His Rapid Emergency Actuating Tamponade system is a portable handheld device which inserts an expanding tamponade into knife and gunshot wounds to reduce catastrophic blood loss. Joseph’s vision is that it will be used by first responders - including paramedics and police officers - to help save lives around the world.
In the year ending March 2019, 259 people were killed in the UK by a sharp instrument. A victim of a stabbing can bleed to death in just five minutes. Speed is essential in stemming blood loss from the wound. Research during prototyping suggests that the device could stop a haemorrhage in less than a minute.
Joseph was accepted for the RAEng 1851 Royal Commission Enterprise Fellowship after a rigorous application and selection process. Admission comes with £50,000 of equity-free funding, which Joseph will use to continue the development and testing of the system.
He said: “It is a great honour to be selected for this prestigious program of training and mentorship by the Royal Academy.
“This Enterprise Fellowship will accelerate our plans for product development and testing, allowing us to get our device into the hands of first responders as soon as possible.”
The 1851 Enterprise Fellowship also brings a host of other benefits, including tailored mentoring and training, access to Academy’s networks, and lifetime membership of its Enterprise Hub. Those who complete the programme also gain a package of lifetime support, including access to facilities, training programmes, PR and media support, networks of investors, experts, advisors and Academy Fellows. To date the Enterprise Hub has provided training, mentoring and £9.7 million in grant funding to more than 150 Enterprise Fellows.
ACT Medical has already filed for patent protection. Research and development is now underway as to how the device can be engineered, tested and manufactured to meet the high medical standard required to take it to market. He founded ACT Medical while a member of Loughborough University incubator LUinc which helps Loughborough graduates and spinouts develop as entrepreneurs.
ACT Medical has already gained significant recognition for its potential, being the first ever winner of the International Medical James Dyson Award in 2021 and receiving £30,000 in prize money. More recently, ACT Medical won the University Innovation category of this year’s LeicestershireLive Innovation Awards.