Glasgow remote sensor pioneer Novosound hails twin IP milestones

Glasgow-based remote sensor specialist Novosound has secured two intellectual property milestones as it begins a key project with a Nasdaq-listed tech group.

While achieving a US trademark for its Kelpie product - one of its range of ultrasound sensors - the Scots firm has also been granted a European patent that covers its core high resolution sensor technology.

Novosound has also announced the acquisition of the assets of one of its main supply chain partners, which the company says will speed up product delivery.

Chief executive and co-founder Dave Hughes said: “Our ambition is to be one of the leading tech companies to come out of the ecosystem here in Scotland. We’ve seen the success of peer companies like Current Health, and we have set our sights on achieving that kind of success too.

Novosound chair Derek Mathieson and CEO and co-founder Dave Hughes. Picture: Stewart Attwood

“On the back of recent contract wins with tier one aerospace groups including GE Aviation and BAE Aerospace, the trademarks and patents we are announcing enable us to both increase international expansion into the US and Europe, and move into the wearable, consumer, and medical tech markets.”

The firm began a medical wearable research and development (R&D) partnership with the University of Central Lancashire in 2018, a partnership aimed at the healthcare sector that Hughes says validated the wearable sensor platform prior to working with one of the world’s largest tech groups.

“Our strategy was always around our ultrasound technology demonstrating wide ranges of uses in business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets, and we’ve been laying the ground for that in recent years,” he added.

Novosound’s patented thin-film manufacturing process, which is said to eliminate conventional limitations in ultrasound sensors including the high cost of high-resolution imaging, also underpins the company’s pioneering non-destructive testing (NDT) products - the Kelpie, Belenus, and Nebula.

The company recently announced a series of contract wins, including with aerospace groups BAE Systems and GE Aviation, and Israeli-based digital health company dSound.

Novosound is one of four EIE alumni tech companies that will present to a panel of investors at EIE London at the London Stock Exchange April 20.

In December 2019, the firm - a spin-out from the University of the West of Scotland - secured a £3.3 million investment round.

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