ECME Objective: A Doctoral Training Centre

The outcome of ECME will be to create better models of heart disease care by researching (through 24 PhD students) and developing generic solutions (through 3 RAs) within the lucrative and growing remote patient monitoring market, with a specific focus on developing:

• cardiac big data database within the region
• enhancing user ready sensor technology
• improving smart wearables
• reducing the complexity and cumbersomeness of point of care diagnostics
• and improved smart clinically relevant monitoring in the AAL and rehabilitation environments.

This project was awarded €8.4M Funding from the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).

The objectives of the project are:

1. To create a cross-border centre of research excellence within the field of cardiovascular medicine in particular focusing on medical grade wearables and associated remote monitoring systems; (Be a major research power in Cardio Medical Engineering)
2. To undertake excellent research (commencing at TRL levels of between 1 and 3) through the creation of 24 PhD studentships aiming to have all research PhDs completed by December 2021; (Leaders for the Future)
3. To engage with ten industry partners at TRL levels of between 2 and 6, through three Research Associate appointments in five RIs and one Business Manager, with funded innovation activity to be completed by December 2021; (Innovation and Economic enhancement)
4. To publish 81 peer reviewed journal and conference publications with cross border authorship to increase international recognition of the centre by December 2021;
5. To create five new product platforms, (generic technologies that allow both academic and industrial research to be progressed on for a wide range of applications – for example versatile microfluidic system or a robust software algorithm (app) by December 2021 that will provide the building blocks for future commercialisation of the research. (Impact).