Med Tech-related technology assessments from NICE in September 2026

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops HealthTech Guidance (HTG) to evaluate HealthTech products (such as diagnostics, medical devices, and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence) and interventional procedures. The program focuses on assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of HealthTech products and the safety and efficacy of interventional procedures. 

NICE uses a lifecycle approach for HTG, reflecting the development stage of technology: Early use (innovative technologies with potential to address NHS unmet needs but insufficient evidence); Routine use (innovative technologies with sufficient evidence for widespread NHS adoption); Existing use (assess technologies in widespread use in the NHS to inform commissioning and procurement decisions).

NICE generally makes four types of recommendations: “Can be used” is the most favorable recommendation, meaning routine NHS use; “Can be used during the evidence generation period” – recommendation is conditional on evidence generation; “More research is needed” – limits the use to research settings only; “Should not be used”. Recommendations are not binding, although they are typically followed by providers and commissioners.

In September 2026, NICE released a new early-use HTG on digital technologies to support home monitoring of vision changes for people with advanced dry age-related macular degeneration. NICE concluded that more research is needed on four technologies before they can be funded by the NHS: Alleye (Oculocare Medical); DigiVis DVA (Cambridge Medical Innovation); OdySight (Tilak Healthcare); OKKO for AMD (OKKO Health).

Furthermore, a clinical guideline was updated regarding the recognition, assessment, and early management of suspected sepsis in people aged 16 or over. Updates concerned procalcitonine testing. It is now recommended in acute hospital settings, in addition to standard assessments, for adults with suspected sepsis who are at medium or high risk of severe illness or death, to assist clinical decision-making within the early management period.

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