Posts by: Gillian O'Mahony

Launch of Mitchelstown Age Friendly Sensors and Alarms for the Elderly Pilot Project

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Cork County Council, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme, launched a challenge to improve the resilience of Cork County’s older population by exploring low cost and accessible solutions that could assist older citizens in maintaining a good quality of life in their own homes.

With the support of the Cork Age Friendly Programme, Mitchelstown was selected to pilot one such project. Mitchelstown is an Age Friendly Town and a committee chaired by Cllr. Kay Dawson worked with the partners to provide a ‘test-bed’ area.

The project is an innovative collaboration between social enterprise and community groups, led by Independent Living Ireland (ILI) and developed in partnership with Amicitia Social Enterprise, Cork City Partnership’s Friendly Call Cork, Nimbus Research Centre in CIT and Health Innovation Hub Ireland.

The pilot scheme installed sensors and panic buttons in the homes of volunteers in Mitchelstown. The sensors measured movement, temperature, heat and humidity and were connected wirelessly to a base station in the Forrest Hall Community Centre, in the main square of the town.

The project partners will review the results of the Pilot Scheme and may then offer a service to enable older and vulnerable people living independently in their own homes to be supported by both a personal Friendly Call service and one which responds to alerts raised by themselves or the sensors in their homes.

To celebrate the conclusion of this pilot scheme, an event was held at Forrest Hall Mitchelstown Community Centre today.  Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly TD was on hand to take part in the celebration of this event which marked the start of Positive Ageing Week in Mitchelstown showcasing a number of exciting initiatives supporting older people through a busy week of workshops and exhibitions throughout the town.

Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey commented, “Cork County Council seeks out innovative, low cost and accessible solutions to help all of its older citizens to maintain a good quality of life and to enable them to remain and feel secure in their home. The SBIR challenge is a joint initiative between Cork County Council and Enterprise Ireland and a novel method of pre commercial procurement – it goes to the market with a question instead of a prescribed solution – enabling us to harness the ingenuity of innovative companies and develop unique solutions for the challenges faced by our older citizens. We are delighted to work with HIHI to deliver this project.

The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Christopher O Sullivan commended the scheme noting “As an Age Friendly Town Mitchelstown is an ideal candidate for this pilot scheme. We need to be constantly adapting to the changing needs of all of our citizens –to allow older people live as independently in their own homes for as long as they wish. This enables our older citizens to stay active in their communities and feel safe and secure in their homes.”

Enterprise Ireland’s Small Business Innovation Research Manager, Marguerite Bourke commenting on the Challenge, “Enterprise Ireland is delighted to collaborate with Cork County Council as part of the SBIR Ireland programme. The outcomes led by Galway company, Independent Living Ireland will ultimately result in better services for the elderly in the Mitchelstown community. The wider applicability potential for the innovation developed in this Challenge, both in Ireland and internationally, is a very exciting prospect.”

Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly TD, commenting at the launch said, “Positive Ageing Week affords us all the opportunity to reflect on the significant and continuing role older people play in our communities. It is also an opportunity to consider how we can support older people’s independence, resilience and participation in the communities they have helped to develop over their lifetimes. As we can see today, this project is an excellent example of innovation which supports our older people as they age. This project is a testament of what can be achieved through collaboration at a community level with the right support nationally.”

Ms Jane O’Flynn, Health Innovation Hub Ireland and Cork Institute of Technology said “Working on this project has been very rewarding, it demonstrates how local communities can support our older and vulnerable citizens at home, using technology as the key enabler’.

Patrick Mulvihill, Independent Living Ireland commented: “The SBIR has been a great learning experience for our business. Helping us to research and develop emerging technologies and implement these with the support of vibrant community care organisations such as Friendly Call Cork and the Age Friendly Council in Mitchelstown. We look forward to building on this experience, growing our network and finding solutions to support older people living in communities throughout Ireland”.

