Following a multi-million-pound grant by the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, colleagues from Loughborough University, alongside project leads Nottingham Trent University, will deliver a new project which is expected to accelerate innovation into health and care pathways and transform how people recover and regain independence and function following injury or illness.
As people live longer and chronic health conditions increase, the demand for rehabilitation technologies, or ‘RehabTech’ is soaring.
The ‘EMERGE’ project – East Midlands Emerging RehabTech Growth Enterprise – will launch the East Midlands as the UK’s ‘RehabTech Valley’, a leading hub for rehabilitation technologies excellence.
The University of Nottingham and Derby University will co-lead, supported by a 30-strong consortium spanning research and innovation, medical and health tech organisations, the NHS, local government and economic development.
The project will connect the region’s cluster of 459 med-tech SMEs, addressing current challenges around slowing productivity, access to skills, clinical partnerships and private investment.
It will create mechanisms for engagement between businesses, academics, the NHS and patients and speed up the development and availability of RehabTech.
It will translate theoretical breakthroughs and proof-of-concept ideas to cutting-edge innovations across areas including sensors and imaging, medical device materials and device design, smart medical wearables, bioengineering, robotics and artificial intelligence.
As well as supporting recovery and helping people to regain their independence, the move is expected to deliver a significant economic impact, boosting regional growth and productivity and enabling SMEs to secure an increasing share of a rapidly growing market.
Dr Andrew Capel, Loughborough University’s lead on the project, said: “The East-Midlands has established a reputation as the national leader in rehabilitation science, with an ambition to become a global beacon of excellence within this discipline.
“Loughborough University, alongside partners at the University of Nottingham, have been central to the research & innovation and education & training programmes being delivered through the £105M National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), a 70-bed centre of excellence being built on the Stanford Hall estate.
“The ‘EMERGE’ project led by Nottingham Trent University (East Midlands Emerging RehabTech Growth Enterprise), alongside the EPSRC funded Rehabilitation Technologies Network (RTN) and NIHR funded HealthTech Research Centre (HRC), have firmly cemented the East Midlands position as the UK’s “RehabTech Valley”.
“These networks bring together hundreds of MedTech SME’s, patients, rehabilitation practitioners and academics to develop the next wave of pioneering rehabilitation technologies, delivering better healthcare outcomes to our nation”.
Work will also involve ensuring public and patient involvement is embedded in activities and projects to best address health inequalities.
There are widening health inequalities in the East Midlands and preventable diseases such as heart disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are worse in the region’s cities than the UK average.
Despite deprived communities being 60% more likely to suffer long-term health conditions than the richest, they still face significant barriers to accessing rehabilitation services that would speed up recovery and return to work.
The East Midlands is well-positioned to tackle these issues, with the region now considered to be at the forefront of rehabilitation and associated technologies, recognised by the Government’s £105M investment in the National Rehabilitation Centre, which is located in Nottinghamshire and will be run and staffed by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.