GO Wales Case Studies

Haemair based in Swansea took on undergraduate Jennifer Brokenshire to complete a research project to look at the commercial viability of their products which aim to improve the quality of life for lung disease sufferers.

Project Outcome

Jennifer’s biological background enabled her to understand the application area and the underlying science of the sensors. The project has helped Haemair to establish the case for setting up a new spin-out company to develop and exploit the new sensors; Haemair Senior Engineer, Steve Brown explains:

“The ultimate goal for Haemair is to develop respiratory aids and prosthetic lungs to save lives and improve the quality of life for millions of lung disease sufferers worldwide. In the 3 years that Haemair had been conducting this research, Haemair have required a number of devices and sensors that were not available commercially.”

“Jennifer had the task of determining whether there would be a sufficiently wide requirement for such sensors to make commercial development worthwhile. To meet this goal, Jennifer needed to research existing patents and prior art, identify potential customers and competition, and establish market size in relation to probable sales prices.”

“Jennifer completed a thorough assessment of the current market for the proposed sensors. In so doing, Jennifer also discovered important information on the current patent position. Her work constituted one of the important foundations for the decision to establish a spin-out company in Swansea specifically to develop such sensors.”

“The project, and interaction with GO Wales, was extremely successful. The new company (Haemaflow Ltd) is now using the GO Wales network to recruit staff to take the sensor project forward to the next stage.”