The substantial funding awarded to Cambridge Design Partnership provided a great boost to the humidifier prototype development, and the project was completed by a team with a strong track record in medical innovation and the ability to identify and address unmet needs in the respiratory market.
Ventilators used on intensive care units keep patients alive by delivering air for them to breathe. Humidifiers are attached to the ventilators to heat and humidify the air to body conditions. An unfortunate side effect of the humidifying process is that it causes condensation (or ‘rainout’) to accumulate in the breathing circuit. These pools of warm water promote colonisation of microbes which increase the likelihood of contracting deadly infections. One of the most common infections is Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP), which kills many thousands of people every year in the UK alone. It is also costly to the NHS, with the bill for extended stays in Intensive Care running into hundreds of millions of pounds. This combination of high mortality and high costs means that an innovative solution is required, and so CDP set about designing a new humidifier with excellent performance but, for the first time, removes the root cause of the condensation problem.
In 2009 CDP was one of four winners out of total of 177 bidders to be awarded funding in the Patient Safety category of the SBRI East award, which was administered by the NHS’s innovation group, Health Enterprise East. The funding was used to design and develop a series of prototypes and has enabled CDP to demonstrate ways in which real issues on critical care wards can be improved through innovation.
CDP has also gained further funding from the Eurostars scheme, in which innovative companies from around Europe partner on R&D projects aimed at benefitting people across the continent.
“It’s been fantastic to see this project gathering momentum and being able use the funding to develop such an important medical technology. This product has the potential to drastically improve the lives of patients by controlling a cause of infection for critically ill patients and improving their lives,” said Keith Turner, Partner, Cambridge Design Partnership.
“This innovative humidification technology has formed the foundation of an exciting new company aiming to commercialise products that reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes. We have been able to use our high success rate in winning grant funding to maximise the valuation of this business before seeking further development funding. I think our track record of commercialising new technology allows us to help our product development clients from a position of shared experience.” added Mike Cane, Founder, Cambridge Design Partnership.
The SBRI East conference was held recently at the Duxford Imperial War Museum bringing together those involved in the innovative, pioneering initiative driven by the NHS, East of England, to facilitate and promote innovative healthcare technologies. Keith Turner, partner at CDP, presented the humidifier project to the many attendees including the department of health, NHS regional chief executives, SBRI and other competition winners.
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