major risk factor for stroke. HeartCare has the potential to prevent thousands of strokes every year – and save the NHS millions.

Atrial fibrillation and stroke

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a treatable heart condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. It affects over 34 million people worldwide.   

Statistics show that people with AF are five times more likely to have a stroke. In fact, 15 people suffer an AF-related stroke every three minutes. Out of these, five will die and another five will be left permanently disabled.

This link was the starting point for HeartCare. We hypothesised that by identifying and continuously monitoring AF in real-time, we could proactively prevent strokes and the damage they cause.

Developing the technology

I started by talking to patients and clinicians. For me, all digital health services should be created with real needs in mind. Otherwise, they won’t be successful.

Using their feedback, my team and I worked with medical technology company Isansys to develop HeartCare. It uses wearable technology – in the form of a small heart patch – and an algorithm I designed to identify and monitor AF in real-time. If AF is detected, it notifies a clinician, who can then advise on the best treatment.    

One thing that makes HeartCare unique is its usability. Unlike conventional heart monitors, it’s comfy, easy to apply and can be used at home, meaning patients can get on with their normal lives, rather than having to spend time in hospital. There’s also no limit to the number of people who can be monitored at one time or the duration of observation, which should significantly increase AF detection rates. Finally, the real-time element can lead to earlier diagnosis and vital preventative treatment.

Saving patients, supporting practitioners

The next step was to test it out. After creating the initial model, we carried out a small-scale clinical study with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. This involved 30 patients wearing the heart-patch for 48 hours. During this time, it captured over 1.5 million heartbeats.

The results showed that HeartCare detects AF with 98% accuracy – a 12% increase on existing methods. This means that if rolled out across England, it’s precision and real-time capabilities could lead to faster treatment and prevent 49,000 strokes over three years. As well as saving lives, this would save an already-stretched NHS £1.25 billion.

Beyond immediate patient care, HeartCare empowers clinicians. By automating routine AF monitoring, it frees up their time and delivers real-time alerts along with supporting data. This streamlines diagnosis, reduces workload and allows them to focus on more complex patient care.

Healthcare without barriers

With support from Innovate UK, I’m now exploring HeartCare’s commercial potential. This involves talking to over 150 business leaders around the world to find out more about the market for this new technology.

Once this is complete, I plan to carry out a large-scale clinical trial to further test the device. In the long term, I hope HeartCare will be rolled out across the NHS, so as many people as possible can benefit.

Ultimately, my work is about breaking down barriers to healthcare and using technology to improve people’s lives. I’m now looking at adapting HeartCare to detect and prevent other illnesses, including sleep apnoea and Long Covid. Looking forward, my dream is to create a multi-disease diagnosis platform that will help people all over the world lead long and healthy lives.