University of Leicester and tech company seek to transform stroke care through AI-powered wearable technology

The University of Leicester and tech company Carelight Weartech will develop an AI-powered stroke management application aimed at improving patient care and supporting clinicians to monitor stroke risk in real time.

The Loughborough-based med-tech wearables company and University have joined forces for the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), which is set to last 27 months.

It brings together expertise from the University’s Division of Cardiovascular Sciences and School of Mathematical and Computing Sciences in collaboration with Carelight Weartech. The partnership will combine wearable device, clinical, physiological and artificial intelligence expertise to advance remote stroke monitoring and support the development of next-generation digital health technologies.

The project will enable Carelight Weartech to extend the clinical application of its patented Opto-Physiological Monitoring (OPM) technology into the area of stroke management. OPM uses optical sensing to capture physiological signals linked to oxygenation, respiration rate and cardiac activity, supporting continuous and remote patient monitoring via a ‘medical-grade’ wearable device.

Working together, the partners will develop and validate an AI-powered stroke management application that can be integrated into Carelight Weartech’s medical-grade smartwatch technology.

The system will analyse physiological information collected through the wearable device and support real-time monitoring of signals linked to stroke risk and recovery.  The aim is to help clinicians and patients identify potential concerns earlier, improve monitoring following a stroke and support better-informed clinical decisions.

A key feature of the project is to harness the expertise of both partners in a collaboration involving specialist knowledge in device and physiological data, stroke haemodynamics, advanced signal processing, AI-based biomarker development and clinical validation.

This collaboration will embed clinical research knowledge and expertise that enables Carelight Weartech to expand its clinical applications pipeline through the adoption of AI-driven analytical tools. These capabilities will support future product development, regulatory approval and adoption within healthcare settings, including the NHS.

The academic team is led by Clinical Associate Professor Jatinder Minhas, from the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, and Professor Huiyu Zhou, from the School of Mathematical and Computing Sciences. Their combined expertise in stroke medicine, artificial intelligence, data analysis and digital health will play a central role in the delivery of the project.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships bring together businesses and universities to develop innovative products, services and processes. Each partnership is supported by a dedicated KTP Associate, who works within the company and is supported by academic and business supervisors. This approach allows specialist knowledge and expertise from the University to be transferred into the business, creating new capabilities and lasting benefits beyond the lifetime of the project.

Representatives from the University of Leicester and Carelight Weartech recently met with Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Adviser Kamran Hussein at the company’s premises for the project’s official kick-off meeting.

The partners will now begin recruiting a dedicated KTP Associate, who will be employed by the University of Leicester and based within Carelight Weartech. The Associate will lead the day-to-day delivery of the project and facilitate the transfer of knowledge, expertise and new capabilities between the academic and business partners.

Dr Minhas said: “We are delighted to receive Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership support for this interdisciplinary project, designed to deliver key ambitions within the NHS 10 year plan. This is an excellent opportunity to exchange knowledge developed within our NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, BHF Leicester Centre of Research Excellence and the Cerebral Haemodynamics in Ageing and Stroke Medicine (CHiASM) Research Group, with industry collaborators. Carelight Weartech have shown a strong desire to improve monitoring post-stroke and we hope to develop clinical pathways to accommodate this exciting technology in reasonable time frames.”

Professor Zhou said: “We are pleased to know that this interdisciplinary project application is successful. By combining advances in artificial intelligence, wearable sensing and clinical expertise, we aim to develop innovative digital health solutions that enable earlier intervention, personalised stroke management and improved patient outcomes, while strengthening UK health technology innovation.”

Carelight Weartech CEO and co-founder, Dr Martin French, said: “We are excited that the KTP programme has given us the opportunity to collaborate with the Leicester teams on this important project, as part of our mission to provide better health outcomes through continuous medical grade data, earlier disease detection, and improved decision-making. Our aim for this multi-disciplinary collaboration is to develop wearable devices for medical-grade monitoring and assessment of cardiovascular biomarkers that provide clinicians with new insights to support patient management and improved outcomes.”

Email [email protected] to find out more about working with the University of Leicester on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.