Establishing Translational Research Pipelines for Smart Devices

Abstract

The development of a translational research path has traditionally been a haphazard approach, filtering technologies so that the ‘best of breed’ may ultimately succeed. The conversion ratio of brilliant ideas to useful devices remains suboptimal, as many ‘fail to progress’. The reality of developing biotechnology transfer and Knowledge Transfer (KT) generally, is that the ability of multidisciplinary teams (MDT) to assimilate and then act upon information is becoming the rate limiting step for the building of complex projects. The model proposed here considers both the biological aspects of Life Sciences (LS) and the establishment of Technology Readiness for its implementation.
By offering a sustainable generic structure for the assimilation and transfer of technologies, at a rate supported by the individual teams, the potential is for a standalone system able to accommodate clinical research and governance needs. The construction of a "signature", which reflects the current state of development, and through the rate progress of translation, and development of these technologies, potentially allows us to draw comparisons across different multidisciplinary environments, so as to ensure that adequate resources are allocated to assure their interoperability within agreed timescales.
A case example applying this process to the development of a ‘force sensing’ lightweight hand rim for manual wheelchairs allowed for the kinematic data to be compared with Electromyographic (EMG muscle patterning) data. This demonstrates that this strategic approach can be operationalized. By mapping the EMG signals from the basic science experiments through to clinical evaluation, the groundwork for assuring rapid integration of approaches for the afferent arm of novel ‘autosensing’ FES technologies. This integrates with work practices across disciplines, so as to create a potential ‘template’ for integration into Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These accommodate established ‘Good Laboratory Practice’ (GLP) and also can meet the requirements for governance of the translational research framework.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Gary Wills: orcid.org/0000-0001-5771-4088

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