UK Team Pioneers Next-Gen Health Tech for Improved Patient Outcomes
March 26, 2025 – A collaborative project, dubbed 4D Health Tech, has been launched by researchers at the University of Birmingham and Imperial College London to address a crucial gap in medical device design: the dynamic nature of the human body. The project, backed by £1.2 million from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), aims to revolutionize the medical device sector by creating devices that adapt to the body’s natural growth, movement, and tissue regeneration.
Currently, many medical devices fail to account for the changes within the human body over time. Examples shared by the team highlighted the limitations of existing tech: pediatric implants that do not grow with the child and require frequent replacements, stoma bags that leak due to poor conformity to skin folds, and bone implants that do not degrade predictably as the surrounding tissue regenerates. The 4D Health Tech initiative seeks to overcome these challenges by focusing on the use of innovative, predictably degrading materials and combining this with expertise in automation, advanced manufacturing, and patient-specific pre-clinical testing.
This three-year Network Plus project is part of a larger £10 million investment responding to the national report ‘Tomorrow’s Engineering Research Challenges’. The initiative will create a network connecting academics, businesses, clinicians, patients, and policymakers. The collaboration aims to serve as a springboard for larger, longer-term research projects.
Dr. Sophie Cox of the University of Birmingham, the project lead, stated, “Our bodies change over time as we grow, move and regenerate, but products designed to replace or repair our bodies typically neglect the dimension of time, compromising their function and lifespan.”
Dr. Cox added, “We believe that this groundbreaking initiative will position the UK at the forefront of healthcare innovation – as well as helping to improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and foster innovation in the medical device sector. Our vision is to transform the way we engineer medical devices. Fostering connections across the supply chain will create a new culture of 4D Health Tech embedding innovative thinking, patient perspective and diversity – ensuring this new age of medical devices offers improved healthcare outcomes for everyone.”
According to the team, the project will promote innovative materials that allow for predictable degradation, promote faster healing, and unite this with expertise in automated design. The project’s goals also include advanced manufacturing processes, and patient-specific pre-clinical testing to develop medical devices that suit a diverse range of patients.
Jane Nicholson, Executive Director for Research at EPSRC, highlighted the significance of the project, saying, “Engineering is the cornerstone to a more sustainable, successful and thriving future for the UK. From developing renewable energy solutions to creating smart cities, engineering innovations are driving progress in every sector. These new networks will address the strategic challenges outlined by the TERC report. Together, these researchers present a hugely ambitious, thoughtful response to the economic, environmental and social challenges we all face.”
