Australian Research Council Training Centre for Transformative Health Sensing Technologies

Image credit: Getty images
Image credit: Getty images

The University will lead a new $5m ARC Training Centre for Transformative Health Sensing Technologies, an Industrial Transformation Training Centre (ITTC) announced last week. Queensland University of Technology and Adelaide University will collaborate on the Centre.

Researchers and industry partners aim to advance health sensing technologies (HST) – such as wearable sensors and smart implants – to improve health outcomes, train a new generation of entrepreneurial researchers and boost Australia’s Medtech industry.

ITTCs drive partnerships between university researchers and industry and provide Higher Degree by Research and postdoctoral training. Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Professor Thas Nirmalathas said the University has strong partnerships and MedTech expertise to build on, such as the ARC Training Centre for Medical Implant Technologies and the Graeme Clark Institute for Biomedical Engineering.

“We are excited by the potential healthcare benefits this will have for the public, as well as new opportunities for our students and industry partners,” he said.

The Centre leader, University of Melbourne Professor Peter Lee said HTCs have huge potential to transform healthcare.

“This field has a large, growing global market and potential to extend into all health-related areas such as aged care, sports, defence and workplace safety. It will provide many economic and social benefits to Australia,” he said.

The Centre aims to transform HSTs – which collect continuous, real-time monitoring of vital signs and biomarkers – into trusted, medical-grade devices that provide a measurement-based understanding of individual health. They can lead to proactive health management, early detection of complications and personalised care.

Partners include Hokkaido University, University of Salford, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Aust Sports Commission, Medical Tech Assoc of Aust, ANDhealth, Samsung Electronics Aust, MAXONIQ and more.