CPI has officially opened a new, state-of-the-art facility focused on the development of next generation light-based healthcare treatments.
The National Healthcare Photonics Centre will support the scale-up and commercialisation of MedTech products, acting as a hub for businesses of all sizes and academic partners to work on innovative methods of diagnosing disease, imaging systems and light-based treatments. Healthcare photonics technologies can have applications in the early diagnosis and monitoring of chronic diseases such as diabetes or acute diseases such as cancer or brain injury. Lasers are now widely used in the treatment of various eye conditions and in surgical procedures.
The aim of the facility is to reduce the barriers that are preventing promising research and early-stage inventions from moving beyond the laboratory and into innovative healthcare solutions for patients. The new centre includes a suite of specialist laboratories capable of carrying out optical system development and testing, laser system applications development, microscopy and imaging of bio-materials, diagnostic test development, new materials characterisation, ionising radiation imaging and testing, additive manufacturing, electronics development and pilot manufacturing work.
Allowing CPI to create a number of jobs, the centre will help SMEs drive forward innovative products and services at reduced risk and with increased capital efficiencies, while supporting large companies to undertake more disruptive innovation in the healthcare market.
As well as commissioning work or participating in collaborative development projects, companies will be able to locate onsite and work alongside CPI’s highly-skilled team. CPI also offers partners specialist support across device design and development, validation, testing and pilot production, as well as business support to link into networks and connections within the Healthcare and MedTech markets.
Supported by a £7.9m grant from the Government’s Local Growth Deal, through the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), the cutting-edge facility, based at NETPark, in Sedgefield, County Durham, was officially opened in a ceremony led by Nigel Perry MBE FREng, CPI Chief Executive, and Dr Tom Harvey, CPI Healthcare Photonics Lead with Alan Welby, North East LEP Innovation Director.
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