A recently published Glasgow City Council report has served to underline the strength, rising value, and huge global opportunity which the region’s MedTech expertise represents.

The council’s Digital Economy team compiled the spotlight report for its Why Glasgow? series, analysing the cluster’s forward-thinking infrastructure, including a research base and innovation assets which are helping to put this MedTech ecosystem firmly on the world map.

Healthcare innovation specialist InnoScot Health praised the “exceptional” work undertaken across the community and thinks there is much more to come with Glasgow’s venture capital-funded MedTech startups reported to already have a combined enterprise value of £361 million.

Innovation commercialisation manager, Frances Ramsay said: “MedTech is an ever-growing prospect and it’s exciting to know that Glasgow City Region is grasping the opportunity with both hands.

“Displaying incredible growth already, it is only going to get bigger, turning the city – and Scotland with it – into a true centre of excellence with a remarkable investment future. 

“It is a leading exemplar of just what is possible when you unite cross-sector expertise in a highly innovative ‘triple helix’ environment where NHS, industry, and academia can work together for improved patient outcomes driven by bespoke data and personalised need.

“When multidisciplinary knowledge and insight converge in the development of medical devices, digital health, in vitro diagnostics, and much more, then with the right collaborative support, global ambitions will be achieved – and so it is proving.”

Professor Jesse Dawson, director of research and innovation at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said that access to patient populations is one of Glasgow’s most valuable assets: “We have access to all patient groups, all clinical specialities – so there isn’t any health area where we couldn’t help test and support developing MedTech solutions.”

The report highlights such applications for Glasgow-based MedTech as remote patient monitoring, telehealth platforms, mobile health apps, data analytics and AI tools that assist with diagnosis, triage, and clinical decision-making.

Ms Ramsay added: “With the Glasgow City Region MedTech sector, we are seeing an incredible willingness to break down barriers to the creation of hybrid solutions by taking existing physical medical devices and integrating digital components or AI-enabled tools, for example.

“It is a refreshing approach which opens up so many possibilities, from diagnostic tests to imaging systems, and always with patient safety to the fore.”

CEO and founder of MR CoilTech, Dr Shajan Gunamomy, features in an Invest Glasgow video which forms part of the report. InnoScot Health signed a contract with MR CoilTech in 2022 to provide and implement an ISO13485:2016 Quality Management System. 

Since then, InnoScot Health has continued to helping the company navigate the regulatory landscape and provide project management for the continuing development of head coils for research.