News

It’s incredible to see health tech innovation in the national news and this week, one of the innovations we are supporting, HeartFlow, has been featured in the Guardian newspaper.

We’ve been working with three NHS Trusts in our region to implement this innovation across Yorkshire and the Humber.

HeartFlow is a non-invasive procedure that creates a personalised 3D model of the coronary arteries and analyses the impact that blockages have on blood flow.

Supporting trusts to adopt the HeartFlow procedure is part of our work to spread proven innovations across the region as part of the new MedTech Funding Mandate policy, which has replaced the Innovation Technology Payment programme.

HeartFlow enables clinicians to identify significant coronary artery disease and determine the optimal treatment pathway thereby significantly cutting health care costs and leading to improved patient experiences and quality of life. Statistics show that more than half of patients who undergo invasive angiogram tests have no significant coronary blockage.

Over the last 12 months the trusts in our region have completed a total of 230 scans and this has meant an estimated 184 people have avoided the need for  further and more invasive procedures.

Neville Young, Director of Enterprise and Innovation at the Yorkshire & Humber AHSN said:

“It’s great to see the national news coverage about HeartFlow. We’re pleased to be working with three Trusts in Yorkshire and the Humber, where this technology is applicable, to help implement this innovative technology. This is part of our broader work as part of the AHSN Network to support the MedTech Funding Mandate – a new national priority for NHS commissioners to help the spread and adoption of products that were previously supported by the Innovation Technology Payment.”

Currently we are supporting the implementation of three other innovations in the region that fall under the MedTech Funding Mandate policy – Placental Growth Factor Testing, SecureAcath and GammaCore.

Recently we produced a video case study on GammaCore – a handheld electrical device that stimulates the vagus nerve in the neck to alleviate the severe and debilitating symptoms of cluster headaches.

Watch our video below.