EPSRC Network+: Neurotechnology for enabling community-based diagnosis and care

医院的神经病学和神经生理学服务越来越不堪重负。随着人口的增长和老龄化，许多脑部疾病（如痴呆和癫痫）的发病率正在迅速增加。再加上新冠肺炎大流行，英国现在有1万多人等待一年多的神经科医生预约。事情必须改变！我们网络的目的是通过开发能够在社区中进行诊断和管理的新技术来应对这些挑战。这些服务可以在社区诊断中心、大街上的医疗保健专业人员、全科医生诊所、移动设备甚至家庭环境中提供。我们的重点将是围绕神经接口、信号处理、机器学习和数学建模建立新的数字解决方案。我们将与合作伙伴密切合作，开发使用可穿戴技术和微创设备测量大脑、眼睛、脊柱和周围神经活动的技术。总的来说，这将有助于显著提高能力，增加神经病学服务方面的专业知识。为了实现这一目标，我们将建立一个合作伙伴网络，其背景涵盖学术界、工业界、医院和全科医生手术、慈善机构和政策制定者。至关重要的是，我们将确保有过神经系统疾病经历的人处于我们网络的核心。他们的经验将为辩论提供信息，塑造我们的研究重点，确保新兴技术的可行性和可接受性。我们将使来自不同背景和职业阶段的人们能够共同努力解决具有挑战性的问题，这些问题的解决方案将带来社会效益。为了实现这一点，我们围绕连接、沟通和协作的原则计划了一系列活动。为了将人们联系起来，我们将建立一个网站和社交媒体，创建一个公共代表小组，并建立新的伙伴关系。我们会设立导师计划，并为处于不同职业阶段的人士提供职位机会，借调到伙伴机构工作。为了促进沟通，我们将与包括公众、神经系统疾病患者、卫生保健提供者和决策者在内的利益攸关方接触。我们将举办关于新兴兴趣领域的研讨会，以及一次年度会议，以庆祝整个网络的发现。为了促进合作，我们将举办活动，包括利益相关者领导的研究小组、沙坑和研究孵化器：在这些活动中，合作伙伴团队将在便利的环境中协同工作，进行为期6-9个月的可行性研究。

Hospital neurology and neurophysiology services are increasingly overwhelmed. With a growing and ageing population, the incidence of many brain conditions (such as dementia and epilepsy) are rapidly increasing. Compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are now over 10,000 people in the UK waiting more than a year for an appointment with a neurologist. Things must change!The purpose of our Network is to address these challenges through the development of new technologies that enable diagnosis and management in the community. These services could be provided in a community diagnostic hub, by high-street healthcare professionals, in a GP surgery, in a mobile unit or even in the home environment. Our focus will be on new digital solutions built around neural interfacing, signal processing, machine learning and mathematical modelling. We will work closely with partners developing technologies for measuring brain, eye, spinal, and peripheral nerve activity using wearable technology and minimally invasive devices. Collectively, this will contribute to a significant increase in capacity that will augment the expertise provided in neurology services.To achieve this, we will build a network of partners with backgrounds spanning academia, industry, hospitals and GP surgeries, charities and policy makers. Crucially we will ensure that people with lived experience of neurological conditions are at the heart of our network. Their experience will inform debate and shape our research priorities, ensuring feasibility and acceptability of emerging technologies.We will empower people from different backgrounds and career stages to work together on challenging problems whose solutions will lead to societal benefit. To enable this we plan a suite of activities built around the principles of connect, communicate and collaborate. To connect people we will build a website and social media presence, create a public representation group and build new parnterships. We will establish a mentorship scheme and post opportunities for people at different career stages to undertake secondments with partner organisations. To facilitate communication, we will engage with stakeholders including the public, people with neurological conditions, healthcare providers and policy makers. We will host workshops on emerging areas of interest, as well as an annual conference to celebrate findings from across the network. To enable collaboration we will host events including stake-holder led study groups, sandpits and research incubators: where teams of partners will work collaboratively in a facilitated environment, conducting feasibility studies over 6-9 months.