An Innovate UK grant will help spinout EnAcuity validate its software on video from operations at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
The standard cameras used in keyhole surgery only show surgeons what they would normally see with the naked eye. But add image processing software powered by artificial intelligence, and many more features become visible.
Making this happen is the mission of EnAcuity, a joint spinout from Imperial and University College London (UCL). Set up in early 2024, the company has now been awarded a prestigious Innovate UK Smart Grant to further develop its system, in collaboration with researchers at the two universities.
Beyond clinical data collection, EnAcuity's technology development will be shaped by experts: Professor Daniel Elson at Imperial's Department of Surgery and Cancer and Professor Danail Stoyanov from UCL's Department of Computer Science, who will guide the next phase of the AI surgical imaging system.
The aim is to further develop software that will give a standard surgical camera the abilities of a hyperspectral imaging system, without the need for a costly hardware upgrade.
This award comes at a pivotal moment, giving us the momentum we need to accelerate our product's entry to the market. Dr Maria Leiloglou CEO and co-founder, EnAcuity
Hyperspectral imaging systems are better at discriminating colours than the human eye, and allow surgeons to see tissue perfusion and critical structures more clearly. This in turn helps to prevent unwanted injuries during keyhole surgery, technically known as laparoscopy.
"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," said Professor Elson. "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."
Unique surgical library
The grant, worth £300,840, will allow the consortium to validate EnAcuity's software using a unique library of surgical video data from laparoscopic procedures at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. This follows a £1.28 million pre-seed funding round in 2024 that is supporting clinical validation of the company's technology in colorectal and gallbladder surgeries, also carried out at the trust.
"This award comes at a pivotal moment, giving us the momentum we need to accelerate our product's entry to the market," said Dr Maria Leiloglou, EnAcuity's co-founder and chief executive.
"Receiving funding from Innovate UK is a strong public endorsement of the value of our technology and will help bring us a step closer to delivering a major technical boost that will help prevent surgical complications and improve practice, benefiting patients and surgeons alike," she said.
EnAcuity exemplifies exactly the kind of entrepreneurial talent we aim to nurture at Imperial, combining deep technical expertise with bold vision and global ambition. Ben Mumby-Croft Director of Entrepreneurship, Imperial Enterprise Lab
The company builds on years of research at Imperial and UCL and has received entrepreneurship support from Imperial's WE Innovate and the Wellcome Trust Hamlyn Accelerator for Surgical Innovation programmes. EnAcuity has also taken part in Enterprise Lab Venture Trek missions to Singapore and San Francisco.
"EnAcuity exemplifies exactly the kind of entrepreneurial talent we aim to nurture at Imperial, combining deep technical expertise with bold vision and global ambition," said Ben Mumby-Croft, Director of Entrepreneurship, Imperial Enterprise Lab. "It's fantastic to see their potential recognised by Innovate UK as they take the next step in improving outcomes for patients and surgeons alike."
"We are thrilled to see EnAcuity receive this significant recognition and support from Innovate UK," said Weng Sie Wong, Senior Business Manager at UCL Business. "Their innovative approach to enhancing surgical imaging has the potential to transform laparoscopic surgery techniques and have a substantial impact on healthcare."
