Healthcare advances

The Angel Alliance has received £2.6m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (

) to improve science and engineering innovations in the field of healthcare technology.

This will be the first funded project secured by the alliance, which consists of the universities of Durham and Newcastle and regional development agency One North East.

The project, known as ‘Crossing the Clinical Boundary’, intends to minimise the time it takes for innovative products to come into use by industry and to facilitate collaborative programmes between researchers and businesses.

Over the next three years, the Knowledge Transfer Account (KTA) will be used to boost university research and allow the results to be applied commercially to the healthcare industry.

Current technologies patented by the universities include a sensor that uses a patient’s sweat to diagnose cystic fibrosis, computer software to increase protection of medical data and imaging agents for use in MRI scanning.