Dr Conor Hayden, from Trinity’s School of Engineering and the ADAPT Research Centre, has secured €600,000 in funding from Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund to develop an innovative respiratory sensor.
The biomedical engineer has netted two years’ worth of funding to commercialise the “Ribbon device”, which simultaneously measures both respiratory rate and volume: the first device which can do so.
Dr Hayden will spearhead the technical development of the device, with an eye to enabling earlier detection of respiratory issues in patients and preventing complications down the line.
Wielding his previous design experience from the development of Index-eTap, Dr Hayden will be advised by Professor Bruce Murphy and Dr Dara Meldrum. Clinical advice will be provided by Dr Deirdre Murray and Professor Ignacio Martin-Loeches.
Dr Hayden expressed his gratitude for the funding and thanked Trinity’s Schools of Medicine and Engineering, PrecisionALS, and the Trinity Technology Transfer Office for their support.
He added: “The Ribbon device has its genesis in my PhD work, which focused on developing objective outcome measures for people living with Motor Neurone Disease. I am excited to move forward with the development of the Ribbon device.”
Dr Dara Meldrum, Associate Professor of Medicine at Trinity, applauded the achievement, saying:“Receiving a commercialisation grant is a remarkable achievement that will empower Dr Hayden to transform his research into an innovative solution.”
Similar plaudits came from Professor Bruce Murphy, Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Trinity. “It’s fantastic to see Conor advance his PhD work into an Enterprise Ireland commercially focused development program.”
He continued: “The work will potentially benefit patients globally, by eliminating the cascade of adverse events associated with respiratory failure.”
The Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund is state-funded and supports third-level researchers by giving them two years’ worth of funding to enable them to turn their research into commercially viable products, services, and companies.
