Under the leadership of Professor Daniel Steenstra, the Royal Academy of Engineering’s visiting professor in innovation, the team will adapt the Open Source (OS) product design model to develop life-saving medical technologies faster and at a cheaper cost.

 

The OS model is currently used to design, develop and distribute software, but will for the first time be used as a way of ensuring innovative ideas for healthcare devices can transfer from the design bench to the marketplace.

 

“We are aware of a good number of concepts which never get to the next stage because of costs. These products still meet a need, but patents sometimes get in the way and we were certain there must be a different way of generating, not necessarily new technology, but new innovations so patients can enjoy the benefits ”

Explaining how it will be adapted, Steenstra said: “Open Source currently involves getting a bunch of designers, engineers and users and working together to produce software. This software is then made available free of charge with no licence under a philosophy of sharing information.

 

“The benefits of this approach are very real. The soft benefits include building a strong reputation and many companies like to include Open Source involvement on their CVs. The hard benefits are that you can make money by selling the services. It just shifts the point at which the money comes in so it does not hold up the process.”

 

The idea comes as more and more companies find it almost impossible to take innovative ideas forward due largely to the restrictions of applying for and monitoring patents.

 

Steenstra said: “We are aware of a good number of concepts which never get to the next stage because of costs. These products still meet a need, but patents sometimes get in the way and we were certain there must be a different way of generating, not necessarily new technology, but new innovations so patients can enjoy the benefits.

 

“Currently the model for developing medical products, based on protecting intellectual property, is costly and complex and difficult for small companies to get involved in, although their input is often invaluable. A major element of our scheme will be to make life-saving and commonly-used medical devices widely available to more people.”

 

The university team hit on the idea of adapting the formula after hearing about a project to design a $100 laptop computer for the developing world. 

Steenstra said: “In this case a number of companies got together to make laptops which were cheap, but still did the job they were needed for. The idea was that they stripped out all the components which were not needed and the result was a cheaper and more-appropriate version of an existing technology. The $100 laptop uses an OS operating system and software. We also know the OS approach is being used in the design of cars.” 

The project at Cranfield will primarily focus on the development of a low-cost scanner for use in primary care.

 

Steenstra said: “Lots of components go into, for example, MRI scanners, which makes them extremely large and expensive. But how many of those features are actually necessary for a GP to make an initial diagnosis?

 

“We want to see if we can take away these bit and pieces and take it back to basics. Can we offer GPs a stripped-out version for around £1,000 that will help them meet the Government’s aim to provide diagnostics faster and closer to patients’ homes?”

 

Based in the manufacturing department at the university, the project integrates design, engineering, manufacturing and management and the team is currently raising funds to expand the number of researchers on board. Steenstra said they aim to have first-concept models of the scanner ready by June and functional prototypes later this year.

 

And they are looking for support from industry, with opportunities for components and electronic system manufacturers in particular.

 

Steenstra said: “We are working with a team of clinicians to make sure we understand their requirements before designing the product. In the meantime we will continue to work with the NHS to understand the priority areas for the next product.”