Together with Professor Alan Murray of
University of Edinburgh, Tarassenko is the inventor of the pulse-stream technique for analogue implementation of massively parallel
neural networks. He gradually moved away from designing neural network hardware to developing new machine learning algorithms and applying them to problems as diverse as the automated re-heating of food and drinks in a microwave oven (implemented in the Sharp LogiCook oven) and the analysis of sleep disorders. This body of work was recognised in 1996 by the award of the IEE Mather Premium for innovation using
neural networks. As a result, he and his Rolls-Royce collaborators were awarded the Chairman’s Team Award for Technical Innovation in 2001 and the Sir Henry Royce High Value Patent Award in 2008. When he became the first Director of the Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering in 2008, Tarassenko focused his research on patient monitoring, both in and out of hospital. His work has had a major impact on the identification of deterioration in acute care and on the management of long-term conditions. He has been a pioneer in developing early warning systems for acutely ill patients. The machine-learning system (Visensia) which he designed for patient monitoring in critical care was the first such system to gain FDA approval (in 2008). In the last decade Tarassenko has led the engineering development of several digital health products including: (a) GDm-Health, a digital therapeutic for the management of gestational diabetes; (b) SEND, a system for monitoring in-hospital patient vital signs and identifying deterioration early;(c) EDGE-COPD, a digital therapeutic for the self-monitoring and self-management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and (d) Support-HF, a system for heart failure management in the community. Tarassenko has been a founder director of four University spin-out companies, the latest being Oxehealth in September 2012. ==House of Lords==