FREE PIC – NO REPRO FEE
Jim Daly TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People speaking at the launch….
Mitchelstown Age Friendly Sensors and Alarms for the Elderly Pilot Project Launched at Forrest Hall Community Centre in Mitchelstown as part of Positive Ageing Week.


At the launch were, from left: Jane O’Flynn, Health Innovation Hub Ireland and CIT; Cllr. Frank O’Flynn, deputising for the Mayor of the County of Cork; Cllr. Kay Dawson, Chair of Mitchelstown Age Friendly; Jim Daly TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People and Fiona Hayes, Age Friendly Programme Mngr Cork Co Co. Cork County Council.


At the launch were: Jim Daly TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People with senior citizen Margaret Sheehy from Mitchelstown who is using the technology in her home on a trial basis.


Patrick Mulvihill, Independent Living Ireland speaking at the launch.
Mitchelstown Age Friendly Sensors and Alarms for the Elderly Pilot Project Launched at Forrest Hall Community Centre in Mitchelstown as part of Positive Ageing Week.

 

 

Meet the Buyer Health Sector Procurement Event in Galway

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Meet the Buyer Health Sector Procurement

24th September 2019 Clayton Hotel, Ballybrit, Galway

Programme

Registration and Breakfast

Event Opening Tonia Spollen Behrens Enterprise Ireland

General Update on Health Sector Procurement / Brexit Preparations

John Swords. National Head of Procurement

Upcoming Opportunities Sean Bresnan Director of Sourcing

Parallel Sessions

  1. Meet the Buyer One to One Meetings

National Portfolio Leads & Senior Buying Team members from the 5 HBS Procurement Category Portfolios

  1. Tender Training Area:
  • Tendering Tips Amanda Craven Director at BWL Consulting (Ireland) Ltd

(10:00 – 10:30 & 11:00 – 11:30

  • Using eTenders Website / HBS Procurement Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS)

Richard Brennan / Ellen White HBS Procurement

(10:30 – 11:00 & 11:30 – 12:00)

12:00 Closing Comments

John Swords National Head of Procurement

Tonia Spollen Behrens Enterprise Ireland

#GlobalAmbition

Health Innovation Hub Ireland launches at NUI Galway

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Health Innovation Hub Ireland launches at NUI Galway
The continued growth of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland and expansion into the west, marks a continued pattern of growth for the HIHI nationally with hubs in Cork, Dublin and now Galway. HIHI was established by Department of Business, Enterprise, Innovation, and the Department of Health, supported by Enterprise Ireland (EI) and the Health Service Executive (HSE). As a unique joint government initiative, HIHI offers companies the opportunity for pilot and clinical validation studies and provides the health service with access to innovative products, services, devices. Pictured at the launch were HIHI Galway PrincipaI Investigator, Professor Martin O’Donnell, Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly TD, Aisling Dolan, HIHI Manager Galway, Minister for State in the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation Pat Breen TD and Professor John Higgins HIHI Lead Principal Investigator.

 

Connecting Innovation and Healthcare in the West of Ireland

Galway, Monday, September 16: Today, Minister of Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen TD and Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly TD, came to NUI Galway’s Lambe Institute for Translational Research based at Galway University Hospital to officially open the third national Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI).  Both the President of NUI Galway, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh and CEO of Saolta University Healthcare Group, Tony Canavan, welcomed the arrival of the HIHI in the West.

 

First launched by Minister for Health Simon Harris TD at its headquarters at University College Cork in 2016, Health Innovation Hub Ireland is assisting in the establishment of Ireland as a leading location for start-ups and expanding healthcare companies. HIHI allows easy interaction with hospitals and primary care centres. Collaboration between the health service and enterprise is leading to the development of new Irish healthcare technologies, products, and services.

 

The continued growth of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland and expansion into the west, marks a continued pattern of growth for the HIHI nationally. This expansion follows the October 2018 launch of the second office based at Trinity College Dublin on the St. James Hospital Campus.

Nationally, Health Innovation Hub Ireland plays a unique role within the Irish healthcare ecosystem working at both ends of the innovation pathway- at the very earliest stage from ideation through to concept development and at the later stage of proof of concept in a clinical environment.

