TranQuality wins Innovate UK grant to develop AI for mental health treatment

TranQuality has been awarded an Innovate UK grant to develop AI capable of identifying depression and anxiety in brain activity. Currently, the company uses cognitive neuroscientists to analyse brain activity captured by an Electro Encephalogram (EEG), but they believe that AI could take on a significant amount of that work in the future.

Poor mental health is the single largest cause of disability in the UK and one in six people experience a mental health problem each year. The total economic costs of mental illness through lost productivity has been estimated at £105.2 billion each year and treatment accounts for more than 10 per cent of the annual NHS spend.

TranQuality provides mental health assessment and treatment programmes for the NHS and private patients with clinical depression and anxiety as well as companies. For patients, it uses EEG to identify specific areas for treatment using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). TMS stimulates neurons in the brain through an electromagnetic field that reduces or reverses an individual’s symptoms.

“This Innovate UK funding will allow us to explore and implement AI technology, which has seen a significant interest in healthcare. This could be a step towards a more personalised treatment of mental health conditions, addressing the mental wellness of each patient individually, which is important as everyone deals with it so differently. Our mission is to support clinician analysis and treatment to reduce its cost to below £1,000 per patient. AI development has started well, and a successful solution would help an EEG targeted TMS become more affordable and accessible across the UK and globally.”

Bernard McMahon Chairman TranQuality Solutions Ltd

TMS is often used when conventional drug and talking therapies are not working effectively or have stopped working completely. The treatment is approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and is non-invasive, painfree and has no known side effects. The standard TMS approach requires around 20 to 30 sessions, and costs between £4,000-£8,000 per patient, which is limiting its adoption as a mainstream treatment. TranQuality has reduced the cost and number of sessions by targeting the TMS using a patient’s EEG. An AI support tool could further reduce treatment length and cost. TranQuality is a key partner of the Beingwell Group, a family of wellness companies providing solutions across mental health, cognitive fitness and sleep. It opened its newest clinic in the North of England in January 2020. The company has wider clinics in Humberside and has an online platform that enables individuals to check and monitor their mental health at regular intervals to maintain good mental wellbeing and to better understand their mental health.

Breath test for COVID-19 undergoes clinical trial

Exhalation Technology has announced the start of a large clinical study with its novel CoronaCheck diagnostic test for COVID-19 in exhaled breath condensate.

The company, based in Cambridge, has used its expertise in exhaled breath diagnostics to develop CoronaCheck. This is a rapid antigen test (aiming CoronaCheck is an IP-protected test “Initial results from patients recruited into for a result in under five minutes) for rapid detection of Severe Acute our clinical study are very promising. Our of high specificity and sensitivity Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 CoronaCheck test is set to provide novel for COVID-19, meeting the need for (SARS-CoV-2 also known as COVID-19), technology for high volume screening of efficient and accurate testing in a using a novel biosensor housed in individuals in a range of environments. wide range of environments including a safe breath analysis device which The technology is entirely innovative hospitals, airports, retail outlets, is suitable for rapid point-of-care and our initial test is based on rapid schools and similar spaces. Before the coronavirus testing. The test measures testing in exhaled breath, a simple and initiation of clinical trials in the UK, directly the presence of virus in breath, convenient means of sample collection. the test has shown promising results as opposed to antibodies in the blood. Our collaboration with Imperial College on the laboratory bench. in London and clinical centres in the UK is providing rapid proving and validation of

Exhalation Technology has now opened its human clinical trial programme for CoronaCheck at the Clinic for Respiratory Medicine, based in The Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth. This will enable a cohort of 300 patients to be tested in a blinded, ethics-approved clinical trial on infected and normal patients. The company is also seeking one or more global strategic partners with which it can collaborate to exploit its new COVID-19 test. The test is aimed to be available at under £8 or $10 per test. It has safety features to prevent cross-infection and contamination, and it does not require any laboratory equipment or special handling or training. The biosensor is mounted in a test cartridge which is inserted into the device. The subject breathes into this, with results obtained in minutes, after which the test cartridge is safely discarded and the device is then ready for a new test cartridge and subject. Stig Lytke Brejl, Director of Exhalation Technology, commented that “building on an existing CE marked IVD medical device platform is expected to enable a short time to market while at the same time de-risking the project significantly.” this novel approach to COVD-19 testing.” Helle Funch Nielsen CEO, Exhalation Technology