Health Innovation Hub’s work with hospitals on novel solutions set to transform sector

It’s not quite Dragon’s Den but it operates along similar principles — Ireland’s first Health Innovation Hub could prise open the hospital door for entrepreneurs eager to test products that could ultimately transform the patient experience — and generate jobs and revenue in the process.

The hub, which UCC has piloted for the past three years in collaboration with Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), has already facilitated the testing of a number of products. Among them is a pillow impervious to liquids and bugs, giving it a long shelf-life, manufactured by Gabriel Scientific and successfully trialled in University Hospital Waterford and the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital Cork.

Another promising product is Lincor’s bedside monitor, installed in the respiratory ward at Cork University Hospital, which doubles as an entertainment unit and an educational tool, where patients can learn about their own specific disease.