Psychologists Dr Melanie Simmonds-Buckley and Professor Jaime Delgadillo have received the 2024 Medipex NHS Innovation Award for their work on a project which aims to improve the effectiveness of psychological treatment for anxiety and depression.
The award was given for the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) technology called ‘AiOracle’ which allows psychological therapists to monitor how their patients are responding to treatment and it estimates their likelihood of recovery.
The system compares each patient's level of depression and anxiety symptoms to records for thousands of similar cases at each therapy session and evaluates a patient's therapy progress to provide a personalised probability of recovery. The AiOracle alerts therapists to cases that are showing poor progress, prompting them to identify and resolve obstacles to improvement.
“In England, around a million patients are referred each year to psychological services that treat depression and anxiety,” said Dr Simmonds-Buckley. “However, only 50 per cent recover after treatment, so finding ways to improve the effectiveness of treatment is a key priority.
“Our research findings indicate that this technology improves the efficiency and effectiveness of psychological care in NHS services.”
The 16th Medipex Innovation Awards brought healthcare innovators from the NHS, universities, companies, charities, funders and innovation support organisations together online to celebrate the innovative achievements of NHS colleagues from across the country.