Cresco Innovation is delighted to have helped our client GyroGear secure funding of €1.85million through the Horizon 2020 Instrument programme.
GyroGear is developing their flagship GyroGlove, which is an innovative wearable device designed to suppress hand tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease.
GyroGear can now take a step closer to their goal thanks to securing the €1.85m H2020 Instrument Phase 2 grant, after gaining the support of Enterprise Europe Network (EEN).
Dr Joon Faii Ong, the inventor of GyroGlove and founder of parent company GyroGear, wanted to develop an alternative to using drugs to counteract the effects of Parkinson’s.
Using gyroscopes to help suppress hand tremors
Working with a team of engineers, designers and medics, Dr Ong created the GryoGlove, which directly stabilise the hands of someone suffering from tremors by using gyroscopes.
Gyroscopes are spinning discs used in cutting edge aerospace technology, but operate on the same principles as children’s toy tops.
Conserving angular momentum to stay upright in any plane of motion, they are therefore able to counter any input of force in any direction swiftly and proportionately.
GyroGear built and evaluated elastic bands, weights, fluid dampeners, springs, electromagnetic shock absorbers, hydraulics, electric nerve stimulation, soft robotics, and more. However, nothing came close to the responsiveness, simplicity and reliability of gyroscopes.
How GyroGear’s GyroGlove works – as featured on the BBC’s One Show
The GyroGlove has attracted a great deal of attention from the medical world, as well as from leading charities. Its development from the early lab simulators and prototypes has been funded with the support of Innovate UK via Innovation Vouchers and Smart Proof of Concept grants.
However, to get the product to market, GyroGear still need to conduct patient trials, finalise the design and manufacture of the product, and secure regulatory approval.
In the bid to secure its Phase 2 award, GyroGear were one of just six UK SMEs selected for interview in its particular round, when the EEN team provided advice on the pitch presentation, helping to prepare and address the key points that the award evaluators would be looking for in the interview.
Following the Phase 2 award announcement, the EEN team in Cambridge worked with GyroGear’s management team to carry out a detailed needs analysis and helped to identify a suitable coach from the European Commission’s database of approved coaches.
Working closely with EEN to ensure GyroGear’s success
“EEN provided quality, timely support,” Dr Ong told EEN. “As one of only two successful British companies for this application, we were acutely aware of the odds.
“We were immensely grateful to EEN for reaching out to us immediately after release of the results for the first round, and spending over an hour to detail the interview and pitching process.
“Given the three business days between candidate selection and submission of pitch deck, the EEN’s rapid support was absolutely vital to our focus and success. We are and will continue working closely with the EEN to ensure GyroGear’s success within the EU.”
The GyroGlove now looks set to achieve its objectives of finalising its engineering and design specifications, through to regulatory approval and multiple-market entry in early 2021.
05/04/19
