The Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) through Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare has awarded over £11 million of funding to 21 new innovations in stroke, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease.

Cardiovascular disease is the single biggest condition where lives can be saved by the NHS over the next decade and respiratory disease is the third most common cause of death in the UK.

Stroke is the fourth biggest cause of death and a leading cause of disability in England. Our demand signalling report highlighted the priority areas for research and innovation in stroke and we’re pleased to build on this work by supporting these SBRI awards, which focus on three primary areas where there are challenges: pre-hospital diagnosis, rehabilitation and life after stroke.

Today’s investment in technologies in these disease areas shows the NHS remains committed to driving forward innovations that meet more patient needs and encourages innovators to come forward with ideas that help address the challenges faced by the NHS.

The winners include an immersive home-based virtual therapy platform for stroke patients, digital inhalers for children allowing families to monitor usage via a smartphone, and the world’s first and only non-invasive screening test for coronary and structural heart diseases

Matt Whitty, Chief Executive of the AAC, said: “The SBRI Healthcare awards help the NHS to develop new technologies and solutions to address some of the biggest healthcare challenges facing society. We have selected these innovations because they have the potential to make a big difference to patients”.

SBRI Healthcare is an AAC funded initiative, in collaboration with the Academic Health Science Network, that provides funding to innovators to develop solutions that tackle existing unmet needs faced by the NHS.

To find out more about the winners visit SBRI Healthcare’s website.