PRESS RELEASE: Friday 18th May 2012

Innovation Day 2012, Thursday 17th May, Nottingham Belfry Hotel

ViVO Smart Medical Devices Ltd. has walked away with the NHS Collaboration & Partnership Award in this year’s Medilink East Midlands Business Competition. David Wright, Founder and Managing Director, collected the prize on behalf of the company at the Innovation Day awards evening at the Belfry Hotel, Nottingham.
(© photo: Dr Darren Clark, David Wright and Karen Livingstone)

Since 2010 ViVO Smart Medical Devices has been designing, developing and manufacturing medical devices licensed from the NHS that reduce costs and improve patient care. The company also specialise in the licensing of medical devices, as well as sales and marketing strategies for the commercialisation of breakthrough healthcare technologies. The company won this award for the Pupiloscope™, a device which will allow medics to detect the onset of major head trauma allowing immediate treatment and prevention.

David Wright said: “This is a brilliant result because it demonstrates our commitment to working with NHS Partners and Healthcare professionals to develop Innovative Healthcare Technologies that Improve patient outcomes and reduce costs to healthcare. The Pupiloscope™ is a great example of our collaboration with the NHS; a medical device that can help Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics instantly diagnose, monitor and treat life threatening head injuries.”

The Partnership with the NHS Award is sponsored by NHS Midlands & East.
Karen Livingstone, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Commissioning Development, said: “ViVO Smart Medical Devices greatly impressed the judges with their commitment to working with NHS partners, as demonstrated by the collaborative activity on the Pupiloscope™. NHS Midlands and East are committed to driving up innovation throughout all of our organisations. We know that if we are to continue to enhance the quality of care that our patients receive then we must be at the forefront of developing and utilising new technologies and ways of working’’.

Speaking after the awards, Dr Darren Clark, Chief Executive of Medilink East Midlands commented: “What is so impressive about ViVO is their mix of entrepreneurial skill and sound business acumen with a passion for collaborating with NHS doctors, nurses and ambulance crews. Their Pupiloscope™ device has the potential to reduce the time head trauma patients spend in intensive care, which is great news for both patients and NHS budgets.”

The Awards ceremony was supported through the Healthcare and Bioscience iNet programme, which is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and took place on the evening following Medilink’s Innovation Day, a conference for the region’s leading businesses and academics in the sector.

ViVO would also like to thank BBC One East Midlands Today Show for their detailed feature on Pupiloscope™ and Radio Nottingham for their support.

David Wright, Founder and Managing Director is available for interview after the Awards on 08709229512 (All information and images are copyright protected)

Pupiloscope™ clinical need and principle technology was invented by a collaboration between scientists, engineers and consultants from the Regional Medical Physics and Neuro-Anaesthetics departments of the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The ranging mechanism and pupil detection algorithms of the device are protected by several patents granted to Mr Andrew Clark (Senior Clinical Technologist) and Dr Iain Chambers (Consultant Clinical Scientist). ViVO Smart Medical Devices are developing the technology having won a Technology Strategy Board Smart Award and are further commercialising and introducing the Pupiloscope™ into healthcare.

Medilink East Midlands is the life science industry association for the East Midlands whose aim is to help healthcare and bioscience companies establish, develop and grow. Medilink’s highly knowledgeable team is a proven and trusted source of expert assistance and provides a range of specialist support services to its network of over 4000 contacts.

The Healthcare and Bioscience iNet is an initiative, delivered by Medilink East Midlands, that brings together businesses, universities, and the NHS to develop new technologies, processes, products and services in order to build a healthy economy.

Healthcare and Bioscience iNet project is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme.

NHS Midlands and East is the Strategic Health Authority cluster incorporating NHS East of England, NHS West Midlands and NHS East Midlands which provides strategic direction for healthcare services across this cluster.