HEALTHTECH INNOVATION DESIGNED AT LONDON UNIVERSITY UP FOR NATIONAL AWARD

A wearable piece of technology that could help to track and treat a chronic hormonal condition has been shortlisted for a national award.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) affects one in ten women in the UK, causing irregular or no periods, weight gain, excess body hair and infertility. Patients often feel unsupported due to lack of treatment options and follow-up care.

Now, a PhD student from Imperial College London is developing a wearable sensor – PCOSENS – that continuously tracks female hormones specific to PCOS in real-time, with data displayed on a mobile app that maps the menstrual cycle. It allows users to track their condition in response to medication or lifestyle changes, predicts ovulation, and enables health professionals to make more informed decisions about treatment plans.

PCOSENS, designed and developed by Bioengineering PhD student Saylee Jangam, has been selected as a finalist in the Engineers in Business Champion of Champions competition.

Saylee Jangam, who is also a PCOS patient, said: “Tracking will allow patients to feel more informed and in control of their PCOS, with greater confidence that will receive the care they need without having to wait months for a follow-up. Hormone tracking will allow PCOS patients like me to understand our bodies, and tailor and optimise our lifestyles.”

Saylee is supported by her advisors at Imperial College London, including Dr Sondes Ben Aissa, Professor Tony Cass and Professor Waljit Dhillo.

Saylee will pitch her idea against nine other teams of student innovators at the event at the Royal Academy of Engineering on 3 November 2023. A sum of £16,000 is up for grabs, providing vital seed money to help the winners develop their innovation.

Winners will also receive mentoring from business leaders who are members of the Sainsbury Management Fellows network, plus CV packages from PurpleCV and entrepreneurial books from Cambridge University Press and Double your Price, a book by David Falzani MBE, which covers how pricing works with practical insights, tools and actionable guidance.

The event, hosted by TV presenter and engineer Rob Bell, is the culmination of a year of enterprise competitions held across UK universities, with thousands of undergraduate and graduates taking part.

Each year, Engineers in Business Fellowship champions business education for engineers and supports universities by giving them grants to award prizes to engineering students who develop ideas that can make a positive impact on society.

After picking up first prize in the Imperial College London WE Innovate enterprise competition and looking ahead to the final, Saylee said: “The funding awarded to us by Engineers in Business through WE Innovate has allowed us to work on developing our MVP in the lab, and through the funding offered by Champion of Champions competition, we can build on our product further, bringing it one step closer to PCOS patients.”