Digital Health Coffee Time Briefing ☕

Your morning summary of digital health news, information and events to know about if you want to be “in the know”.

👇 News

🏥 North Bristol and Weston Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) have marked one year of providing diagnostic tests for conditions including cancer, heart and lung disease to members of the community. The two CDCs have carried out a total of 50,000 tests since opening in April 2024, helping ensure patients start their treatment sooner. Both CDCs are run in partnership with independent healthcare provider InHealth.

🤖 University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has received a £2 million robotic surgery system that will enable surgeons to operate to hundreds more cancer patients each year. The Da Vinci Xi robot, manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, is funded by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Charity, with money raised by supporters and through legacy donations. It is the third robot bought using charitable funds and will boost the number of robotic procedures by more than 440 to around 1,300 a year.

🔬 Researchers from the University of Leeds have improved the Electronic Frailty Index (eFI) to help GPs more accurately identify frailty risks in older patients and intervene earlier. The eFI was first developed by Leeds academics and introduced across the UK in 2016. The new eFI2 system, funded by National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), improves its accuracy by integrating data on 36 health conditions including dementia, falls and fractures, weight loss and repeat prescriptions.

💰 UK biotech company Aelius Biotech has raised £750,000 to fund its expansion in Europe and the US. Aelius Biotech’s laboratory gut model is used to trial new drugs and foodstuffs without the need for animal testing. It provides testing services for consumer health, pharmaceutical and “functional food” companies. The funding was secured via the North East Venture Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia Ventures.

🧑🏾‍💻The University of Greater Manchester and audiovisual solutions company Universal AV have completed a new medical school building at the university’s Institute of Medicine, which features updated technology to support teaching. The building, which can hold up to 1,100 students, includes six hospital-style training rooms with video recording equipment, a large LED screen in the lecture theatre and classrooms that let students and staff connect their own devices for greater functionality. 

❓Did you know? 

An AI-powered lung ultrasound tool has outperformed human experts by 9% in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), according to a new study presented to audiences at ESCMID Global 2025 on 14 April, 2025.

The tool, called ULTR-AI suite, works with handheld ultrasound devices that connect to smartphones and meets World Health Organisation standards for TB tests that don’t require sputum samples, correctly identifying 93% of cases and correctly ruling out 81% of non-cases.

The study, which involved 504 patients, suggests that a faster, non-invasive and scalable alternative to chest X-rays could help address diagnostic gaps in countries with limited access to radiologists.

📖 What we’re reading

The study ‘Digital physical activity intervention via the Kidney Beam platform in patients with polycystic kidney disease: a randomized controlled trial‘, published in the March 2025 edition of the Clinical Kidney Journal, explores how a digital programme combining education and physical activity could improve mental wellbeing in people with polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

Delivered through the Kidney Beam platform, the 12-week intervention led to significant improvements in quality of life measures, including emotional wellbeing, energy levels and perceived burden of disease.

The randomised trial involved 60 adults with PKD and found that participants also showed greater engagement with self-management and healthier behaviours. Researchers say the findings suggest digital health tools tailored to PKD could support day-to-day wellbeing alongside standard kidney care. 

Sharlene Greenwood, co-founder and chief medical officer of Kidney Beam, said: “Despite its benefits, there has been limited support for people living with PKD to engage in physical activity.

“We hope to see this intervention offered to all PKD patients as part of their routine kidney care.”

🚨 Upcoming events

15 May, Northumbria University – Working Well in Healthcare