5 May 2020 07:00
Sensyne Health announces launch of new BPm-Health™ remote monitoring system for the management of blood pressure in pregnancy in response to COVID-19 pandemic
Highlights:
· BPm-Health™ will enable pregnant women to self-monitor their blood pressure during pregnancy
· Will help healthcare professionals provide remote care for mums-to-be in line with UK government guidelines on social distancing and provision of care away from hospitals & clinics
· Company will work collaboratively with the NHS to broaden use of the product across the UK
Oxford, U.K. 05 May 2020: Sensyne Health plc (LSE: SENS) ("Sensyne" or the "Company" or the "Group"), the UK Clinical AI technology company, today announces it has launched BPm-Health to help pregnant women monitor blood pressure remotely in response to the UK government guidelines for all pregnant women to follow stringent social distancing and minimise face-to-face contact.
BPm-Health will be offered free to the NHS for one year to support hospital maternity services during the coronavirus pandemic. The formal launch of the product comes after the successful completion of recruitment of a 3000 participant multicentre trial (BuMP) involving 15 NHS Trusts, led by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford. The BuMP app was transferred to Sensyne Health earlier this year and re-engineered under the company's Quality Management System.
BPm-Health is one of three apps listed by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) in its recent guidance 'Self-monitoring of blood pressure in pregnancy'[1].
The announcement follows the high interest and uptake by the NHS of Sensyne Health's offer, announced on 27 March 2020, to provide GDm-Health, a remote monitoring system for the management of diabetes in pregnancy, free to the NHS for one year.
There has been an increasing recognition of the acceptability and benefits of self-monitoring of blood pressure during pregnancy (see references below). The COVID-19 pandemic is now increasing the need for healthcare professionals to advocate blood pressure self-monitoring in order to reduce face-to-face consultations for pregnant whilst maintaining care for the woman and her baby.
BPm-Health aims to help expectant mothers to self-monitor their blood pressure, communicating results to their healthcare team remotely rather than at face-to-face clinic appointments. Women are sent alerts when it is time to take a reading, and can then record data on the patient app. The app displays RCOG advice on what women should do dependent on the results submitted.
Lord (Paul) Drayson PhD, CEO of Sensyne Health, said:
"This is now the launch of a second Sensyne product in the field of women's health and our fourth in the area of remote patient monitoring. Sensyne is seeing increasing demand for its products and technology as healthcare systems adapt to the current situation and make plans to digitise quickly for a post-COVID-19 future."
Dr Lucy Mackillop , Chief Medical Officer of Sensyne Health plc and consultant obstetric physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, said:
"As a practicing consultant obstetric physician, I'm acutely aware that the pandemic is a cause of worry for expectant mothers as access to antenatal and postnatal services has been modified and some face-to-face appointments have been postponed.
I welcome today's launch of BPm-Health which will help NHS maternity services to support women to observe UK government guidelines on social distancing by remote monitoring of their blood pressure, while maintaining the delivery of high-quality care.
This technology adds an additional tool for women's heath, helping the NHS remotely manage pregnant women, maintain existing planned clinic appointments and provide the right care both during the COVID-19 pandemic, and long after it. BPm-Health is an excellent accompaniment to the work we have already done with GDm-Health, an award-winning app helping mothers-to-be manage diabetes in pregnancy at home."
BPm-Health is a collaboration between University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Sensyne Health led by Dr Lucy Mackillop, a consultant Obstetric Physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in women's and reproductive health at the University of Oxford, and Chief Medical Officer at Sensyne Health.
-ENDS-
For more information please contact:
Sensyne Health (www.sensynehealth.com) | +44 (0) 330 058 1845 |
Lord (Paul) Drayson PhD FREng, Chief Executive Officer |
|
Michael Norris, Interim Chief Financial Officer |
|
Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) |
+ 44 (0) 20 7418 8900 |
Dr Christopher Golden |
|
James Steel |
|
Oliver Jackson |
|
Liberum (Joint Broker) | + 44 (0) 20 3100 2000 |
Bidhi Bhoma |
|
Euan Brown |
|
Consilium Strategic Communications | +44 (0) 7780 600290 |
Mary-Jane Elliott |
|
Sukaina Virji |
|
Melissa Gardiner |
|
sensynehealth@consilium-comms.com |
|
About Sensyne Health
Sensyne Health plc is a clinical AI company that works in partnership with the NHS to improve patient care and accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines. Sensyne Health is listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange (SENS.L).
For more information, please visit: www.sensynehealth.com
References
1. McManus RJ, Mant J,Franssen M, Nickless A, Schwartz C, Hodgkinson J, et al. Efficacy of self-monitored blood pressure, with or without telemonitoring, for titration of antihypertensive medication (TASMINH4): an unmasked randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2018; 391(10124):949-59.
2. McManusRJ, Mant J, Bray EP, Holder R, Jones MI, Greenfield S, et al. Telemonitoring and self-management in the control of hypertension (TASMINH2): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2010; 376(9736):163-72.
3. McManusRJ, Mant J, Haque MS, Bray EP, Bryan S, Greenfield SM, et al. Effect of self-monitoring and medication self-titration on systolic blood pressure in hypertensive patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease: the TASMIN-SR randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2014;312(8):799-808.
4. PealingLM, Tucker KL, Mackillop LH, Crawford C, Wilson H, Nickless A, et al. A randomised controlled trial of blood pressure self-monitoring in the management of hypertensive pregnancy. OPTIMUM-BP: A feasibility trial. Pregnancy Hypertens. 2019;18:141-9.
5. Cairns AE, Tucker KL, Leeson P, Mackillop LH, Santos M, Velardo C, et al. Self-Management of Postnatal Hypertension: The SNAP-HT Trial. Hypertension.2018.
6. TuckerKL, Taylor KS, Crawford C, Hodgkinson JA, Bankhead C, Carver T, et al. Blood pressure self-monitoring in pregnancy: examining feasibility in a prospective cohort study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2017;17(1):442.
7. HintonL, Tucker KL, Greenfield SM, Hodgkinson JA, Mackillop L, McCourt C, et al.Blood pressure self-monitoring in pregnancy (BuMP) feasibility study; a qualitative analysis of women's experiences of self-monitoring. BMC PregnancyChildbirth. 2017;17(1):427.
8. GrantS, Hodgkinson J, Schwartz C, Bradburn P, Franssen M, Hobbs FR, et al. Using mHealth for the management of hypertension in UK primary care: an embedded qualitative study of the TASMINH4 randomised controlled trial. Br J Gen Pract. 2019;69(686):e612-e20.
9. JonesMI, Greenfield SM, Bray EP, Baral-Grant S, Hobbs FD, Holder R, et al. Patients' experiences of self-monitoring blood pressure and self-titration of medication: the TASMINH2 trial qualitative study. Br J Gen Pract. 2012;62(595):e135-e42.
10. Tucker KL, Bowen L, Crawford C, Mallon P,Hinton L, Lee MM, et al. The feasibility and acceptability of self-testing for proteinuria during pregnancy: A mixed methods approach. Pregnancy Hypertens. 2018;12:161-8.
[1] Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 'Self-monitoring of blood pressure in pregnancy' Information for healthcare professionals. Version 1 30 March 2020 https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/2020-03self-monitoring-of-blood-pressure-in-pregnancy.pdf