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University of York academic receives top medical award

Posted on 15 October 2015

An academic from the University of York has won an award for developing a piece of medical equipment which can help patients with Parkinson’s.

Dr Smith (centre) receives his award from Andrew Alton (right) Patent Attorney at Urquhart-Dykes & Lord LLP, who sponsored the prize and TV presenter and NHS paediatrician Dr Ranj Singh (left).

Dr Stephen Smith, from the University’s Department of Electronics, was part of a team that invented the LID-Monitor – a device which can detect involuntary movements associated with Parkinson’s disease.

The device allows home monitoring of patients over a 24 hour period and bespoke software produces an easy to interpret graph that doctors can use to prescribe medication.

Dr Smith triumphed in the Medical Devices & Diagnostics category at the eleventh annual Medipex Innovation Awards and Showcase held in Leeds.

The awards are run by Medipex Ltd  - the innovation hub for NHS organisations in Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands.

Innovators from around the region gathered at Oulton Hall near Leeds for the awards ceremony where seven teams were crowned winners across five categories: Digital Health, GP & Primary Care, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Medical Devices & Diagnostics and Secondary Care.

The awards provide a platform to showcase pioneering new ideas and technologies developed by, or with, NHS staff to improve patient care and make services more efficient.

Dr Smith said: “I’m delighted to receive this award on behalf of the team which has worked so hard over the past few years to bring this technology from the laboratory to the patient.

“Thanks to the support of my collaborators and funders, we are confident that people living with Parkinson’s will soon see the benefit of this technology.”

Dr Smith collaborated with colleagues from Leeds General Infirmary and Heriot-Watt University and the project was funded through the Royal Academy of Engineering and Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders at the University of York.

The team has worked with ClearSky Medical Diagnostics to develop the device commercially.

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