State-of-the-Art: Biodesign based Innovation Ecosystems in Europe

• Published in: Current directions in biomedical engineering Vol. 7; no. 2; pp. 231 - 234
• Main Authors: Fritzsche, Holger, Mahbub, Elaha, Boese, Axel, Friebe, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter 01.10.2021
• Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Innovation Ecosystems; Innovation Generation; Medical Research Laboratory; Stanford Biodesign; Start Up; Technology Transfer; Unmet Clinical Needs
• ISSN: 2364-5504; 2364-5504
• DOI: 10.1515/cdbme-2021-2059

Today's healthcare challenges with unmet clinical needs, high regulation and certification standards, and increasing costs demand faster innovation and technical translation. To address this challenge, Stanford released a fellowship called Biodesign, where need-based healthcare innovation is taught with the approach identify, invent and implement. Since then, different European institutions have adopted the Biodesign innovation approach and organized within the Biomedical Engineering- Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Alliance (BMEidea EU). The generation of successful healthcare innovation isn't only based on participating in an Innovation teaching program. It is much more a matter of having the right innovation ecosystem with an open creative mindset, experts, the respective stakeholders, and access to essential resources within reach (close to clinic). Through a qualitative survey, seven Biodesign based teaching programs in the EU were examined. The study from an academic perspective contains information covering Resources, Activities, Academic Performance, and Transfer Performance. The demand for new healthcare innovations, and especially innovation training programs that address challenges, developed collaboratively with the respective stakeholders, is increasing. Additionally, there is a growing expectation that innovation needs to reach the market quickly and be implemented accordingly. A Healthcare Innovation Ecosystem, where different entities function as a productive unit with a shared vision and committed to application-driven research and technology transfer, will increase innovation's success and adaptation.