Oxford Heartbeat

Presented by Katerina Spranger Nominated by Royal Academy of Engineering   Oxford Heartbeat is developing cutting-edge technology to make cardiovascular surgeries more safe, effective and efficient. Using predictive computations and AI, patient data and previous cases are used to accurately predict the behaviour of stent devices inside each patient. This allows clinicians to accurately plan and rehearse stent placements in advance, thus optimising the surgical scenario for each individual case.

According to data from Oxford Heartbeat, Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for 200k deaths in Germany and there are an estimated 10 million people living with CVD in Germany alone. Despite >100,000 stent surgeries performed in Germany p.a. and >10 million globally, there are no preoperative solutions assisting surgeons with critical decision-making. This leads to high mortality (10%), secondary surgeries (20%) and resulting costs (£10 billion in the Western world). By bringing computational methods to clinical practice, Oxford Heartbeat’s technology enables better planning and performance of these surgeries, ensuring safer surgeries for 10 million new patients every year. Striving to make the world a healthier place., Oxford Heartbeat was featured in two Forbes articles as “founders striving to change the world” and “one of the new British start-ups to watch closely”.