In Galway, HIHI works closely with other Enterprise Ireland programmes including BioInnovate Ireland and BioExel and leverages the medtech expertise within NUI Galway including the Translational Medical Device Lab, led by Professor Martin O’Halloran, CÚRAM, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Medical Devices at NUI Galway and the HRB Clinical Research Facility led by the HIHI PrincipaI Investigator, Professor Martin O’Donnell.

 

HIHI Galway is at the cutting edge of excellence in healthcare, clinical and engineering research with easy access to experts and the next generation of innovators. Companies based in the West such as Ostoform and Feeltect are just a few of the companies benefiting from the HIHI’s unique ecosystem.

HIHI – a national central hub to the health and innovation ecosystem

HIHI was established by Department of Business, Enterprise, Innovation, and the Department of Health, supported by Enterprise Ireland (EI) and the Health Service Executive (HSE). As a unique joint government initiative, HIHI offers companies the opportunity for pilot and clinical validation studies and provides the health service with access to innovative products, services, devices. HIHI works to impact Irish business and Irish healthcare in three key areas.

  1. Industry: HIHI matches companies with relevant clinical teams, overseeing a study of each product in an Irish clinical setting.
  2. Healthcare: HIHI is an open door to all healthcare staff to assess ideas to solutions they have encountered in their work. HIHI acts as mentors and advises on taking an idea and developing it into a service or product.
  3. 3. Education: Delivering a series of five HIHI workshops and a diploma in healthcare innovation, HIHI is embedding an innovation culture in Irish healthcare.

To date, HIHI has engaged with more than 256 companies and 160 healthcare employees to discuss their innovative ideas. HIHI issues an annual call but also welcomes direct engagement through any of its offices in Cork, Dublin and now Galway.

Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen, TD Speaking in advance of the launch Minister Breen said: “As Minister for State in the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, I very much welcome the launch of the third national HIHI here in NUI, Galway. HIHI is a wonderful means of facilitating collaboration between the all the various players involved in the health, enterprise and research sectors for the ultimate benefit of Ireland’s citizens. Galway, in particular, is a city that has both a thriving academic centre and a rapidly expanding MedTech sector.  I wish HIHI well in its endeavours and look forward to seeing the benefits of its work in the future.”

Minister of State with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly TD,
“I am delighted to see the expansion of Health Innovation Hub Ireland here in Galway building on the Hubs in Dublin and Cork. This ground-breaking initiative between the Dept of Business, Enterprise & Innovation and the Dept of Health is supporting companies access healthcare experts and bringing new technologies to market as well as improving patient outcomes. Enterprise Ireland is supporting a vision of innovation in healthcare and supporting companies and innovators in healthcare to reach their potential.”

CEO of Saolta University Healthcare Group, Tony Canavan,

Commenting Tony Canavan, CEO Saolta University Health Care Group added, “The HIHI facilitates a unique partnership between the health service and the enterprise sector to enable healthcare research and innovation will over time improve outcomes for patients. Critically, it gives staff working on the front line of the health service an opportunity to bring their ideas and proposals to the Hub that will ultimately improve outcomes for our patients. We are delighted that the Saolta Group and in particular University Hospital Galway is part of this initiative and I would encourage staff to share their knowledge and make proposals.”

Speaking about the growth of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland: HIHI Principal Investigator, Professor John Higgins, said:

 “The opening of the Health Innovation Hub in Galway is another key step in making HIHI a truly national organisation following the extension from Cork to Dublin and now Galway. It is a prelude to the HIHI extending to the rest of Ireland. Throughout the healthcare system, if you have an idea or burning desire to bring about change, a solution or a wish to bring innovation in, the HIHI opens that door. The national presence of the HIHI is a testimony to industry and healthcare working together.”

