St James's University Hospital trial

13 July 2015

Toumaz Limited

St James's University Hospital, Leeds, trials SensiumVitals®

Toumaz Limited (AIM: TMZ, 'Toumaz', or the 'Group'), a pioneer in low-power, wireless semiconductor technologies for healthcare and digital audio, announces that SensiumVitals®, its wearable vital signs monitoring system, is being trialled by St James's University Hospital, part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT). The trial is being conducted by researchers funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the research arm of the NHS.

SensiumVitals® is a wireless system which takes readings of heart rate, respiration and temperature every two minutes with the data sent wirelessly to clinicians via hospital IT systems.

These early warnings enable staff to respond more quickly to deteriorations in a patient's condition - improving patient safety, reducing the need for more expensive treatments and shortening hospital stays.

The trial is being led by Professor David Jayne, Professor of Surgery at St James's, and will investigate the clinical benefits of the system, its health economic impact and the patients' perspective.

The system is initially being used in two colorectal surgery wards to monitor patients following major abdominal surgery.

SensiumVitals® has been installed and fully integrated with the hospital's IT systems. The trial is expected to last about six months.

Anthony Sethill, CEO of Toumaz Group, said:

"This trial with St James's, one of the UK's most highly regarded hospitals, is an important step forward for SensiumVitals®. Working with the hospital's team, our aim is to demonstrate that the system improves patient care, shortens hospital stays and reduces healthcare costs."

Professor David Jayne, Professor of Surgery and Clinical Director for the NIHR-funded Colorectal Therapies Healthcare Technologies Cooperative (HTC), St James's University Hospital, said:

"Post-surgery, patients' health can deteriorate rapidly. In these circumstances, it is important that clinicians are able to intervene as quickly as possible. The SensiumVitals® wireless monitoring system has the potential to play an important role in improving patient care in this area.

"The SensiumVitals® system will be compared with standard hospital monitoring to determine if it allows earlier detection of post-operative complications. If successful, the project will inform larger studies involving the SensiumVitals® technology throughout the NHS."

George Freeman MP, Minister for Life Sciences, said:

"This latest trial has the potential to bring huge benefits to patients and staff and highlights why the NHS is the ideal place to test new digital technologies. We are committed to supporting new medical innovations which is why we invest £1 billion a year in the National Institute for Health Research, helping to introduce the latest innovations into the healthcare system as quickly as possible."

Enquiries:

About SensiumVitals®

SensiumVitals® is an ultra-low power system for wireless monitoring of patient vital signs. Readings are taken every two minutes and the data is sent wirelessly and securely to clinicians via hospital IT systems.

The key benefit of SensiumVitals® is to provide clinicians with timely warnings of patient deterioration. This allows them to make earlier interventions, which in turn leads to shorter stays in hospital and lower healthcare costs.

The system also enables patients to be monitored whilst moving around freely within the hospital - a further factor in aiding swift recovery. The system is used in general wards and Accident & Emergency patient waiting areas - with future potential for broader hospital and in-home applications.

About Toumaz (www.toumaz.com)

Toumaz Limited is a pioneer in low-power, wireless semiconductor and software technologies for healthcare and consumer audio. The company has two divisions, Sensium Healthcare and Frontier Silicon. Sensium Healthcare develops wireless solutions for patient monitoring. Frontier Silicon provides chips, modules and software for digital radio and connected audio devices.

About St James's University Hospital, Leeds

St. James's University Hospital is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, one of Europe's largest teaching hospitals, providing secondary care to the 750,000 Leeds population and tertiary care to approx. 3 million people in the Yorkshire region. Its services include acute and elderly medicine, A&E, and a full range of elective and emergency surgical services. The colorectal department is one of the largest in the country with seven full-time NHS consultants and three senior academic surgeons. The Leeds Cancer Centre, housed mainly in the state-of-the-art Bexley Wing at St James's, provides a world-class service to cancer patients from across the region and beyond. St James's is a major centre for high-tech patient care, with an international reputation for teaching and clinical research.

About the NIHR

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded through the Department of Health to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. Since its establishment in April 2006, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research for the benefit of patients and the public, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research. The NIHR plays a key role in the Government's strategy for economic growth, attracting investment by the life-sciences industries through its world-class infrastructure for health research. Together, the NIHR people, programmes, centres of excellence, and systems represent the most integrated health research system in the world. http://www.nihr.ac.uk/