New funding will help to advance AI-powered surgical imaging technology for operating rooms across the UK and beyond.
A grant from Innovate UK will enable spinout company EnAcuity to validate its software through video recordings of surgeries conducted at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
With the integration of AI-powered image processing software, clinicians will gain access to additional features that enhance visualisation.
Founded in early 2024 as a joint venture between Imperial College London and University College London (UCL), EnAcuity has now received an esteemed Innovate UK Smart Grant to further refine its system, in collaboration with researchers from both institutions.
Experts guiding the development of this technology include Professor Daniel Elson from Imperial’s Department of Surgery and Cancer, and Professor Danail Stoyanov from UCL’s Department of Computer Science. Their involvement will shape the next phase of the AI-enhanced surgical imaging system.
The goal is to develop software that equips standard surgical cameras with capabilities comparable to those of hyperspectral imaging, without he need for costly expensive hardware upgrades.
Hyperspectral imaging surpasses the human eye in colour discrimination, enabling surgeons to visualise tissue perfusion and critical anatomical structures better, thereby reducing the risk of inadvertent injury during laparoscopy.
Professor Elson said: ‘Acquiring this type of data in laparoscopy will provide us with a unique opportunity to learn how multispectral signatures correlate with the standard endoscopic view of the surgery. I am very excited to have formed this collaboration between Imperial, UCL, EnAcuity and the NHS, which exemplifies Imperial’s promotion and support of med-tech.’
The £300,840 grant will allow validation of EnAcuity’s software using a specialised library of laparoscopic surgical videos from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
This follows a £1.28 million pre-seed funding round in 2024, which supported clinical validation in procedures such as colorectal and gallbladder surgeries.
Dr Maria Leiloglou, EnAcuity’s co-founder and CEO, said: ‘This award comes at a pivotal moment, giving us the momentum we need to accelerate our product’s entry to the market. Receiving funding from Innovate UK is a strong public endorsement of the value of our technology. It will help bring us a step closer to delivering a major technical boost that will prevent surgical complications and improve practice, benefitting patients and surgeons alike.’
Building on extensive research at Imperial and UCL, EnAcuity has received entrepreneurial support from Imperial’s WE Innovate and Wellcome Trust Hamlyn Accelerator for Surgical Innovation programmes. The company has also participated in international venture missions to Singapore and San Francisco.
