€900k deal will cut hospital stays

WORK to improve healing after surgery and reduce the time patients have to spend in hospital is getting underway at an Irish university.

The partnership between National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) and one of the world’s biggest healthcare products firms is valued at €900,000 and is part of a €1.8 million investment planned between Covidien and a number of Irish third-level colleges.

The projects outlined yesterday include work with a biomaterial already developed by Covidien that helps speed up the healing of surgical wounds. The firm has chosen NUIG to see if it can find other functions the gel could also perform.