Early Career Researchers

The trial began in December 2022 and aims to improve the way patients are assessed prior to major abdominal surgery, to help reduce complications patients face by tailoring postoperative care to the individual. Just under 200 patients took part in the trial, using medical grade wearable technology to monitor patients’ physical health at home.

The research was led by Professor David Jayne and his team at the University of Leeds. It explored the use of the latest digital technology and AI to enhance researchers understanding of perioperative risk.

Every patient responds differently to surgery and how an individual’s health is impacted can be unpredictable, particularly for high-risk patients. Currently, the methods used to assess the fitness of patients like the cardiopulmonary exercise test (exercising on a cycle ergometer) have some limitations for patients with mobility issues.  

Thanks to this trial, patients with bowel, pancreatic and bladder cancer had the opportunity to use innovative wearable devices to track their fitness at home, providing a more inclusive way for surgeons to assess patients’ physical health.

Alexios Dosis, Clinical Research Fellow, whose role in this project has been funded by Leeds Hospitals Charity, told us: “The trial conducted in Leeds is the largest of its kind in the world using wearable technology in the preoperative setting in clinical trials. Leeds Hospitals Charity funding has enabled Leeds to become one of the first to use innovative medical grade technology in research to make major abdominal surgery safer for patients.”

“The focus of our trial was how we can use free-living data before surgery to give new insights on how to assess fitness and prevent complications for patients’ from surgery. We are now analysing the results and hope that this will enable us to create new models with prediction scores, helping us to better understand risks that patients may face. It’s been amazing to see how willing our patients are to support research that will benefit future generations of cancer patients.”

The new models that will be developed aim to complement existing methods and help reduce overall complications that high-risk patients face in surgery, meaning less patients will need to spend time on the Intensive Care Unit.

Alexios also envisions that the use of technology will have a dual purpose, as a tool that can be used both as a pre-screening tool, but also as a prehabilitation method for patients undergoing surgery.

Based on the results of the research, the team will put together a portfolio of clinical evaluations with high-quality evidence generation to position Leeds as a leading centre in the evaluation of mobile digital healthcare technology.

The trial hopes to inform and unlock opportunities to expand this remote monitoring method to other patients, for example patients waiting for transplant surgery.

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