North East MedTech company PolyPhotonix, based in Sedgefield in County Durham, has had its “innovative” diabetes sleep mask adopted in the NHS for the first time.
The “pioneering” treatment to prevent blindness in people suffering from diabetic retinopathy has been adopted by Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Shown to improve patients’ visual acuity, the mask could potentially save the health service millions of pounds a year.
Backed by the RENDER Study, the sleep mask has demonstrated improvement and stabilisation of diabetic eye disease in 96 per cent of patients. It is an early-stage
non-invasive alternative to current, later-stage invasive treatments such as eye injections for patients with the condition; which is a “leading cause of blindness in Europe”.
Based on research undertaken by Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust, improving patient outcomes with an earlier stage intervention could save the NHS £3,000 per patient. It is believed that the sleep mask could deliver cost savings estimated in excess of £180m per year if adopted across the NHS.