Established in 2004, the Tyndall National Institute is one of Europe’s leading centres in ICT research and development. It hosts over 460 researchers, engineers and support staff and has a network of over 200 industry partners and customers worldwide. Tyndall National Institute is performing breakthrough research in photonics, electronics, micro-nano-technology and smart systems to deliver innovative solutions in medtech and biopharma. Tyndall’s ICT for Health Strategic Programme is driving an ABC ecosystem (i.e. combining Academic, Business and Clinical stakeholders), in which Tyndall researchers are working with academic leaders (national and international), many of the top companies in medtech and pharma industries, and in collaboration with clinical experts. This ensures that Tyndall research delivers impact in terms of clinical utility and commercial opportunity. Tyndall is host to both the Irish Photonic Integration Centre (IPIC) and the Microelectronics Circuits Centre Ireland (MCCI), and is a collaborator in the CONNECT Centre for Future Networks & Communications (Internet of Things), the Insight Centre for Big Data Analytics and the CONFIRM Centre for Advanced Manufacturing.
Tyndall hosts researchers in residence from medtech companies such as Boston Scientific, Lake Region Medical and Johnson and Johnson. The ICT for Health Strategic Programme in Tyndall represents approximately 20% of the research activity of the institute, reflecting the growing opportunity to enable personalized, precision medicine through new generations of smart medical devices, and smart solutions for advanced manufacturing in medtech and biopharma. Tyndall is a leader in the development and application of emerging smart solutions, which require integration of a range of novel sensors, components and materials for additional functionality, while ensuring the prerequisite miniaturisation and cost constraints of the application scenarios are fully addressed.
Tyndall acts as a gateway for medtech customers, providing world-class facilities and expertise for the development of smart medtech solutions, but also helping to identify technologies and expertise from outside Tyndall where applicable, to ensure technology development is enabled in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. Through the Tyndall ICT for Health Strategic Programmes, the customer is initially engaged to understand the detailed user requirements specification, and the a team is assembled based on the customer’s requirements. This can incorporate both internal and external researchers, industry partners as required such as contract manufacturers, industrial designers and component suppliers, as well as clinicians and clinical research facilities (based on a strong network of more than 70 clinicians at consultant level).