SBRI Healthcare and the Health Innovation Network have awarded £885,000 to nine innovations with a focus on improving children and young people’s health.
Projects awarded funding include a device to assess wheeze and asthma in children using machine learning; a smart inhaler for asthma patients; a solution to help diagnose children with suspected epilepsy; a digital health passport for epilepsy; a POC breath test using AI to predict asthma exacerbations in children; wearable technology to improve diabetes management in children and young people; an augmented reality app for children and young people with epilepsy; a POC test for micronutrient deficiencies in children with obesity; and digital tools to help overcome emotional eating and lack of physical activity in children.
Applications were open for single companies and organisations across the public, private and third sectors, including charities, SMEs, universities, and NHS providers, in the areas of asthma care, epilepsy care, obesity, oral health, and diabetes care.
Varena Stocker, interim director of innovation, research, life sciences and strategy at NHS England, said: “The SBRI Healthcare awards help the NHS to develop new technologies and solutions to address some of the biggest healthcare challenges facing society. We have selected these innovations because they have the potential to make a big difference to improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people. By supporting the most promising innovations, the NHS will continue to evolve, helping to meet more patients’ needs and encouraging more innovators to come forward with innovative ideas that benefit all.”
Successful projects will be able to run for up to six months, with the potential of applying for further funding for prototype development and evaluation if their ideas are found to be “technically feasible”.
To learn more about the funding and innovations, please click here.
Also on innovation, a research and innovation hub in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes has issued a call for applications for its research and innovation fund, following a £3 million investment from NHS England, with successful applicants to be awarded up to £15,000 for projects tackling an aspect of research or innovation in integrated care provision.
Elsewhere, NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB has announced its inclusion in the second year of the Clinical Entrepreneur Programme Innovation Sites (InSites) programme, designed to bring together NHS provider organisations to test innovative ways of patient care and evaluate them in real-world settings.
