Digital health tech is transforming how we treat patients - Laura Goodfellow

Increasingly at Interface we are working with companies in the Health Technology and Digital Health sector. What are “health technology” and “digital health” I hear you ask?

Laura Goodfellow, Interim Director, Interface

Health Technology and Digital Health are complex to define and encompass a wide range of technologies and digital services including wireless devices, sensors, mobile applications, health ICT, robotics and genomics. And you may hear terms like Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, personalis ed medicine and telehealth bandied about but what is it all about?

In a post-pandemic world where healthcare is already struggling to meet the challenges of an ageing population, increased incidence of cancer, diabetes and dementia, innovation in this sector is crucial and requires to be fluid and fast moving.

Innovative ways for monitoring health and wellbeing allows better self-management and can lead to improved healthcare outcomes including more personalised and person-centred care, improved delivery and quality of care and lead to reduced costs and improved efficiencies in the health and care sector.

Interface are working with several companies and organisations in the health technology space ranging from StEPS Podiatry, specialists in gait analysis and other musculoskeletal assessments, who collaborated with University of Strathclyde to design and manufacture dementia friendly footcare tools, to the development of an augmented reality aid by Gaiter Ltd in the form of glasses which helps Parkinson’s sufferers walk unaided.

We have also assisted digital health company PhysioMedics to access funding and expertise in the development of PhysioWizard a digital triage software that patients complete online to manage muscle and joint problems. PhysioMedics has undertaken R&D, clinical safety trials, usability assessments, pilots in NHS Scotland and England and are now implementing with their first customers; two national healthcare providers who manage patients on behalf of NHS England and MSK Occupational Health. With expertise from Robert Gordon University PhysioMedics are aiming to improve PhysioWizard’s accessibility and engagement in the ageing population (55+ year-olds), by evaluating a range of voice-enabled options including pop-up avatar and simple voice enabled guidance, with a view to incorporating this technology to reach a far wider audience.

PhysioMedics were one of several companies who recently attended an event hosted by the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre (DHI) for The Estonian Ambassador, Viljar Lubi, interested in meeting Scottish digital health companies that may have an interest in working with Estonia.

DHI, part of the Scottish Funding Council’s Innovation Centre Programme, supports transformational collaboration between universities and businesses in the digital health arena. According to DHI, “Innovation in digital health and care will help the people of Scotland live longer, healthier lives and provide sustainable and inclusive growth for our economies” tying in with the Scottish Government’s vision to make Scotland a wellbeing economy, looking beyond traditional attitudes and measures of prosperity such as GDP, and putting people, their health and wellbeing and the environment at the heart of our economy.

Laura Goodfellow, Interim Director, Interface

www.interface-online.org.uk