Professor John Crowe from The University of Nottingham, UK, introduces MindTech, the IHR-funded health technology co-operative. MindTech is all about bringing technology developers together with academia, users and healthcare professionals to develop new ways of treating, monitoring and supporting people with mental health problems.

1. The UK NIHR Health Technology Co-operative (HTC) in
Mental Health and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- ‘MindTech’
John Crowe1, C Hollis2, R Morriss2, MF Valstar3,
L Bai3, D Daley2, P Blanchfield3
1 Faculty
of Engineering, 2 Institute of Mental Health,
3 Computer Science
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3. NIHR HTCs
“The aims of the NIHR Healthcare Technology Co-operatives (HTCs)
are to:
• act as a catalyst for NHS “pull” for the development of new
medical devices, healthcare technologies and technologydependent interventions
• focus on clinical areas and/or themes of high morbidity which
have high potential for improving quality of life of NHS patients
and improving the effectiveness of healthcare services that
support them
• work collaboratively with patients and patient groups, charities,
industry and academics.”
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4. 8 new HTCs launched : 2013 for 4 years
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Chronic gastrointestinal (GI) disease
Brain injury
Cardiovascular disease
Devices for dignity (D4D)
Wound prevention & treatment
Colorectal therapies
Mental health & neurodevelopmental disorders
Trauma management
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5. MindTech
NIHR HTC in Mental health & neurodevelopmental disorders
University of Nottingham Innovation Park
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6. Why Mental Health?
• Huge economic cost to UK - £105bn per year
• Largest area of government health spending (13%)
• Little technological innovation
• Subjective clinical assessment dominates practice
• Lack of engagement with SMEs
• Strong public and patient involvement (PPI)
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8. Clinical Landscape
• Mood Disorders
– Unipolar depression
– Bipolar depression
• Neurodevelopmental disorder
– Autism spectrum disorder
– Tourette syndrome
– Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
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9. Current prevalence of disorders of the brain in Europe
Mental retardation
1.0
opiate dependence
0.4
OCD
GAD
0.7
Eating disorder
0.9
Cannabis dependence
1.0
1.7
Specific
phobia
Psychotic disorder
1.2
Personality dis.
1.3
6.4
PTSD
Social
phobia
2.3
2.0
Conduct disorder
Agoraphobia
3.0
Alcohol dependence
2.0
3.4
Somatoform disorders
ADHD
Panic
disorder
4.9
1.8
5.0
0
Dementia
4
8
12
5.4
Unipolar depression
6.9
Insomnia
7.0
Anxiety disorders
14.0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Wittchen et al 2011 European Neuropsychopharmacology
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10. Bringing Partners Together
Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust
NHS
ADDISS
IMH1
Computer
Science
Tourettes
Action
Patients
Clinicians
Medilink
HTC
University
Biomedical
Engineering
Academics
QbTech
Industry
TTO2
SMEs
BuddyApp
Buzz3D
Business
RedEmbedded
1: Institute of Mental Health
2: Technology Transfer Office
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11. Technology Innovation Pipeline
Patients, Clinicians, NHS Trusts
Identifying Need
Implementation
Development
NICE/ HTA
NICE/ HTA
Academics & SMEs
Facial affect recognition
QbTest
RedEmbedded
BuddyApp
Automated tic monitoring
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12. Personalised Ambient Monitoring (PAM)
User input:
• General health
questionnaires
• Mood selfassessment
Wearable Node
•Acceleration
•General light level
•Artificial light level
•Ambient sound
properties
GSM
location
GPS
module
XYZ
accelerometer
Internal
accelerometer
Bluetooth
Encounters*
- Bluetooth
- 3G / GPRS
- User input
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13. Identifying meaningful locations
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14. Automated objective assessment of
mood and behaviour
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15. Automatic tic monitoring & analysis
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Face and expression recognition
Automatic eye blink detection
Hand and body tracking
Integration & tic data analysis
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16. Games that engage
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For diagnosis and treatment
Work with ADHD children shows they will engage with games
Games that treat and promote interaction with therapist
Playful environments to encourage young people to discuss
their emotional reactions
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17. Qb Test: Objective Assessment of ADHD
• Computerised assessment of
attention and activity
• Supports clinical decision
making
• Provides patients with
objective reports on their
condition
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18. Text messaging app to
support therapy
Diary:
SMS or web
Analysis tool
Goal
reminders
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Appointment
prompts
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19. Delivering
Remote
Care
Integration
Connecting people visually:
a key enabler in
remote care delivery
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20. What can we offer ?
• Collaboration with SMEs & academics
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Clinical expertise
Technology Trials
Patient Public Participation (PPI)
Early stage Health Economics
Advice on NICE assessment procedures
An understanding of clinical pathways
Advice on procurement procedures
Technological expertise & regulatory advice
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21. Contact
Prinicipal Investigator
Prof Chris Hollis
chris.hollis@nottingham.ac.uk
Prof John Crowe
john.crowe@nottingham.ac.uk
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