Oxford University Hospital Deploys Sight OLO Analyser, supporting validation of AI-based COVID Screening System

OXFORD, United Kingdom (March 11, 2021) -- Sight Diagnostics®, the company delivering lab-grade Full Blood Count (FBC) results in minutes, has deployed Sight OLO® at the John Radcliffe Hospital - part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The deployment allows rapid FBC testing, in minutes, for patients attending the emergency departments and is supporting validation of a rapid artificial-intelligence triage system for COVID-19. Sight OLO enables faster predictions to be generated by Oxford University’s ‘CURIAL AI’ screening test, which leverages patients’ routine vital signs and FBC results to predict the likelihood of a patient having COVID-19. 

Developed by a cross-disciplinary team at Oxford University, the CURIAL algorithm has proven to be an effective triage tool that can rule-out COVID-19 within the first hour of patients coming to the hospital. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests typically have a turnaround time of 12-48 hours and require specialist equipment and staff, while the more rapid lateral flow assays and antigen tests have produced mixed efficacy results. With CURIAL, Sight OLO could allow staff in emergency rooms to receive an accurate prediction to rule-out COVID-19 in under 30 minutes.

“Having accurate FBC results in minutes, from OLO, would help CURIAL make predictions even sooner, potentially reducing care delays and supporting infection control within hospitals. Our goal is to get the right treatment to patients sooner by helping rule-out Covid at triage for a majority of patients who don’t have the infection,” said Dr. Andrew Soltan, an Academic Clinician and a Machine Learning Researcher at Oxford University. “This project shows that artificial intelligence can work with rapid diagnostics to help us select the best care pathways and minimize risks of spreading the infection in hospitals.” 

About the size of a toaster oven, Sight OLO is compact and uses a cartridge-based system that does not require external reagents or routine calibration and maintenance, making it simple to set-up and operate wherever* FBC is needed. “We are excited to trial OLO point of care FBC analyser in the ED as a way to validate the CURIAL algorithm even faster than traditional lab-based results,” said Dr. Ravi Pattanshetty, a Consultant (Attending) in Emergency Medicine at the John Radcliffe Hospital. “We have found OLO really easy to use and we hope to use OLO in the future to improve routine clinical care for our patients.”

“We’re proud to collaborate with a cutting-edge institution like Oxford University on their CURIAL analysis program to help manage the effects of the pandemic,” said Yossi Pollak, CEO and Co-founder of Sight Diagnostics. “We see time and again when FBC results are made available to clinicians quickly and easily, patient care models are reconfigured for the better. The CURIAL project is a beacon of what’s possible, and we are keen to support other health institutions by enabling access to fast, convenient and accurate FBC through OLO.” 

*Sight OLO received regulatory approval for use in the UK and is CE Marked according to the IVD European directive at point of care settings. In the United States, Sight OLO is 510(k) cleared for use in moderate complexity laboratories.

About Sight Diagnostics

Founded in 2011, Sight Diagnostics aims to transform health systems and patient outcomes through fast, accurate and convenient blood diagnostic testing. Sight’s technology, developed over a decade of research, represents breakthrough innovations in diagnostic methodology. Sight’s latest blood analyzer, Sight OLO, performs a Complete Blood Count, the most commonly ordered blood test, in minutes. It’s compact: designed to be used in a variety of settings. Sight OLO creates a digital version of a blood sample by capturing more than 1,000 highly detailed images from just two drops of blood obtained from a finger prick or venous sample. These images are then interpreted by proprietary and fully automated AI algorithms. Sight’s first product, ParasightTM, has been used to detect malaria in almost 1 million tests across 24 countries. The company has rapidly growing offices in the UK, the US and Israel. Learn more at www.SightDX.com. 

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