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Investment to help Â鶹ӳ»­ tech firms develop new healthcare aids

Story by Sharman Hnatiuk | Photo by Evan Isbister

EDMONTON ¡ª The federal government is investing in the expertise at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital to enhance Â鶹ӳ»­¡¯s capacity to move healthcare products to the national and global market.

In December, the Government of Canada announced a re-investment of more $2.1 million through PrairiesCan towards the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital¡¯s Research & Innovation program. This will assist industry with product design and validation, develop testing sites for new technologies and allow for access to clinical feedback and expertise on new solutions.

¡°Combining the expertise of our clinicians and therapists with industry partners has already turned research innovations tested on patients at the Glenrose into health solutions for Â鶹ӳ»­ns across the province,¡± says Andrew Chan, Senior Program Lead, Glenrose Research & Innovation.

¡°This investment will help continue to facilitate the commercialization and scaling of made-in-Â鶹ӳ»­ technologies and solutions that help patients who require life-long rehabilitation and support.¡±

The investment will support health firms across Â鶹ӳ»­ working to refine prototypes and devices including wheelchairs, adaptive bikes, remote monitoring systems and wearable technologies. It also establishes a provincewide network of companies, post-secondary institutions and other organizations to bolster collaboration to bring new technologies to market.

As an Â鶹ӳ»­n working in the mobility device space for 25 years, Christian Bagg, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Bowhead Corp., says he¡¯s excited by the opportunity to secure funding to focus on innovation opportunities for manual wheelchairs with Glenrose patients.

¡°We have a growing population of people who can benefit from mobility equipment, and the industry has seen minimal changes in innovation towards the standard manual wheelchair for decades,¡± says Bagg.

The federal funding, directed through the Glenrose Hospital Foundation, enables Â鶹ӳ»­ technology firms to ramp up commercialization of in-demand mobility and home-health technologies.

¡°Bowhead has grown an amazing brand for outdoor adaptive mobility, so the time to make something better in mobility is now,¡± says Bagg.

¡°Thanks to the PrairiesCan re-investment in the Â鶹ӳ»­ health tech industry, companies like ours can collaborate with high-quality staff and therapists and have access to patients, helping direct our innovations for potential customers across the globe.¡±