Medical Delta Living Labs

Text: Jurjen Slump

Medical Delta is a dynamic network of organisations active in the life sciences, health and technology sector. Together, they develop innovations to meet current and future challenges in the health care sector.

One important tool for achieving this is the concept of ‘Living Labs’. These offer companies and care providers the opportunity of developing, testing and implementing their solutions in real-life settings, whether physical or digital, with actual clinicians, patients, nursing staff and people who provide care at home.

In this way, it is ensured that effective, relevant care innovations get to market faster and are optimally aligned with the wishes and needs of the end-users and the requirements of the clinicians and/or carers. For companies, this means that their product launches will be more successful, while for the care sector it means that they will be able to implement the innovative products or services in an efficient and effective way.

Living Lab infrastructure

Medical Delta is currently setting up a Living Lab infrastructure in the province of ‘Zuid-Holland’ in the Netherlands. This infrastructure offers an attractive environment for companies in life sciences, health and technology, with high quality Living Lab services raising the chance of conquering the market and reaching the general public with relevant new products, services or social initiatives.

The Labs

Seven Medical Delta Living Labs

“In 2017, Medical Delta started setting up the infrastructure for the first Medical Delta Living Lab. Currently, seven Living Labs are active in the areas of patient safety, rehabilitation, living a safe and healthy life at home, vitality and prevention. There are nine projects currently underway at these labs. In addition, we work together with various partners: hospitals, care institutions, knowledge institutions (universities and universities of applied sciences), government bodies and the business community. Naturally, everything revolves around the end user.”

Patient safety

“The Medical Delta Living Lab Research Operating Theatre develops systems to improve patient safety during operations. One of the systems being tested is a real-life operating theatre equipped with all kinds of measuring equipment and sensors.”

Rehabilitation

“Another lab - the Medical Delta Living Lab Rehabilitation Technology - deals with innovations that improve the quality and intensity of rehabilitation. One of the companies involved in this project is Sense Glove from Delft. With the help of robotics and virtual reality, this start-up has developed a smart glove that makes it seem as though the user is holding a real object. Thus, people can be ‘re-trained’ to perform everyday tasks in a more challenging way.”

Greater chance of success

“The objective of our Living Labs is to ensure that innovative products have a greater chance of success, namely by involving the end user very early on in the innovation process. By first testing innovations and implementing them on a small scale within a lifelike environment (hospital, rehabilitation centre, at home), we can launch them more successfully.”

Network of Medical Delta Living Labs

“In the coming years, the existing Medical Delta Living Labs infrastructure will be expanded further. The ultimate goal is to create a central point of contact in the province of South Holland which interested parties, from either the Netherlands or abroad, can approach for Living Lab services in the field of medical technology.”