Driving forward medical device development

The NIHR GOSH BRC last month hosted an inaugural medical devices workshop, in partnership with the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering. 80 attendees, including clinicians and researchers at various career stages, came along to hear about the entire process of medical device development from inception of an idea to eventual implementation into the patient care pathway.

During a showcase session researchers introduced attendees to a range of devices that have been developed or are being developed at GOSH and UCL, explaining their development process and sharing tips and best practice. Exemplar projects highlighted include the FizzyO project and the GOSH DRIVE App developmemt

The sessions aiming to provide researchers with practical advice on how to navigate the complex process of device development an included talks on  from patents and design rights (led by William Burrel, Patent Attorney, D Young & Co) and new product regulations (led by Dr Alan McLeod, Managing Director, Health Innovation Support Limited).

There were also introductions from teams at NIHR, the UCL Translational Research Office, UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering, NIHR, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), UCL Business and UCL Partners, who each outlined how their organisations can support clinicians and scientists in the development of medical devices.

The event brought also provided plenty of opportunity for networking between together clinicians and scientists with unmet medical needs problems, and engineers with the technical knowledge to help develop solutions.

This event was part of the NIHR GOSH BRC’s Translational Research and Enterprise Accelerator theme which builds on the BRC's extensive track record of clinical impact through translational innovation and aims to ensure research is rapidly translated into direct benefits for children at GOSH and worldwide.