Professor Lionel Tarassenko (on the right) at Oxehealth on the Oxford Science Park, with Dr Oliver Gibson, who completed his doctorate in Prof. Tarassenko’s research group and is now the Director of Research at Oxehealt.
A company spun out of Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineeering in 2012 and founded by Reuben College President Professor Lionel Tarassenko has been announced as the winner of the 2022 Financial Times Tech Champion for Healthcare. Oxehealth, via its Oxevision non-contact monitoring system, has pioneered video-based technology which has had a significant and positive impact with regards to the safety and care of mental health inpatients.
According to a recent article in the FT, there is a greater risk of unexpected or unintended events causing a death within a mental health inpatient community than there is for general hospital inpatients. The ability to track vital signs provides opportunities to identify patient deterioration more quickly. Oxevision monitors and measures a patient’s breathing and pulse rates via a video camera located in the room. It also generates alerts when potentially high-risk activity is detected. The software has been adopted by many mental health NHS Trusts across England and its introduction has been welcomed by both staff and patients.
It may seem apt that Prof. Tarassenko has been involved with University spin-outs for the past two decades, given that innovation and entrepreneurship have in underpinning the strategic direction of Reuben College. Encouraging and supporting College members, especially its student community, in entrepreneurial endeavours is a key tenet driving the College as it continues its development. Such an initiative, the 1KN programme, was developed at Reuben to provide an essential addition to the extensive offerings in Oxford about innovation and entrepreneurship. It builds on years of experience by Professor Jeroen Bergmann, a Fellow of the College, running needs-driven innovation training programmes at the University of Oxford.
The 1KN programme originated from the idea of the challenges that we will face in 2039, 20 years after Reuben College was founded. (The name “1KN” comes from representing the year 2039 as a Base-36 system.) The 1KN programme is an initiative aimed at identifying the underlying needs of specific global problems and creating solutions, which are socially sustainable. It has been running every Tuesday evening this term. Two strong teams of students who come from a range of different disciplines and backgrounds have already emerged with unique insights into hospital logistics and ADHD. They will be presenting their solutions to the rest of the college in at one of its “Dinner with Dinosaurs” in Hilary Term.
