Wideblue : Latest News

Contactspod Launched At Opti'12 In Munich

13 January 2012

Jim Hall, Wideblue's business development director, is in Munich for the trade launch of Contactspod at Opti'12, the premier international trade show for the optical market.

Contactspod is a very simple but ingenious way of storing lenses in a sealed, single-use case that comes pre-filled with a sterile, multipurpose solution suitable for all contact lens wearers. Wideblue designed the Contactspod for high volume automated manufacture have supported Viopti through their manufacturing start-up and medical device approval phases.

For more details see our Viopti case study.

Read the Viopti press release.

Life science firm wins funding grant

6 December 2011

A SCOTTISH life sciences firm is to share in £8.5 million of grant funding from the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board to boost research projects in the regenerative medicine sector.

Edinburgh's ImmunoSolv will work with Wideblue, Edinburgh University, the UK Stem Cell Bank and the Scottish Stem Cell Network. ImmunoSolv specialises in detecting and removing dead cells. Regenerative medicine is best known for focusing on diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Contactspod makes contact with the travel and leisure industry in Cannes

25 October 2011

At the recent TFWA World Exhibition 2011 in Cannes, it was announced that Contactspod, the world’s first pre-filled single use contact lens case, will be part of the new product range from Polaroid Contact Lens Solutions.

The hermetically sealed Contactspod, designed by Wideblue, is pre-filled with sterile contact lens solution, and provides a simple, hygienic and portable case for removal and storage of contact lenses during a flight, or during other activities such as spa treatments or extreme sports.

Wideblue exhibiting at Convergent Technologies Showcase and Conference

6th May 2011

For the fourth year running Wideblue will be exhibiting some client case studies at the 6th Convergent Technologies Showcase and Conference at the Stirling University Management Centre on 11th May. Find out more about the event here.

This year the theme of the conference is healthcare efficiency through prevention and intervention which is an area of interest to a number of our past and present clients.

Please visit us on our stand and hear how we have been able to help our client companies with their technologies and products.

Meet Wideblue at the Scottish Technology Showcase

19th April 2011

We will be exhibiting our technology-based product design and development service at the 2011 Scottish Technology Showcase, on 7 June in the SECC Glasgow.

Visit us at stand 72 to see several innovative products designed at Wideblue which have now been successfully launched for sale.

We will also be displaying examples of prototype models and computer animations which our customers use to promote their new products to potential customers and business investors.

Senior members of the Wideblue team will be available on the stand to answer any questions you may have about developing new products, or about how we have helped several young technology businesses with their start up and funding process.

Wideblue client wins Innovation Award

21st March 2011

Innovative contact lens accessory company Viopti has been honoured at the prestigious John Logie Baird Awards for Innovation 2011. Viopti founder Alastair Knox was the outright winner of the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award.

Wideblue has been working closely with Viopti since 2009 to help develop the ContactsPod product line and business proposition.

For more details see our Viopti case study.

Supporting medical device engineering students and graduates

23rd February 2011

Wideblue project manager Stuart Kelly joined the judging panel for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers' 2011 medical engineering student competition. This is the foremost medical engineering student project competition in the UK, providing an opportunity for students and recent graduates to present their work and compete for cash awards.

The 2011 winners are:

Vicon Prize for Best Medical Engineering Project: Rebecca Eden, Newcastle University
MediMaton Prize for Best Medical Engineering PhD Thesis: David John Cottenden, University of Cambridge
Corin Group Prize for Best Healthcare Technology Project: Euan McCaughey, University of Glasgow
JRI Prize for Best Poster Competition: Caroline Eve Lynette Smith, University of Sheffield

For more details visit the 23rd Annual Medical Engineering Student Project Competition, or email stuart.kelly@wide-blue.com if you are currently working on a medical engineering project and would like to be on the mailing list for details of the 2012 competition.

Human tissue testing in medical and diagnostic device development

23rd February 2011

Wideblue and Biopta are combining their expertise to offer a medical device product design service using ethically-sourced fresh human tissue for development testing. Biopta are experts in sourcing and testing ethically donated human tissue samples.

The collaboration means that human tissue testing can be integrated throughout Wideblue's product design process, from feasibility studies to verification testing. Wideblue and Biopta can undertake complete medical device design projects or provide specialist support to other design teams.

The use of human tissue means that design engineers no longer need to rely on oversimplified models of device to tissue interactions. By using fresh (non-frozen) tissues, reliable data can be obtained on mechanical, optical, mass transfer and fluid flow properties, and highly representative test models can be constructed.

Tissues which are available include skin, blood vessels, airways, gastro-intestinal tract and bladder. Biopta already provide human tissue testing services to most major pharmaceutical companies for drug safety and efficacy, and have recently seen increasing interest from medical device designers.

Wideblue and Biopta have been working in collaboration since 2004, when they designed and manufactured Biopta's PM-1 instrument for automated analysis of the behaviour of living tissues in response to test drugs. They have since completed several confidential projects for medical device development.

For more information contact Stuart Kelly (stuart.kelly@wide-blue.com) at Wideblue or David Bunton (davidbunton@biopta.com) at Biopta.

Understanding the product opportunity

3rd February 2011

A new article by Wideblue features on the front page of the latest "Informing Business" publication from Nexxus, the Scottish life sciences network. The article discusses the ingredients required to successfully turn innovative technology into a market-ready medical device.

Read the full article.