NIHR Brain Injury HTC becomes a MedTech Co-operative
The NIHR Brain Injury Healthcare Technology Co-operative has been awarded core funding of £1.25 million to continue its work to drive medtech innovation for patients after an acquired brain injury for a further 5 years (2018-2023) under the new banner of a Medtech Co-operative. The Co-operative has expertise in eleven clinical theme areas – with professional leadership as shown below – reflecting the patient pathway from initial ictus to final outcome and reintegration into the community:
• Prevention and Pre- Hospital Care (Prof. Mark Wilson, Imperial College London),
• Neurocritical Care (Prof. David Menon),
• Multi-Modality Monitoring (Prof. Peter Hutchinson),
• Intracranial Dynamics and Shunt Technology (Prof. Marek Czosnyka),
• Functional Neuroimaging/Neurophysiology (Prof. Franklin Aigbirhio),
• Neuro-oncology (Dr. Stephen Price),
• Paediatrics and Neuro Development (Prof. David Rowitch and Dr. Topun Austin),
• Regenerative Neuroscience (Dr. Mark Kotter),
• Neurorehabilitation (Prof. Valerie Pomeroy, University of East Anglia),
• Cognition and Mental Health (Prof. Barbara Sahakian),
• Neuropsychological Rehabilitation (Dr. Andrew Bateman, Oliver Zangwill Centre)
These themes are underpinned by four core support activities:
• Patient and Public Involvement (Prof. Christi Deaton);
• MedTech Regulation and Evaluation (Dr. Peter Jarritt);
• Clinical Informatics and Registries (Dr. Alexis Joannides);
• Health Economics and Eco-system Modelling (Prof. Alonso Pena, University of Milan)
The MedTech Co-operative has a UK wide remit and will work with patients and public, NHS organisations and universities, including other MedTech and In vitro Diagnostic Co-operative (MICs), research councils, charities, industry, including SMEs and start-ups to provide a structured and systematic approach to find areas of unmet need that might be amenable to a technology-based innovation, facilitate the generation of innovative solutions and foster the translation of viable solutions from initial concept to successful market adoption and sustainable clinical impact.
