Generating Additional Innovation and Research Opportunities during COVID 19 in Device and Technology Development and Associated Clinical, Patient, and Research Activity Benefits through a Clinical Engineering Innovation and Research Team (CEIR)

One positive development from the trials supported during the COVID-19 period has been a much-strengthened relationship between the Research & Development (R&D) and Clinical Engineering departments. Companies seeking to develop new technologies needed to get rapid regulatory approval from the Medicine's & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for CE marking. Achieving such approval required the expert technical input of clinical scientists and engineers within the clinical engineering department, alongside the input of experienced researchers, adept at designing studies and gaining ethical approval. Simply put, we found our local supply chain could not interface with the NHS without Clinical Engineering and R&D support.