The NHS-Trusted secure video sharing service, vCreate, has announced its new asynchronous clinical video service to support epilepsy diagnoses and management in the era of coronavirus and beyond.
vCreate Neuro allows registered patients and carers to share smartphone-recorded videos of potential seizures or unknown movements with their clinical team via a secure, NHS-trusted system. The data and footage act as a visual aid to assist clinical teams with rapid precision diagnostics, creating a digitised clinical pathway that minimises the need for face-to-face clinic appointments and invasive tests.
The system is currently being piloted across Scotland and, following its initial success, across England including Great Ormond Street Hospital, Evelina London and Sheffield Children’s Hospital. The system is available to families who are concerned that they, their child or loved one may be experiencing seizures or unexplained episodes including epilepsy. Since May 2020, more than 2,000 families have shared over 5,000 videos with their clinical teams across the platform.
Dean MacLeod was referred to the service when her 7-year-old daughter, Olivia, began having unknown movements in May 2020. Dean uploaded videos of Olivia during these episodes as Olivia’s seizures grew more frequent. The videos were reviewed by Paediatric Neurology professionals at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, and, supported with telephone appointments, Olivia was diagnosed with a form of epilepsy and quickly started on treatment.
Speaking about her experience, Dean said: “I’ve found vCreate to be invaluable in Olivia’s journey since she started having seizures last summer. We live in a remote location on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, and we have a very limited paediatric service on the Island. The service has made it easy to access the specialist clinical knowledge needed by sending recordings of various seizure events to the Paediatric Neurology team at Glasgow.
“Since the diagnosis, I have kept in regular contact with the clinical team through the platform, sending videos and typically receiving advice from a Consultant within 24 hours which is fantastic. Between the vCreate service and telephone discussions, our family have not needed to have face-to-face consultations which has been hugely beneficial during the pandemic.”
Professor. Sameer Zuberi, Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, said: “vCreate Neuro has transformed how we use carer-recorded video in our service. We are diagnosing epilepsy more rapidly, preventing misdiagnosis and saving unnecessary investigations. Families feel in more control and better connected to the service.”
Dr. Jay Shetty, Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, said: “This service has significantly helped us by allowing us to review videos sent by families alongside crucial clinical information. We are now able to diagnose with more speed and accuracy, reducing hospital visits and tests and improving our communication with patients. This platform allows clinicians to collaborate, teach and conduct research to improve patient care.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people experiencing seizures and seizure-like episodes, including children, have been unable to see a clinician. vCreate Neuro aims to help by empowering patients to use asynchronous video technology for self-management, reducing the need for physical appointments.
Ben Moore, Founder of vCreate, said: “We’re passionate about family-forward care, and worked closely with clinical teams, patients and carers to develop the vCreate Neuro service. The system aims to improve patient care, reduce the number of clinic investigations – and resulting costs to the NHS – and digitise the patient pathway. We want families to be in control of their healthcare journey and have a direct link to their clinical team despite the pandemic restrictions.”
Security is a key feature of the service which runs on the UK government approved Microsoft Azure Cloud. The vCreate platform has been independently assessed and approved by Information Governance teams in over 100 UK NHS Trusts.
Within the platform, a clinical database is available as a learning resource for clinicians to study seizure types, events, and other symptoms.
