Medical Device Manufacturing
The Medical Device Manufacturing Centre (MDMC) has been created to address prototyping and manufacturing challenges in the development of smarter and more cost-effective medical devices.
The MDMC is led by Professor Duncan Hand and Professor Marc Desmulliez of Heriot-Watt and brings together engineers, scientists, clinicians and business development experts from four Scottish universities – Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Robert Gordon. Its concentration of engineering and clinical expertise and manufacturing tools, coupled with its ambitious vision, will act as a powerful catalyst for Scotland's development of its biomedical sector.
The Centre's purpose is to support small and medium sized companies (SMEs) translate medical device concepts into commercial products which can assist the clinical care of patients, supporting better treatments and better health outcomes. It will accelerate medical technology development by supporting SMEs to address key obstacles they face when translating ideas for innovative devices into finished products ready for use in frontline healthcare. These obstacles include prototyping and testing, which can be expensive processes, and meeting stringent NHS regulatory requirements.
Working in partnership with innovative Scottish SMEs, clinicians and patient groups, the MDMC will focus on developing solutions to pressing clinical needs. These solutions could vary from sensors linked to mobile phone apps that deliver vital health information, to tiny devices that could be used by surgeons inside the body.
Driven by unmet clinical and industrial needs, the MDMC will provide developers and manufacturers with the advice, technical expertise and manufacturing facilities at its site on Heriot-Watt's campus.
Building on the partner universities many years of experience in manufacturing and medical device research, it will offer expertise in data capture which is crucial to understanding the manufacturing process, and the means by which adjustments can be made to correct and improve the process. This is a critical part of the translation of medical device concepts through to small batch commercial prototypes. The MDMC will also provide access to Heriot-Watt's expertise in laser technology. As data driven tools, lasers are exceptionally useful for the manufacturing of medical devices and are increasingly used in making very small and high-precision objects.
The Centre is currently engaging with a broad range of companies in Scotland from the medical device manufacturing sector to encourage them to partner with the facility for their manufacturing-related requirements. The service is free for Scottish SMEs.
The Medical Device Manufacturing Centre is jointly funded for three years, initially, by the European Regional Development Fund Advanced Manufacturing Challenge Fund (managed by Scottish Enterprise), Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region Deal, and the partner universities.
- Total award: £3.7M
- Funder: ERDF AMCF, City Region and partners
- Lead: Prof. Duncan Hand
Contact our Global Research, Innovation and Discovery team about research collaboration and business partnership opportunities at GRID@hw.ac.uk