More than £215,000 awarded to hospital for cutting edge research equipment
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded more than £215,000 to purchase a new cutting-edge 4D cardiac ultrasound machine, which will expand scope and innovation of clinical research at the hospital.
The GE Vivid E95 4D heart scanner will be used for research purposes to investigate and monitor specific heart conditions and will support both local and international studies.
The greater accuracy gained from this innovative machine will produce improved confidence in the research outcomes in studies that patients are involved in.
The Trust’s cardiology research is currently successfully delivering the SHORT (Streamlined Heart failure Optimisation pRoTocol) trial, which was designed and implemented by The QEH.
In total, 60 patients have been recruited onto to study which looks at reducing the time taken for patients with heart failure to receive optimal treatment.
Tom Dymond, Lead for Research, Innovation and Development, said: “This is an exciting development for research and innovation at The QEH.
“The exclusive use of a cutting-edge 4D heart scanner will let researchers examine heart disease in greater detail.
“It will also allow us to get involved in exciting new trials of medicines that used to treat heart problems.”
In addition, The QEH will also be able to create a new patient-centred clinical research suite located on the hospital’s cardiology ward (Tilney).
This will allow more regular cardiac monitoring of research participants. This allows clinicians to examine patients more closely and deliver better outcomes.
The QEH’s successful capital bid comes from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) who have awarded more than £96 million to over 90 NHS organisations across England.
Mr Rudolf Deuhmke, Consultant Cardiologist at QEH, said: “This is fantastic news. The additional scanning room and scanner will improve our research infrastructure and allow us to set up more advanced trials.”