Prof Martin O’Donnell – Professor of Translational Medicine NUI Galway and HIHI Principal Investigator, Galway

“Based at NUI Galway we have multi-disciplinary award-winning teams in healthcare, clinical and engineering research at the Lambe Institute for Translational Research. Health Innovation Hub Ireland combines expertise from NUI Galway and the HSE to deliver projects in healthcare and industry. With a strategic location, embedded in the heart of the hospital, research and teaching, the Hub is a welcome resource to clinicians, researchers and companies.”

 

Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) works across the health sector with Irish businesses to creatively solve problems and improve patient care. Harnessing this innovation, through development of new healthcare technologies, products, and services, will help to create Irish jobs and exports. Operationally HIHI is a partnership of clinical and academic centres from across the country. HIHI works directly with three hospital groups (South/South West, Dublin Midlands and Saolta in the West/North West), but the HIHI network can also access all acute and community hospitals, pharmacies, primary care centres and healthcare centres. Academic partners are UCC and CIT, TCD and NUI Galway respectively. HIHI operates an open-door policy, across its national network, to both industry and healthcare.

 

The HIHI national team includes HSE assigned staff from pharmacy to clinical research nurses and biomedical engineers. Team members with both academic and corporate backgrounds further strengthen this mix. The Government group tasked with overseeing HIHI – National Oversight Group, chaired by Dave Shanahan includes the Department of Health, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland, e health Ireland, HSE, IDA, the Health Research Board and Science Foundation Ireland.

 

About NUI Galway
NUI Galway* is one of Ireland’s foremost centres of academic excellence. Over 18,000 students undertake an extensive range of studies at the University, which is renowned for the quality of its graduates.

NUI Galway is a research-led University with internationally recognised expertise in areas including Biomedical Science and Engineering, Web Science, Human Rights, Marine Science, Energy and Environmental Science, Applied Social Sciences and Public Policy, and Humanities, in particular literature, theatre and Irish Studies.

For more information visit www.nuigalway.ie

HIHI Company Case studies : The ecosystem in action

OSTOFORM

Ostoform, the creator of a breakthrough surgical seal system for patients with colostomy bags. Ostoform was set up to address the management of a stoma, a small surgical opening on the surface of the abdomen to divert the flow of waste. A common complaint is irritation, redness and discomfort around the skin caused by leaks of the acidic content contacting the skin.

With Health Innovation Hub Ireland, Ostoform is conducting an observational study across our HIHI sites in Galway and Dublin. In Galway, Mary Quigley, Clinical Nurse Specialist Manager, Colorectal/Stoma Care, gathers feedback from patients with stomas. The outcome of this independent study potentially allows the company to access to the HSE Primary Care Reimbursement Scheme (PCRS) to have this device available to patients in Ireland.

Ostoform have secured €1.1million last year from backers including Enterprise Ireland and HBAN – Halo Business Angels Network.

Feeltect

Galway-based wound care company, FeelTect, have developed Tight Alright, a pressure sensing, connected-health device for measuring and monitoring sub-bandage pressure during compression therapy, primarily for the millions of people worldwide with venous leg ulcers (VLUs). Compression is a proven therapy for VLUs, however if it’s applied too loose, it’s ineffective, and if it’s too tight, it’s dangerous. Yet studies have shown that it can be extremely difficult for experienced healthcare professionals to achieve a targeted pressure with existing products. As such, Tight Alright aims to improve the application and maintenance of evidence-based therapy, ensuring safety while reducing healing times.

Founder and CEO, Dr Andrew Cameron, engaged HIHI Galway to conduct a user feedback and validation study ‘ we needed access to end users to demonstrate proof of concept, these studies are essential in developing Tight Alright as a truly wearable product, our aim is to make it the first device capable of continuously monitoring compression therapy outside the clinical setting.”

 

Derek O’Keeffe, Professor of Medical Device Technology at NUI Galway and a Consultant Physician at University Hospital Galway

Prof. O’ Keeffe and his team have identified a novel and innovative solution to determine if a nasogastric (NG) tube has been correctly placed in a patient’s stomach. HIHI facilitated collaboration with a technical team of engineers based in NUI Galway’s Translational Medical Device (TMD) Lab to develop the solution. Derek and the technical team have delivered a prototype. They are working with the Technology Transfer Office and NUI Galway to potentially patent a device.  

