Four groundbreaking Galway-based healthcare research projects have been awarded almost €20 million in funding announced this week.
The government announced a total of €40 million in grant funding under the first tranche of the fourth round of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund.
The Galway projects are all in the area of advanced healthcare, either using medtech to improve surgical treatments, or modern data gathering and analysis for better treatment options.
The largest award is €7 million to a project led by Versono Medical Ltd and Integer Ireland to develop a non-invasive device to treat patients with chronic blockage of coronary arteries in their limbs.
FeelTect is leading the HealthIntel project, awarded €4.6 million, which will use data to improve the monitoring and measuring of compression therapy and wound care.
The LILAC-IntelliSense project by Luminate Medical Ltd has been awarded €4.4; This aims to develop a software solution that models a prognosis for chemotherapy induced nerve damage.
It is hoped that the system will lead to improved treatment outcomes for chemotherapy patients, while reducing long-term side effects.
And lastly, €3.4 million has been awarded for BioBlate, led by Xtremedy Medical, a non-invasive surgical device for treating diabetic foot ulcers.
University of Galway is also a partner on all four of these projects, while Armour Interactive is working on HealthIntel.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said of the awards under the DTIF, “Now more than ever we should look to the future and embrace innovation as a means of building our capacity to conquer the challenges we face.”
“Throughout the pandemic, the research community showed a commendable ability to adapt and rise to previously unthinkable challenges.”
“These and other successful projects have identified emerging areas of opportunity in future markets to help solve societal challenges by building on our regional economic and research strengths.”
DTIF places a large emphasis on SME participation, to utilise their potential as drivers of disruptive innovation.
The 11 successful consortia in this call have 40 partners, of which 58% are SMEs and 10 of which are leading their projects.
Leo Clancy, CEO, Enterprise Ireland, who administer the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund, said that it encourages companies of all sizes to be ambitious.
“The investment offered through DTIF encourages Irish companies of all sizes, multinational companies and academic institutions to explore new opportunities by encouraging them to be more ambitious and pursue strategic research opportunities.”
“It helps clients target investment in innovations in areas of major importance, such as future medical technologies and digitalisation.”
