Two Addenbrooke’s clinicians championing an invention that saves babies lives are to take part in the first international conference of its kind in London this weekend
Director of innovation and consultant neonatologist, Dr Sue Broster, and consultant paediatrician and neonatologist, Dr Arun Dhar, are panellists at the UK-India Healthcare Convention 2024, which explores collaboration between the UK and India.
The event, supported by both governments, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders, will cover healthcare service delivery, post-graduate medical education, and cross-cutting innovations in healthcare relevant to both countries.
Dr Broster and Dr Dhar are the driving force behind LocANTS, a cloud-based platform that effectively “parachutes” Addenbrooke’s clinicians into other hospitals, helping fellow medics care for seriously ill babies.
For the first time outside an NHS setting, LocANTS will be demonstrated by Addenbrooke’s consultant neonatologist Dr Sajeev Job, who will be working with consultants and doctors from Bedford Hospital, London’s Kings College Hospital, Royal Berkshire Hospital and Newcastle to show how it works in real time.
He will show how the technology, developed with fellow panellist London-based entrepreneur and IT Consultant Ranadip Chatterjee, enables consultants in Cambridge to monitor babies remotely.
They can read their notes, examine scans and X-rays, check readings from ventilators and infusion pumps, and give live advice to doctors, reducing the need for babies to be transferred to specialised critical care unit, such as the one at Cambridge.
Taking a keen interest will be an influential teams of doctors in India, health experts discussing LocANTS potential in Africa and Asia, and other distinguished guests from a variety of backgrounds.
Dr Dhar said:
I am very proud that we have been invited to this exciting convention which will feature a panel discussion on the scopes of collaboration between the UK and India in healthcare innovation
Our work to refine LocANTS continues, as does our interest in sharing our discoveries and bringing the benefit of this technology to even more young patients and their families.
Dr Arun Dhar
The initiative has already been welcomed by families who know their babies are getting the right care, in the right place, at the right time, and they don’t have the expense, inconvenience, and stress of visiting a different hospital.
One of the first patients to benefit was baby Aurelia Hunt, who became seriously ill after being born prematurely at Colchester Hospital. Rather than being transferred for treatment in Cambridge, Aurelia was safely cared for in Colchester, with her family able to stay together.
Although there have been great advances in neonatal care in India, there are still disparities between rich and poor with some rural areas lacking even basic new-born care.
Dr Broster said:
LocANTS is another example of life-saving equipment that has been designed by clinicians, for clinicians, and with the potential to be successfully utilised all over the world.
Dr Sue Broster
The convention is part of a larger cultural and business event called London Mahotsav 2024, which is in Wembley and brings together a diverse group of professionals, celebrities and businesses from both countries.
And the interest in LocANTS builds as Cambridge University Hospitals progresses plans to build a dedicated children's hospital on the biomedical campus.
