Ever wondered how technology is transforming healthcare for our youngest? A Scottish MedTech company is leading a pioneering NHS study to dramatically improve how childhood sleep disorders are diagnosed. This innovative approach could solve significant bottlenecks in the healthcare system. What could this mean for the future of paediatric medicine?
A Scottish MedTech company, Seluna, is embarking on a significant clinical validation study with the NHS, aiming to revolutionize the diagnosis and management of childhood sleep disorders. This ambitious initiative highlights a crucial step forward in addressing an often-underserved area of paediatric medicine.
Collaborating with the esteemed Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, Seluna’s study will involve 500 anonymised patients under 18 years old. Scheduled to run until the end of 2025, this extensive research phase is designed to rigorously evaluate the efficacy and reliability of their innovative diagnostic system, key to advancing paediatric sleep diagnosis.
At the core of Seluna’s approach is its diagnostic as a medical device (SaMD), engineered to automatically interpret complex sleep study data. This cutting-edge MedTech innovation leverages a sophisticated pipeline of machine-learning algorithms, showcasing the power of artificial intelligence to streamline a process traditionally bogged down by manual interpretation.
The validation study follows a period of notable financial success for Seluna, which recently secured nearly £650,000 in funding. This substantial investment comes from continued support from existing backers like Gabriel Investment Syndicate, Scottish Enterprise, and the University of Strathclyde, alongside new investor STAC Invest, underscoring strong confidence in their vision for healthcare technology.
Seluna is uniquely positioned to fill a critical void in paediatric sleep medicine and child health. They aspire to be the first SaMD specifically developed for diagnostics in this underserved market, offering a much-needed alternative to current gold-standard pathways that are slow, labour-intensive, and create significant bottlenecks in an already strained healthcare system.
Dr. Ruth Hamilton, a consultant clinical scientist and principal investigator at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, emphasized the compelling aspect of Seluna’s focus on explainable Artificial Intelligence. This clarity is vital, as clinicians often lack the physiological insights needed to predict which children will truly benefit from treatments, including surgical interventions, even after a diagnosis.
The Glasgow study represents the initial phase of a broader, multi-site validation program, with additional NHS clinical study sites anticipated to join later this year. This multi-centre strategy is crucial for capturing population data that accurately reflects the wider UK demographic, thereby minimizing bias in model development and ensuring Seluna’s advanced healthcare technology can equitably serve children from all communities and backgrounds.
