Innovation and Collaboration in Medical Product Design and Development – A Case Study with Paxman Coolers Ltd.

Due to regulatory approval, intellectual property difficulties and regulatory uncertainty, medical device development collaborations between businesses and academic institutions have been increasing as companies are moving to a more collaborative business strategy. Academic to business collaborations allow for great benefits for each partner, some generic and some more specific to each collaborative project. Using a collaborative case study this thesis aims to identify the key benefits and limitations between a university and a small to medium enterprise within the medical industry.

Using a collaborative case study and a brief set by a funded collaboration, this thesis set out to identify the key limitations and benefits in medical product development, specifically the initial product design, research and manufacturing of the medical innovation process. This paper also aims to provide and in-depth review of the viewpoints of multidisciplinary collaborative medical product development. Research including collaboration specific literature reviews, manufacturing research, experiments and prototype testing allowed for the identification of the benefits and limitations at each stage of initial medical product development.

The purpose of this thesis is to present the methods of which the case study has taken and the key benefits and limitations of the case study experienced by each collaborative partner. it is hoped that this study will inform future prospective collaborations about the benefits and limitations of academic and business multidisciplinary collaborations and ensure that they are aware and possibly avoid some of the limitations presented in this paper.