Seven East of England companies will receive up to £100k each in Government funding to progress innovations in key priority areas for UK healthcare.

An RFID system that ensures that the correct drugs are given intravenously, an ultrasonic patch for drug delivery and a sensor system that allows the home monitoring of people with a heightened risk of physical injury were among the local technologies to receive grants.

Companies were asked to come up with ideas capable of “making a difference” in three categories: 'managing long-term conditions,' patient safety,' and 'keeping children active.' All proposals had to demonstrate that they could also contribute to achieving a low carbon environment.

In the 'patient safety' category, ABMS in West Bergholt, Essex, has developed an intravenous drug delivery system that integrates the disposable drug container within the delivery device, with the aim of eliminating potentially fatal medication errors.  

Preliminary concept work has shown that an RFID tag prepared by the pharmacy and attached to the drug container can be read by the device and used for automatic programming, thereby dramatically reducing errors.

Awarded its grant in the 'managing long-term conditions' category, Sonovia Ltd (www.sonovia.net), based at Melbourn Science Park, has developed a novel ultrasonic patch technology for use in therapeutic and drug delivery applications for patients with chronic musculoskeletal conditions.

The patch approach allows problem areas to be targeted to provide direct therapy from the passage of ultrasound combined with enhanced penetration of active substances such as anti-inflammatories and analgesics. The company believes that the nature of the device makes it suitable for use in the home.

The technology also has cosmetic applications as a treatment for aged skin, cellulite, scars, stretch marks and cellulite.

Successful in the same category, Hidalgo Ltd (www.equivital.co.uk) has developed the Equivital sensor system, a remote, multi-parameter physiological system, designed for monitoring healthy personnel with a potentially heightened risk of physical injury. 

The system will provide periodic and real time continuous monitoring of the user alongside interpretative presentation of information to the healthcare staff and the user.

The funding programme – SBRI East – was managed by Health Enterprise East  and funded by NHS East of England, the East of England Development Agency, the Technology Strategy Board and the European Regional Development Fund.

Companies awarded Phase 1 grants have the potential to receive further financial assistance to develop and evaluate projects in Phase 2.

Keith Pearson, Chairman, NHS East of England said: “We have been overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of entries we have received, highlighting the highly  innovative work that is happening all around us.

“It has been particularly gratifying to receive so many strong entries from small businesses in the east of England; the innovation vibrancy of this region is particularly impressive in these difficult times.”

Paul May, director of innovation at EEDA said: “We are the first region in the UK to pilot a Small Business Research Initiative competition, which demonstrates how being the ‘ideas region ' is helping drive the economy through to the upturn.”

The other East of England winners:

Keeping Children Active

Eco-Route Ltd (www.ecoroute.co.uk) at St John's Innovation Centre in Cambridge has developed a programme to encourage children to cycle or walk to school and to increase their levels of physical activity generally through an approach that involves the whole school. Carbon dioxide emissions are reduced directly through the substitution of motor transport with cycling and walking and indirectly through future healthcare savings.


Managing Long-term Conditions

Exhalation Technology Ltd at Dereham in Norfolk and an associated company have developed a laboratory device to assess the degree of lung inflammation by analyzing a patient’s exhaled breath. The project aims to develop a device which can provide a read-out within ten minutes and can be used in a GP’s surgery, specialist clinic or at home by patients monitoring their own condition.


Patient Safety

Cambridge Design Partnership in Toft, Cambridge (www.cambridge-design.co.uk) is developing new technology to reduce the occurrence of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) in the Intensive Care Unit. Thousands of people die of VAP every year in the UK, and the cost to the NHS of treating the condition runs into hundreds of millions of pounds. The new technology aims to fully humidify the breathing air while preventing the colonisation of bacteria.

TwistDX Ltd (www.twistdx.co.uk), a molecular diagnostics company based at Babraham Research Campus, has developed Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA), which uses a special enzyme to seek out any DNA in a sample. When the DNA is found, it is automatically amplified so that there is then enough DNA for analysis and identification.

This amplification process is typically done through a process called PCR, which is very expensive to install, involves many processing steps and is usually done in a central laboratory taking up to 48 hours for a result.

TwistDX's approach turns the technology into a point of care application, yielding results in ten minutes. According to the company, it also boasts sensitivity, with single molecule detection, specificity, broad applicability in multiple markets, low instrumentation burden and suitability for storage at room temperature.