Health Sector Procurement meet the Buyer Event on 24th September, 2019

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A fantastic opportunity to meet the HSE at a meet the buyer style event in Galway on 24th September!!

  • John Swords, National Director of Procurement will present an Update on Health Sector Procurement and Brexit preparations
  • Sean Bresnan, Director of Sourcing will present the Upcoming Opportunities
  • There will be a large team from the HSE representing all of the categories ready to meet potential suppliers in short one to one meetings. 
  • You can also attend a Tender Training Workshop which will be running in parallel.

 You are invited to register for the upcoming Health Sector Procurement Meet the Buyer on the 24th September 2019 at the Clayton Hotel Ballybrit, Galway.

 

To register: https://www.eventsforce.net/enterpriseireland/2718/register

 

This is event is free of charge and all companies wishing to supply the Health sector are welcome to attend. Your company profile will be included in our event directory which will be available on the day.

You will have the opportunity to meet the HSE category manager for your area of interest in short one to one meetings.  In parallel you will have the opportunity to attend a tender training workshop which will be running throughout the morning.

Event Programme

8am       Registration and Breakfast

9am       Event Opening

9.15        Presentation from the HSE on upcoming opportunities and Brexit preparations

10 – 12 One to one Meetings and Tender training workshops

 

 

IMSTA MedTech Awards 2019

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The IMSTA Awards 2019 will take place on Thursday 3rd October in the AVIVA Stadium Conference Centre – the venue for the very first Award Ceremony. These landmark awards are recognised as the premier awards for developers, providers and suppliers of effective healthcare solutions for the health system in Ireland.

HIHI will be sponsoring an Award yet again this year!

The IMSTA Awards, now in their seventh year, have grown significantly in the past few years with entries coming from hospitals, researchers, medtech entrepreneurs and industry.

Click here for information on categories and how to enter

 

Clinical Innovation Award Lunchtime Workshop and Webinar – 27th June, 2019

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This is a lunchtime workshop on the application process for the Clinical Innovation Award hosted by Health Innovation Hub Ireland, and delivered by Dr Claire Walsh, Enterprise Ireland, and John McSweeney, NUI Galway.

It will take place from 12.50pm to 2pm on 27th June in the HIHI office, Stem Café, Ground Floor, Clinical Science Institute, NUI Galway.

Click below for more information

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/clinical-innovation-award-workshop-and-webinar-tickets-63197384077

 

HIHI Centre in Cork Institute of Technology officially opens

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The official opening of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) Centre in CIT by Mr. Jim Daly, T.D., Minister for Mental Health and Older People and CIT’s president, Dr. Barry O’Connor took place on Monday 20thMay at Cork Institute of Technology.

Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) was officially established as a national entity in 2016 with the aim of driving collaboration between the health service and enterprise, leading to the development of new healthcare technologies, products and services.

The HIHI consortium, led by University College Cork, now incorporates CIT, NUI Galway, TCD and all of their associated hospital groups. HIHI is supported by Enterprise Ireland and the Health Service Executive with the dual goal of supporting Irish companies to provide solutions to the Irish healthcare system.

The opening of the HIHI offices in CIT today, marks the ‘official’ expansion of HIHI to the CIT campus, however CIT has always played a vital role in supporting HIHI projects and the partnership has been delivering outputs since the early days of the Hub.

HIHI has three pillars of activity: Industry, Healthcare and Education. The first is geared towards companies with innovative solutions that can impact the healthcare system.The second pillar of HIHI’s activity involves capturing and supporting ideas that have been developed by those within healthcare and the third pillar is delivering an education programme to those working in healthcare that informs and encourages innovation in the Irish healthcare context.

“Healthcare needs to be proactive; technology and innovation is enabling this. What we do at HIHI is to identify good innovations and solutions, test, validate and demonstrate their benefit; it’s about providing solutions that have impact”said Professor John Higgins, Principal Investigator and Clinical Lead of  Health Innovation Hub Ireland.

