Healthcare industryInnovation and procurement hubsNow companies can approach the NHS with any new innovations, thanks to a new ‘Stage-Gate’ process, set up by the regional procurement hub re:source, Medilink East Midlands and the Healthcare and Bioscience iNet. This approach is unique across regional procurement in the East Midlands.Science parks and innovationsThe region is home to a network of incubation, innovation and science park facilities including BioCity, one of Europe’s largest bioscience incubators, and No.1 Nottingham Science Park. There is also a well-established support network for life sciences businesses. The innovation network iNets were established to help turn innovative ideas into business opportunities. The healthcare and bioscience iNet is a consortium comprising all the key life science partners based at BioCity and includes Medilink East Midlands, and provides and opportunity for organisations to exchange knowledge and form collaborations to exploit new ideas.The region also benefits from the Health Technologies Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) – a group of UK universities working alongside industry to develop new medical devices.Research & developmentUniversity research groupsResearch and development in the healthcare sector features highly across academic institutions in the region. The University of Nottingham has a large number of research groups working in the areas of biomaterials and medical devices. The Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Loughborough University has a number of research programmes underway, including healthcare engineering, manufacturing processes, mechatronics, optical engineering and sports technology. Plus, De Montfort University’s Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Group is one of Europe’s leaders in rapid prototyping and tooling.Research collaborationsMATCH is a research collaboration between The University of Nottingham, three other leading UK universities and a cohort of industrial partners. MATCH aims to create methods to assess value, from concept to product, thereby supporting the healthcare technology sector and its user communities.