State of UK deeptech viewpoints: Dr Katerina Spranger

Katerina Spranger, Oxford Heartbeat

Oxford Heartbeat’s PreSize® is a clinical decision support software for real-time planning of brain implant surgeries. PreSize shows, with 95% accuracy, how implants would fit in a patient’s anatomy, enabling surgeons to select the optimal device first time around, significantly improving patient outcomes. 

As part of our research for the most recent Royal Academy of Engineering State of UK Deep Tech report, we asked several of our portfolio companies about their experience as deep tech business leaders and decision makers. Each entrepreneur shares their unique experience of working in deep tech in the UK, the barriers faced and what can be built on to further strengthen
the sector.

Deep tech applied to healthcare can bring solutions to the hardest problems of our time. This is where the future of medical innovation lies; it must be given space to develop so that clinical practice can benefit from technological advances that have already reached other fields (e.g., aerospace), enabling every patient to receive cutting edge care of the highest standard. 

However, working in healthcare deep tech is uniquely challenging, particularly due to the significant potential risks involved for patients. Alongside the inherent technological risks of deep tech innovations - where the technology might not work - there are regulatory hurdles with lengthy approval processes, slow pace of adoption typical in medicine, and substantial market risks.

Dr Katerina Spranger, CEO, Oxford Heartbeat

These combined challenges create multiple layers of complexity, making it exceptionally difficult for especially rigorously developed deep tech, designed with patient safety in mind, to achieve timely clinical implementation. It is therefore essential to create the right conditions to mitigate these risks and support the development of safe and effective deep tech solutions. 

The UK – and London especially – is a leading hub of medtech development. The country has world-class research facilities and universities, as well as a vibrant startup and industry ecosystem, attracting some of the best global talent and developing groundbreaking ideas.

Importantly for the medtech sector, the UK has strong interdisciplinary research, with engagement from fantastic clinical institutions. These provide top-quality care, and welcome clinical investigations and deployment of new tech. One of the biggest barriers to adopting new innovations in the UK, particularly those that truly disrupt the current clinical standard, is the lack of allocated budgets within the NHS. This results in significant delays in adoption despite interest from clinical teams, which not only deprives patients from potential care benefits but also adversely affects innovative companies developing those deep-tech technologies. These delays prevent such companies from speedily scaling and becoming revenue-generating, at which the current market environment can be unforgiving. This challenge could be addressed through the creation of innovation funding pools, either managed centrally or allocated to individual NHS Trusts, streamlining the way hospitals could access and procure novel technologies.

You can read more Entrepreneur Viewpoints in our Royal Academy of Engineering State of UK Deep Tech report