Mersey Burns - Former Army captain designs lifesaving phone app to improve accuracy of fluids for burns victims
Last updated 11/16/2011 11:08:05 AM
Mersey Burns - lifesaving phone app to improve accuracy of fluids for burns victims
A former captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps has helped created an iPhone and iPad application after seeing the horrific injuries burns caused to fellow soldiers.
Chris Seaton , a PhD student studying Computer Science at The University of Manchester, has produced research which dramatically reduces the possibility of errors in treating burns victims, which can save lives and prevent severe disfigurement.
Critical to the chances of survival after a burns injury is taking on the correct amount of fluids. Traditionally, doctors will have to make a quick series of pen and paper calculations to assess the ideal amount.The margin for error on doing this is high, and is also time consuming. The app – called Mersey Burns – allows for exact and rapid calculations.On a touchscreen phone, the user simply colours in the sufferer's burnt area on a computer model of a torso, adds in the person's age and weight (estimated if not exactly known), and the precise amounts of fluids are instantly calculated.
Because it can be used on a phone, the calculations can be made anywhere, but people can also ring a doctor who can use the app to generate the result. Soldiers without a medic nearby in combat zones could use the app themselves or contact the nearest doctor.Tests the research team carried out showed the iPhone app reduced errors made by pen and paper by a third.In the army for four years, including a seven-month tour in Afghanistan, as well as deployments in Kenya, Canada and all over the UK, Chris was keen to develop the research after seeing horrific burns injuries sustained by others.
Chris said: "There is great possibility for creating really innovative technology by pairing up small touch screen devices with medicine. Even simple ideas can make a big difference and all it takes is a doctor getting together with a computer scientist to make it a reality."
The app was awarded a £5,000 prize at the NH carried out the research alongside Rowan Pritchard Jones and Professor Paul McArthur, plastic surgeons at St Helens and Knowsley NHS Trust and academics at the University of Liverpool.
Rowan , the clinician on the project, said: "Mersey Burns makes the prescription of fluids to burns patients more accurate and less time consuming and it uses the touchscreen phone technology that most physicians already carry around in their pockets."
The research won a £5,000 prize at the NHS North West Health Innovation and Education Cluster Excellence in Innovation Awards 2011. S North West HIEC (Health Innovation and Education Cluster) Excellence in Innovation Awards 2011.