PDR and Cardiff Met delegation explore health design collaborations in India
Two of our researchers recently visited one of India’s most prestigious universities as part of a Cardiff Metropolitan University delegation exploring potential areas for research collaboration. Dr Dominic Eggbeer, Professor of Healthcare Applications of Design, and Dr Sally Cloke, Human Centred Design Assistant Researcher, joined Dr Angesh Anupam, Head of Department, Data Science, from Cardiff Met, for an in-depth introduction to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
The Cardiff delegation spent time with academics in the IISc’s Centre of Product Design and Manufacturing, focusing on their common interests in design for health, prosthetics and implants, assistive technology, human-centred design and data science. This followed an initial online workshop hosted by PDR and Cardiff Met in March where the academics shared their expertise and highlighted challenges they’d like to address.
Over four days of meetings, presentations and conversations in mid-May, Dom, Sally and Angesh toured world-class facilities and delved into a range of research projects being developed by IISc’s renowned researchers and their students. These projects included:
- Life-extending technology for the transport of donor organs, saving more lives through transplantation.
- Advanced prosthetic limbs with sensors for natural movement, empowering amputees to live and work more independently.
- Early disease detection using miniaturised sensors and artificial intelligence, further enabling early intervention and preventative care.
- Highly realistic surgical training simulations with haptic feedback, revolutionising surgical education, especially in remote locations.
- Eye movement tracking as a control interface for robots, providing children with complex physical disabilities ways to interact and communicate with those around them.
The visitors gained invaluable insights into some of the social, economic and geographic issues facing India as it seeks to improve the health and quality of life of its population while balancing growth and sustainability. Not all were unique to India; for example, the stigma surrounding gynaecological problems which prevents many women from seeking treatment also remains a problem in western countries.
Dom described the visit as “inspiring. It fostered a collaborative spirit on both sides. The two teams discovered several promising areas for joint research and are currently working on narrowing down which ones to develop and identifying sources for potential funding.”
“Collaborative efforts like this have immense potential to improve the lives of millions living with disabilities and medical conditions worldwide. The PDR/Cardiff Met delegation and the researchers at IISc are committed to translating these possibilities into tangible solutions.”
“The visit also highlighted the importance of increased funding for India-UK research partnerships. By combining their strengths, these nations can unlock a new era of innovation in assistive technologies and medical devices, ultimately leading to better healthcare for all,” Dom added.
Since returning from Bengaluru, the team has been invited to share their experiences with visiting representatives from the British Council, senior leadership from other South Indian research universities, and Global Wales, the international research program of Welsh universities and Government agencies which funded the exchange.
Find out more about our Design Research work and our Surgical and Prosthetic Design Academy.
