Delivered by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of Cambridge, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative will support the development of new medical devices and technologies to help improve outcomes and experience of patients and their family after brain injury.
The MedTech Co-operative builds on the work of the NIHR Brain Injury Healthcare Technology Co-operative team over the last 5 years. The £1.25m investment over the next five years will allow the NIHR Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative to work closely with patients, researchers, clinicians, the NHS, universities, and charities to establish areas of unmet needs, improve treatments for patients and develop innovative technology-based solutions to make their lives easier, through collaborations with entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Brain Injury is a significant public health challenge. According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): “Head injury is the commonest cause of death and disability in people aged 1–40 years in the UK. Each year, 1.4 million people attend emergency departments in England and Wales with a recent head injury. Between 33% and 50% of these are children aged under 15 years. Annually, about 200,000 people are admitted to hospital with head injury.” (https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg176/chapter/Introduction)
The NIHR Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative will comprise 13 clinical and 4 cross-cutting themes reflecting the complexity of the patient population which it serves, including neurocritical care, perinatal and paediatrics, cognition and mental health, and complexity economics. As well as fostering patient-centred solutions, the MIC will aim to improve prevention and awareness of brain injury particularly in the areas of concussion and sports-related injury which are often under-reported. The MedTech Co-operative will be led by Professor (Emeritus) John Pickard, Honorary Director and its two Deputy Directors, Dr Peter Jarritt and Dr Alexis Joannides.
James Piercy knows only too well what a head injury can do to someone. In 2011, James was a passenger in a car which was involved in an accident. The incident caused bleeding and small haemorrhages in his brain leaving him in hospital for seven weeks.
Although now making a very good recovery and back to work part-time, life has noticeably changed, James said: “I can do everything that I used to be able to do but it just takes me longer. I need to plan my time carefully and avoid stressful and unpredictable situations, which leave me very fatigued. This fatigue can be very debilitating, leaving me with speech problems and making decision-making and concentration very difficult.”
James will sit on a Patient Advisory Group for the NIHR Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative to find new ways to make patients’ lives better and discuss latest projects, he said: “Every three minutes someone is admitted to hospital with a head injury like mine. The work of the brain injury medtech is vital in developing interventions which can aid recovery. Technologies can prevent secondary brain injuries, improve outcomes and make life easier for the million people living with effects of an injury."
Professor John Pickard said: “We are delighted to have received this funding. It reflects the important work we do here in Cambridge and through networks across the UK. Under our new banner of MedTech Co-operative, we will go forward to continue to understand brain injuries and their effects, but also focus on finding technology-based solutions to identified unmet needs, so people with a brain injury will be able to lead a better quality of life.”
More information about the NIHR Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative can be found at www.brainhtc.org
Image: NIHR Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative team (Left to right): Dr Peter Jarritt (Deputy Director), Talissa Gasser (Communications & Project Officer), Professor John Pickard (Honorary Director), Mita Brahmbhatt (Programme Manager), Dr Alexis Joannides (Deputy Director).