Healthcare and bioscience
The theme unites researchers from physics and engineering to support the translation of their research excellence into real-world solutions.
The theme addresses the major UKRI strategic goals of 'Securing better health, ageing and wellbeing' and 'Tackling infections' as well as major EPSRC, BBSRC and MRC priorities in Healthcare Technologies.
Theme members have significant experience in working with industry, filing patents, licensing technology and forming spin-out companies.
Diagnostics and Imaging is a key strength of the theme, with multiple projects pursuing translation research. For example, our Photonics research has led to the spin-out of phorest diagnostics, a digital healthcare company developing blood tests for home and community use.
Phenospot uses a related technology and is developing an instrument capable of imaging cellular secretion with support by the Wellcome Trust and Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH with the goal of developing a stand-alone instrument for the bioscience market.
In the ARGUS project, sponsored by InnovateUK and led by a large multinational, we are developing a photonic biofilm sensor for the early detection of microbial contamination that is scheduled for commercial deployment in 2024/2025.
Our Nuclear Physics research has recently advanced the technique of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging by adding exciting ideas from quantum physics to improve imaging performance. This novel technique is now being developed further for clinical applications in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
Asuuta Limited, a University of York spin-out company, is developing a virtual reality (VR) based digital therapeutic for patients recovering from neurological impairment, such as a stroke.
Asuuta is dedicated to research, clinical assessment and improvement of functional performance in gait, movement, balance and cognition, powered by cutting-edge proprietary AI/Machine Learning algorithms, and full-body (marker-less) motion capture and VR biofeedback.
Asuuta’s StepSense CLINIC is a plug-and-play affordable cloud-based platform applicable to a wide range of musculoskeletal and neurological movement-limiting conditions; clinical trials and studies include Chronic Pain, Osteoarthritis, Traumatic Brain Injury, Chronic Fatigue/ME, Parkinson’s Disease and Long COVID. The StepSense HOME app extends this functionality to the home, community care or other mobile setting.
We specialise in developing technologies for the diagnosis and monitoring of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative conditions. The core of the technology is our “white-box machine learning” approach, which allows one to clearly explain how the model behaves, how it produces predictions and what the influencing variables are.
Our clinically-validated medical devices have been commercialised through ClearSky Medical Diagnostics Ltd. and have been used in medical centres and clinical trials worldwide.
A key activity is our co-leadership of the Physics of Life network which aims to bring researchers from the biological and physical sciences together to galvanise Physics of Life research in the UK and convince policymakers of the importance of investment in this area.