Our Story

Flush-Tech Limited is an innovative company that looks to simplify a healthcare challenge for both hospital inpatients and healthcare personnel. The company was birthed through a Flush-Tech co-founder’s chemotherapy experience as he required renal surveillance, sadly, because it wasn’t performed properly, he’s been left with some long-term implications. Through research, it is apparent that there’s an urgent need for technological intervention. This is because accurate UO for inpatients that require monitoring is a challenge that plagues hospital wards. Hence, Flush-Tech’s solution of an integrated frictionless process where in a nutshell, inpatients’ urine output (UO) volumes could be accurately measured without disrupting their normal routines.

Our Mission

**Our Mission is to improve the accuracy of inpatients’ UO measurements within hospital wards, to assess whether or not they have oliguria *(significantly reduced [UO])*.**
By implementing Flush-Tech’s toilet-bowl sensor (TBS), oliguria within hospital inpatients may be swiftly identified, permitting timely medical interventions to potentially prevent acute kidney injury (AKI) in hospital inpatients as oliguria is a biomarker of AKI.
To understand our mission, here’s some literature that justifies it;
Early-detection of hospital inpatients suffering AKI is found in oliguria *(Goldstein, 2020)*. This biomarker is quicker than serum creatinine (SCr) analysis (The Gold Standard) in detecting an AKI *(Gameiro, Branco and Lopes, 2020)*.
UO-measurements are completed through fluid-balance charts (FBCs) and are the most problematic task within said charts; validating research since 1985 (*Commencement of documentation/publication of FBCs*) that reveals FBCs are inaccurately maintained *(Boylan & Brown, 1985)*. Consequently, 70% of FBCs within NHS Trust wards are inaccurate, according to research from an NHS AKI specialist. This results in healthcare-personnel often using catheters for UO-monitoring, increasing inpatients’ risks of urinary tract infections (UTI)s *(Macedo, 2015)*.
Evidence of the desperate need for innovation is apparent as, as recently as in 2021, the problematic recurrences led to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) ordering hospitals to improve FBC-maintenance due to frequent inaccuracies *(Ely, 2021)*. This missed care significantly contributes to 100,000 AKI related deaths in the UK annually *(Think Kidneys, 2017)* and accurate UO-monitoring is key in preventing 20-30% of these deaths as estimated to be preventable *(NHS, 2014)*.
This is why early-detection, which oliguria provides, is key in reducing complications and preventing deaths *(NICE, 2019)*. The current flawed UO-monitoring approach significantly contributes to the NHS’s AKI treatment expense of over £1Billion annually *(NICE, 2021)*.
Inpatients should be as comfortable as possible while under care in a hospital ward. Also, ward nurses work very hard and in fact have way too much of a responsibility while on the ward. Their stellar efforts amidst COVID-19 proves this. We can’t expect them to work any harder, however, with technology, we can help them work smarter. Through digitisation, this could be achieved.
This is why Flush-Tech has developed the prototype of a digital enhancement tool (**The TBS**) which automates the performance of UO-measurements. This would provide swift UO-data to healthcare personnel. With the envisaged digital upgrade, Flush-Tech looks to positively impact millions of inpatients, while in tandem saving the NHS millions of pounds.

Our Partnerships

Innovate UK EDGE

In 2022, through the synergy built between Innovate UK Edge and Flush-Tech, Flush-Tech was connected to Greater Manchester’s ‘North of England Robotics Innovation Centre (NERIC)’, ‘AI Foundry’ & ‘**Print**City **Network’** programs. At least 2 of these organisations will play a role in the upgrade of Flush-Tech’s innovation.

In 2020, Flush-Tech connected with an ISO 13485 certified product developer who in tandem with Flush-Tech & UHS, performed “Industrial Research” on the TBS. This resulted in fruitful discoveries and the development of a version 1 prototype. Flush-Tech will continue to work with the NHS & ISO 13485 certified partners to commercialise the TBS.