State's pioneering lead in biomed engineering boosted as clinicians, industry collaborate
A cancer-detecting probe has been developed through Flinders University’s Medical Device Research Institute state medical technologies program.
Image courtesy Flinders University
South Australia has been a pioneer of biomedical engineering and has some of Australia’s leading minds. The state’s strength is in clinical communities and industry working together to ensure our research is relevant and accessible.
High-tech medical devices research holds the promise of changing the way pain and healthcare is managed.
Projects in the pipeline include
• a nasal delivery device to administer pain relief,
• a device to prevent deep vein thrombosis,
• gaming consoles for children with cerebral palsy,
• shopping simulators to assess the progress of stroke victims,
• an automatic screwdriver for surgeons to optimise healing of broken bones, and
• wearable technology that alerts young people with Type 1 diabetics about serious dips in blood sugar levels.
Most projects are driven or supported by industry and can be applied globally, ensuring a strong commercial focus.
Flinders University’s Medical Device Research Institute also delivers the state government’s medical technologies program. This program adds to a thriving ecosystem for industry collaboration, while the CMAX centre, University of South Australia, University of Adelaide and publicly‐listed companies and smaller entities within the biotech hub at Thebarton pursue their own opportunities.
South Australia is also home to a $3.6 billion health and science innovation precinct, known as Adelaide BioMed City, where the ground-breaking South Australian Health Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and new Royal Adelaide Hospital are based, along with research centres involving the three main universities. This cluster is one of the biggest health and research precincts in the southern hemisphere.