The CIT hub of HIHI is playing a pivotal role in assisting companies to harness and develop these new technologies. HIHI in CIT is based within the MEDIC Centre and provides design, development and prototyping expertise that is critical for health care product development. HIHI companies also benefit for CIT’s Innovation Ecosystem which includes the Nimbus and CAPPA Research Centres as well as the Rubicon Centre for start-ups. HIHI in CIT is ideally placed to provide the tech know-how and support for companies intent on developing new and innovative healthcare systems and products in the region. The HIHI partnership facilitates access to the healthcare system through the academic partners in UCC, TCD and NUI Galway and their hospital groups; the South-South West Hospital group, the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group and the Soalta Healthcare Group.

Dr Barry O’Connor President of CIT said:

“The opening of the HIHI offices in CIT is formally recognising what has always been a strong collaborative relationship. CIT and UCC have worked together on health innovations since the pilot days of the Health Innovation Hub. CIT has delivered a number of exciting projects including a pilot, based in Mitchelstown, using technology to enable a community to provide care and support for older or vulnerable people in their community. This project is a collaboration between Independent Living Ireland, Friendly Call Cork, HIHI and CIT’s Nimbus Research Centre and is supported by Enterprise Ireland and Cork County Council through SBIR programme. CIT is also home to a significant number of other Biomedical devices and biomedical engineering research and development projects which complement our activity within the general health informatics space”.

Speaking at the opening Minister Daly said “I am delighted to be launching the HIHI centre in CIT today – it’s an important component of the HIHI initiative.  One important strength of HIHI is fostering a unique partnership between the health service and the enterprise sector, with the aim of supporting Irish companies and improving patient outcomes.

I am especially pleased that the calls for projects over the last couple of years has improving care for older people in the health service as a particular focus. I look forward to seeing, in the coming years, how the projects that are being supported by HIHI demonstrate their contribution to the jobs agenda, to improvements in patient care, find efficiencies in service delivery and support health service practitioners in bringing innovative ideas to fruition”. 

According to Jane O’Flynn, Project Manager at CIT HIHI centre, “The CIT HIHI office is going from strength to strength since its inception in 2016. We provide the expertise to guide and to advise on design, validation and commercialisation, where companies need to test or validate a product.  We do this within the healthcare system providing clinical access that would not normally be available to them.  We are ideally based here at CIT with such a rich medical innovation ecosystem, strengthened by our HIHI partners, to provide this knowledge to the health industry.” For further information, please contact JaneOFlynn@cit.ie

  • Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) was officially launched on September 26th, 2016. HIHI, is hosted by University College Cork in partnership with Cork Institute of Technology, the National University of Ireland Galway and Trinity College Dublin and supported by the Department of Business Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE).
  • Through this academic partnership HIHI is linked with three hospital groups in Ireland- the South-South West Hospital Group, the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group and the Saolta Healthcare Group, providing access to 23 hospitals, 3 clinical research facilities and the network of community based healthcare entities and pharmacies linked to these hospital groups.
  • The aim of Health Innovation Hub Ireland is to drive collaboration between the health system and enterprises leading to the development and commercialisation of new healthcare technologies, products, and services, emerging from within the health system and/or enterprise. HIHI aims to establish Ireland as a leading location for start-ups and expanding healthcare companies to interface easily with hospitals and primary care centres and to support the development of new products and technologies from companies and from individuals working within healthcare
  • What CIT brings to HIHI – expertise in engineering, design and development- delivered through Medic and the School of Engineering and Science and the expertise of the Nimbus Research Centre. Through the collaborative engagement HIHI companies and innovators can access prototyping facilities, receive advice and guidance on product design and development
  • What HIHI brings to CIT – access to the clinical experts, including the South-South West Hospital Group and through the extended HIHI partnership, the Saolta Healthcare Group and the Dublin Midlands Group. Collaborative support for start-up ecosystem within CIT- including the Rubicon and New Frontiers Programme. Access to the healthcare system is critical for any company who intends to validate a potential clinical solution.

