SBRI Healthcare has unveiled the winners of its latest competition which is focused on supporting older people with complex health needs.
Five companies have successfully reached the next phase of the clinically-led competition, with products targeting improved management of continence and monitoring and support in the home, as well as a dynamic new powered wheel chair.
Each successful company – selected by SBRI Healthcare from a shortlist of 11 that received six months development funding in Phase 1 of the competition – will now receive £1 million from the NHS England-funded initiative to help fuel the development of their products.
These are: Lucid Group, for its unique 3-in-1 diagnostic device for intuitive, fast and economic measurement of bio-physiological markers via Electromyography (EMG), designed to enable a more precise diagnosis in primary care of the functional deficits in faecal incontinence; JVS Products, which is investigating the anti-microbial activity of a novel biocide and assessing its acceptability as a one-step cleaning treatment for intermittent catheters; Ally Labs, which is developing an in-home early warning system for detecting increased frailty in elderly individuals; Inclusiviti, for a wheelchair that delivers improvements through intuitively controlled Mecanum wheels achieving omnidirectional movement; and 11Health&Technologies: for Ostom-i Alert, a sensor that clips onto any ostomy bag and sends Bluetooth alerts to an app on a patient’s mobile device telling them when their bag is filling.
“It is abundantly clear that technology isn’t something for just the young to embrace – it is instead transforming how those of all ages lead their lives,” said Steve Feast, managing director at Eastern Academic Health Science Network.
“Older frail people want to be supported to remain independent and where possible be cared for in their own homes. SBRI Healthcare has identified technological solutions which will meet the needs of people who will benefit from it the most. This will transform the lives of older frail people.”
In the last year, SBRI Healthcare has launched 11 new clinically-led competitions and awarded £19.5 million to 67 companies to develop products focused on specific NHS unmet need. It was recently estimated that the products it has supported could potentially save the NHS over £1 billion.
