AI in healthcare receives £13m boost from government

Among the winners are University College London (UCL)’s Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences, which will use over £500,000 to develop a real-time AI assisted decision support framework to improve surgical outcomes, including avoiding complications following brain tumour surgery and shortening recovery time for patients.

Heriot-Watt University will use £644,000 to develop a system that assists trainee surgeons to practice laparoscopy procedures with real-time feedback on their movements, and Oxford University’s £640,000 will be used to accelerate research into a foundation AI model for clinical risk prediction, an advance that could determine the likelihood of future health problems based on an individual’s existing conditions.

The funding was announced today (August 10, 2023) by technology secretary, Michelle Donelan on a visit to UCL.

“AI will revolutionise the way we live, including our healthcare system,” she said. “That’s why we’re backing the UK’s fantastic innovators to save lives by boosting the frontline of our NHS and tackling the major health challenges of our time.”