Health Innovation Hub Ireland was officially launched in September 2016,

since then:

Innovation In tothe Healthcare system

  • HIHI has managed 237 company engagements 149 of these have resulted in follow-up support activities and 59 of these have developed into active projects within the Irish healthcare system. (Innovation In),
  • The most recent Call for innovation solutions was completed earlier this year, with 25 company projects selected from a total of 71 applications.

Of these 71 applications, 30 were to the Focussed Call- which sought innovations to ‘Enable Positive Ageing’.

The 9 projects selected under the Focussed Call are provided in table 1 below.

(Case Study: Independent Living Ireland with Friendly Call Cork – community based care of older persons- see below)

Innovation Outof the healthcare system- Healthcare staff ideas

  • HIHI staff have engaged with 129 new healthcare ideas presented by healthcare staff, 113 of these have resulted in HIHI providing follow-up advice and support and 35 of these have developed into projects where a full HIHI Technology Assessment was performed.

(Case Study: The development of an exercise and weight management programme for people with osteoarthritis of the knee -see below).

  • The HIHI PI (Prof John Higgins) and Director (Dr Colman Casey) have initiated discussions with the UL Hospital Group, Queens University Belfast and the Mater Hospital with respect to expansion of the current HIHI partnership.

Education and Culture Change:

  • The HIHI Workshop programme was launched with workshop 1 delivered to three locations (Dublin, Galway and Cork), with 56 healthcare employees attending. Workshop 2 is open for registration now. https://hih.ie/engage/education-workshops/
  • HIHI Diploma in Health Innovation was approved through TCD and is open for registrations for a September 2019 intake.

Case Study: Technology Enabled Community Based Care of Older Persons.

Amicitia is a hybrid social enterprise based in Athenry, Co. Galway. Along with their trading partner, Independent Living Ireland (ILI), it delivers technology and social supports to empower socially disadvantaged members of society and build smart, sustainable communities. ILI is currently developing a technology platform, which builds on the features of existing smart technologies and extend these, using the next generation ‘Internet of Things’ applications to support the elderly and those with disabilities. A prototype of the platform is currently being tested in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. The platform is being developed in partnership with Friendly Call Cork and Nimbus Research Centre in Cork Institute of Technology. It is supported by Cork County Council and Enterprise Ireland through the Small Business Research Innovation (SBIR) programme. Health Innovation Hub Ireland is coordinating and facilitating the project. The platform was co-designed with the members of community. Wearable and ambient fall detection technologies are included in the platform. These technologies can be used both in the home and the community. This is a true example of collaborative engagement between industry, the community and our health and academic centres.

Case Study:The development of an exercise and weight management programme for people with osteoarthritis of the knee. Jane O’Flynn, CIT is working with Dr Brenda Monahan, a Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist based in Our Lady’s Hospital Navan to assist her in the development of a programme aimed at managing quality of life for patients with knee osteoarthritis. This programme focuses on exercise and weight management, to help reduce pain and improve function, assisting patients to prolong the time to surgery, or to minimise pain pre-surgery.

 

Future Health Summit 2019

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The Future Health Summit is now in its 17th year and continues to share international healthcare best practice and innovation with an audiences of key influencers and decision makers.

This year’s theme is: “Innovation,Entrepreneurship & Disruption in Healthcare”.

The event will take place on the 20th and 21st May, 2019 in the RDS, Merrion Road, Dublin 4.

For more information and registration, please click here

 

EI New Frontiers Programme in Rubicon Centre, CIT

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Entrepreneur Daniel Mulcahy’s company RideShair has been named as Best Business Opportunity and Overall Winner of the Rubicon Centre’s 2019 New Frontiers programme, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland.

Daniel Mulcahy was chosen from 12 ambitious startups at a high profile breakfast event in Cork Institute of Technology.

To view the full article and more winners, please click here