Monday 13th July sees Sheffield's Innovations in Healthcare Conference open a week long series of events that demonstrate the importance of health technologies and medical devices in Sheffield and the local region. Innovations in Healthcare is again themed very much on making the University's significant research expertise and capacity even more accessible to the medical devices and related health technologies industry. We have also extended this theme to include consideration of careers and employment, a natural extension from research collaboration. These are all important subjects, related of course to the region's and indeed the UK's ability to innovate and remain at the forefront of a significant global industry. However, the speaker I am most excited about will not be talking about the University or even our industrial partnerships, but she will instead tell us something of her life has been enhanced by healthcare technologies (as well as I'm sure sharing some of the limitations of what we in the academic community consider to be state-of-the-art!).
Claire Lomas is becoming increasingly well known as an adventurer who pushes the boundaries of what is meant to be achievable after a serious spinal injury. Claire lost the use of her legs after a riding accident in 2007, yet in 2012 she donned a robotic exoskeleton and walked full London Marathon...in 17 days. I like many tuned in to watch her cross the finish line, a moving and inspirational moment that coincidentally brought medical robotics into the public eye. My recollection is that the London Marathon organisers refused to award her a medal for being too slow, although I note that most online sources say little about this and instead focus on the large number of runners who sent her their own medals in recognition of her accomplishment. In the context of our Innovations in Healthcare Conference, Claire is significant because she reminds our community that research and its translation into real products and devices is intended primarily to help real people live full, pain free, and - sometimes - very exciting lives. While doing this at the same time our research base and competitive manufacturing industry create and sustain many thousands of jobs, employment that reaches into an incredibly diverse supply chain and ultimately into UK society. The diversity of our supply chains should not be underestimated, ranging from raw materials to quality assurance, intellectual property law, regulatory affairs, and of course clinical placement and use by real patients. Innovations in Healthcare will open a very full week that will see every aspect of medical devices and healthcare technologies covered. Do check our many websites and news items, it might not be too late to make a last minute visit and be inspired!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/innovations-in-healthcare-conference-2015-tickets-16081967598
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/visible-difference-an-interdisciplinary-symposium-tickets-17095841121
Claire Lomas is becoming increasingly well known as an adventurer who pushes the boundaries of what is meant to be achievable after a serious spinal injury. Claire lost the use of her legs after a riding accident in 2007, yet in 2012 she donned a robotic exoskeleton and walked full London Marathon...in 17 days. I like many tuned in to watch her cross the finish line, a moving and inspirational moment that coincidentally brought medical robotics into the public eye. My recollection is that the London Marathon organisers refused to award her a medal for being too slow, although I note that most online sources say little about this and instead focus on the large number of runners who sent her their own medals in recognition of her accomplishment. In the context of our Innovations in Healthcare Conference, Claire is significant because she reminds our community that research and its translation into real products and devices is intended primarily to help real people live full, pain free, and - sometimes - very exciting lives. While doing this at the same time our research base and competitive manufacturing industry create and sustain many thousands of jobs, employment that reaches into an incredibly diverse supply chain and ultimately into UK society. The diversity of our supply chains should not be underestimated, ranging from raw materials to quality assurance, intellectual property law, regulatory affairs, and of course clinical placement and use by real patients. Innovations in Healthcare will open a very full week that will see every aspect of medical devices and healthcare technologies covered. Do check our many websites and news items, it might not be too late to make a last minute visit and be inspired!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/innovations-in-healthcare-conference-2015-tickets-16081967598
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/visible-difference-an-interdisciplinary-symposium-tickets-17095841121
No mention of manufacturers, raw materials suppliers, REACH and regulatory authorities failing to protect patients, in particular women from toxic, dangerous, non-conforming medical devices then?
ReplyDeleteYou raise some important subjects related to medical devices, their manufacture and the regulatory environment. I have covered some of this in a previous blog post, and I think it would be timely to revisit soon. That said, the above blog was about a very different event where we opened up the University to businesses in the devices and healthtech sector, so not really the place for a comment on the PIP disaster.
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