Data science and data management

Accurate and rapid analysis of data

During the COVID-19 pandemic, NPL’s expertise in data science had a wide range of applications and enquiries. The need for data analysis and support for remote working generated requests for our experience and knowledge.

NPL helped the Royal College of General Practitioners to produce their regular updates on communicable and respiratory diseases. NPL also worked with the Royal Surrey Hospital on supporting the remote working for as many staff as possible, not something that had been a priority before the pandemic.

NPL was able to offer help: analysing medical images, so that the maximum amount of reliable data could be extracted from scans; analysing the critical pathways in cancer care, to meet the anticipated increase in demand post-COVID; and preparing buildings for safe and efficient movement of patients and staff around hospital sites while adhering to the government guidelines.

NPL was heavily involved in testing PPE, a process that often involves several testing iterations as designs are refined. Data science allowed certain tests to be simulated, such as field of view tests, so that the computer model could predict if a design would pass the test. This helped streamline the testing and gave confidence that the PPE would pass the tests.  

NPL also investigated:

• Using signal analysis of telephone calls to GPs or 111 to diagnose COVID-19 by analysing the acoustic signals of breathing and coughing
• Analysing the link between mortality or diagnosed COVID-19 cases with air quality data to understand the impact of pollution