Evolv has been awarded Phase 2 funding of almost £800, 000 through the SBRI Healthcare Competition 18 ‘Stroke and Technology’. The funding is provided by the Accelerated Access Collaborative and the NHS England through SBRI Healthcare in collaboration with the Stroke Association .
Building upon its successful Phase 1 project completed in 2022, Phase 2 will allow Evolv to further develop a series of new features in EvolvRehab that allow stroke survivors to access from home high dose and intensive therapeutic activity that helps reduce impairment levels of the upper limb.
The Evolv RehabKit hardware system provides access to a suite of tailored exergaming activities monitored remotely by a therapist, which can help stroke survivors reduce impairment, improve the quality of movement of the upper limb while promoting greater self-management of their condition.
This project will also give Evolv a unique opportunity to work directly with various NHS community stroke rehabilitation teams to ensure that EvolvRehab can fit seamlessly into the existing stroke care pathway. An important aim of EvolvRehab is to help reduce the burden on NHS therapists who are under enormous pressure to deliver quality care out to a growing number of patients in the community.
Evolv is fortunate to be working with a very strong group of research and clinical partners in this project, including Dr Phil Clatworthy at the University of Bristol, Helen Dawes, Maedeh Mansoubi, Claire Hulme and Gordon Taylor at the University of Exeter, Martin Warner at the University of Southampton and Nick Ward at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Upper Limb Neurorehabilitation Programme.
David Fried, CEO of Evolv, reflected on the importance of the funding award, “This new round of funding through the SBRIH allows us to continue developing our EvolvRehab telerehabilitation platform for persons who have suffered to stroke, allowing them to focus on improving the quality of improvement of their affected limb and become more active participants in their recovery. We then have the opportunity with our research and clinical partners to test it up to 6 months with 70 NHS patients around England who have recently suffered a stroke and who are receiving rehabilitation at home with community therapists. This feasibility trial will also look at the value for money that EvolvRehab provides the NHS through a detailed health economics study.”
Evolv received important support from the West of England Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and the SETsquared Partnership which helped secure this important award.
For more Information, please read the awards announcement from the SBRIH here .