Leading health technology innovation: Introducing idea2impact

Innovators across the NHS, universities and industry are developing new technologies with the potential to improve patient outcomes and enhance healthcare services.

But turning a promising idea into a safe and effective technology that can be adopted into the healthcare can be a complex journey.

To help bridge that gap, University Hospital Southampton's (UHS) Southampton Emerging Therapies and Technologies (SETT) Centre and the University of Southampton's School of Healthcare Enterprise and Innovation (SHEI) have launched idea2impact.

We spoke to Dr Angus Prosser, the SETT Centre’s Regulatory Lead for MedTech and Senior Research Fellow at the University, to learn more about this new joint initiative.

What challenges can innovators face when trying to turn a good idea into something that can benefit patients and healthcare services?

We regularly see excellent innovations emerging from researchers and clinicians across UHS and the University. Yet developing a technology that can be safely adopted into clinical practice requires more than just a good idea.

Innovators have to navigate increasingly complex regulatory requirements and quality processes. They need to meet specific expectations around demonstrating safety and effectiveness.

They also need to understand how their technology fits into clinical pathways and how to demonstrate value to patients and the NHS.

For many innovators, these are unfamiliar areas. They can be difficult to navigate without specialist support.

Some of the most common questions we hear are:

• Is my technology a medical device?
• What regulations do I need to consider?
• How do I develop and test my technology safely?
• What evidence do I need to show safety and effectiveness?
• How can I demonstrate the impact of my technology in the clinical pathway?

Thinking about these questions early can save time and reduce risk. It also gives a promising idea the best chance to reach patients.

What inspired you and your partners to create idea2impact?

Through our work supporting innovators, we often see the same challenge. Many people have strong ideas but need specialist help navigating regulation. idea2impact was created to address this gap.

idea2impact is a collaboration between the SETT Centre and SHEI. The SETT Centre supports innovators to test, evaluate and translate healthcare technologies. It works with NHS clinicians, patients and healthcare pathways. SHEI supports innovators to develop ideas and consider commercialisation. It helps them turn research into real-world solutions.

idea2impact brings together regulatory, quality and compliance knowledge from both organisations into a single, comprehensive support offer.

Our integration with the wider innovation ecosystem means we understand the full innovation journey. This allows us to provide practical support that aligns with the challenges of bringing new technologies into healthcare.

Our aim is to help innovators build regulatory and quality considerations into development from the start. This gives promising ideas the best chance of becoming safe and effective technologies that can reach patients.

What kinds of people or organisations can get involved?

idea2impact works with innovators across the NHS, academia and industry who are developing new healthcare technologies.

Whether you are exploring an early concept, developing your technology or preparing for clinical adoption, we can support you.

What services does idea2impact offer?

idea2impact provides practical regulatory, quality and compliance support throughout the healthcare technology development journey.

Our support includes:

• Understanding medical device regulatory requirements.
• Developing appropriate quality processes and documentation to support safe development.
• Planning evidence generation and evaluation to demonstrate safety and effectiveness.
• Identifying potential regulatory and development challenges early.
• Providing guidance and support to help technologies progress towards adoption.

We provide specialist expertise to complement the wider innovation, development and translation activities available through SETT and SHEI.

What would success look like for idea2impact over the next few years?

We want to see more promising technologies progress through development. We want innovations to have fewer avoidable delays, generate stronger evidence and have a clearer route towards clinical adoption.

Success would mean innovators across the region viewing regulation, quality and compliance differently. Instead of seeing them as barriers to innovation, they would recognise them as enablers of better healthcare technologies.

We hope idea2impact can be a catalyst for this change. We will work with regional and national partners to make idea2impact a trusted source of specialist support for healthcare innovation.

Ultimately, success will mean helping more safe and effective healthcare technologies reach patients and improve care.

Learn more about idea2impact on the initiative website.