Healthcare technology firm secures £2.5m research grant

A medical technology firm has been given a multimillion-pound grant to carry out cutting-edge research in Scotland.

EnMovi will use a new £8m research and development (R&D) base at Strathclyde University in Glasgow to work on its products, including wearable sensors, data analytics and mobile apps designed to help improve patient recovery.

Scottish Enterprise has given a £2.5m R&D grant to the company, which is a newly formed subsidiary of US firm OrthoSensor and McLaren Applied, a technological offshoot of the McLaren Group which includes Formula 1 cars.

The new base at the university’s Inovo building is expected to create 19 jobs.

Products to be further developed include a mobile app for patients offering tailored rehabilitation guides from their orthopaedic surgeon, enabling them to stay in contact and encourage recovery via a daily pain journal and home exercise plans.

Surgeons can also administer patient surveys via the app and use it with a cloud-based data platform which pairs with a sensor used during knee replacement operations to enable correlation of operative decisions with results and recovery.

Trade, investment and innovation minister Ivan McKee said: “This funding will support EnMovi to capture data and develop wearable technology.

“This will allow for less invasive surgery and faster recovery times for patients.

“This project, which will see a new research and development centre established at the University of Strathclyde’s Inovo building, also brings exciting employment opportunities and will help establish Scotland at the forefront of research into this cutting-edge new technology.”

Roman Bensen, EnMovi chief executive, said: “The support provided by Scottish Enterprise and our long-standing collaboration with the prestigious University of Strathclyde will enable us to continue the development of our innovative data analytics and wearable platform to improve patient outcomes globally.”