Teams from Cambridge University Hospitals innovation competition

Two teams from Cambridge University Hospitals have been announced as winners of Health Enterprise East’s Innovation Voucher competition which is designed to reward those with unique digital health solutions. 

One of the winning teams developed a solution to improve patient safety during procedures and works by removing fluid or air from around the lungs or abdomen. While the other team has developed a solution for aerosol reduction to mitigate the risk of cross-infection from aerosol-generating procedures.

The competition is run by NHS MedTech innovation consultancy firm, Health Enterprise East and sponsored by design engineering development company eg technology.

Winning teams are awarded vouchers, which are worth the equivalent of around £5,000, for time-in-kind from eg technology, in order to develop their solutions.

Karen Law, head of innovation at HEE, said: “The Innovation Voucher competition is designed to connect innovators with the expertise they need to take their concepts to the next stage and recognises the importance of supporting innovations from the ground up.

“Accessing technical expertise is vital for the success of any early-stage development, and being able to support such high calibre technologies at this crucial stage via the Innovation Voucher competition is a truly rewarding endeavour.”

The Innovation Voucher competition is not the only innovation grant scheme run by Health Enterprise East. In May 2020 it launched MedTech NAVIGATOR, a development programme to support smaller health tech companies.