Innovate UK awards over £300k SMART grant to Exeter HealthTech Research Centre and Sanome to advance AI-enabled early detection of hospital-acquired infections

February 8, 2026

Funding supports the co-design and roll-out of MEMORI, a Class IIb CE-certified SaMD platform, tailored to local clinical teams and systems

 

  • MEMORI analyses multimodal clinical data in real-time to accurately predict the risk of hospital-acquired infections, alerting clinical teams up to seven days before signs of infection.

  • The grant will also support enhancements to MEMORI’s existing capabilities by allowing the integration of additional clinical data sources and further optimisation of its machine-learning models to improve accuracy and scalability.

  • Hospital-acquired infections account for more than 20% of NHS bed days each year, with up to 55% considered preventable.


EXETER, UK [9th FEBRUARY 2026] - A collaboration between the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Sustainable Innovation and UK healthtech company Sanome has secured an Innovate UK SMART grant of over £300,000 to co-design the evolution of MEMORI, an AI-powered clinical decision support platform for earlier detection of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). 

 

Preliminary studies, as part of the first certified product, have already shown that MEMORI outperforms the NHS-standard National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) system in detecting deterioration. This 18-month collaboration will look to develop further capabilities based on:

  • New multimodal data inputs, including laboratory results, prescriptions and clinical notes, in addition to existing inputs, such as vitals, labs, observations and medications - providing instant access to more accurate insights into ‘who the patient is’ and ‘what is happening to them’.

  • Further scalable Electronic Patient Record (EPR) integration, making it easier for clinicians to access the information within existing workflows.

  • Increased predictability by a further 20%, bringing risk detection forward and creating a greater window of opportunity to save more lives.

  • Improved explainability and machine-learning performance, increasing transparency and reassurance for clinical teams and healthcare organisations.

 

MEMORI v2 will be validated in a large-scale live deployment across multiple wards at the Royal Devon University NHS Foundation Trust, addressing one of the NHS's largest clinical and financial challenges: HAIs.

HAIs, such as pneumonia, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), account for more than 7.1 million excess bed days and 21% of all bed days annually, costing the NHS an estimated £2.7 billion each year. Research shows that 35-55% of infections are preventable through earlier detection and intervention. By alerting clinical teams up to seven days before signs of infection, MEMORI supports clinicians to act before symptoms escalate, reducing complications and preventing deterioration.

 

This collaboration, supported by the NIHR Exeter Biomedical Research Centre, will help pave the way for broader rollout across the NHS, in addition to existing partnerships with, by establishing a national framework on how real-time data and AI can be used safely to transform patient outcomes at scale. 

It also lays the foundation for a long-term partnership between Sanome and the NIHR HRC in Sustainable Innovation, hosted by the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Exeter. Together, they will co-develop and test MEMORI, along with additional tools and data sources,  to build a longitudinal view of patient health, initially focused on infection risk, and over time expanding to capture a broader picture of health and disease to enable more preventative, proactive and personalised care. 

 

Benedikt von Thüngen, CEO and Founder of Sanome, said: “Our mission is to prevent deterioration before it becomes life-threatening. MEMORI shows how real-world NHS data, when safely and securely unlocked, can be transformed into actionable bedside insights that change outcomes using the power of multimodal AI. Working with the Exeter HealthTech Research Centre, with support from Innovate UK, allows us to demonstrate both the clinical and system-wide benefits of AI in one of the UK’s leading NHS Trusts.”

 

Dr Nick Kennedy, Digital Innovation and AI Theme Lead at the NIHR HRC in Sustainable Innovation and Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Royal Devon, added: “Hospital-acquired infections remain one of the biggest threats to patient safety, particularly for vulnerable patients with complex conditions. That means early intervention is vital. By co-designing MEMORI with the support of Innovate UK, we are proud to be among the first to test such technology and show how AI can support clinicians, transform patient care and ultimately save lives.”

 

Chris Sawyer, Innovation Lead Digital Health, Innovate UK added: “Supporting the safe introduction of AI into frontline NHS care is a vital step towards building a more resilient and patient-centred health service. This partnership with Sanome and Royal Devon is a strong example of how innovation and clinical expertise can come together to tackle long-standing challenges like hospital-acquired infections.”

The first impact data and evaluation from this large-scale deployment is expected throughout 2026, alongside further rollout to other NHS and healthcare organisations across the UK.