To build healthcare-inspired medical devices

To nurture clinician innovators

In 2013, the SingHealth Medical Technology Office (MTO) was set up to provide shared resources and seed medical technology innovation and development in the Academic Clinical Programmes.

MTO brings home-grown, clinician-driven medical device development projects to actual clinical use through formulation and implementation of plans for engineering development, preclinical and clinical testing, and a commercially viable strategy for translation with industry partners.

MTO is certified in ISO13485 for design and development of medical devices, providing assurance and credibility to commercialisation partners who license the technology.

MTO adapts the successful Stanford Biodesign methodology for unmet clinical needs identification and IDEO brainstorming techniques for the invention of solutions. Many of MTO’s engineers and clinicians have been trained through the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign Fellowship, a 1-year fellowship in medical device innovation conducted at Stanford University and in Singapore.

MTO supports clinicians interested in medtech innovation, allowing them to develop their medtech ideas without compromising clinical commitments.

MTO has assisted more than 100 clinicians on clinician-initiated projects, by providing prototyping resources, seed-stage engineering development effort, grant application assistance, administrative support for clinical and preclinical testing, as well as assistance in the regulatory, reimbursement, patent, and commercialisation strategy.

Among the surgical specialties, the MTO team has worked with

•Colorectal Surgery
•Otolaryngology
•General Surgery
•Head & Neck Surgery
•Plastics, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery
•Orthopaedics
•Paediatric Surgery
•Vascular Surgery
•Paediatric Anaesthesia

Among medical specialties, the team has worked with
•Obstetrics & Gynecology
•Renal Medicine
•Respiratory Medicine
•Diagnostic Radiology

In addition, the team has worked with teams from Nursing and Allied Health.