Health Technology Research & Innovation Cluster

health technology for healthy ageing

Healthy ageing. More healthy years. The societal revenue is huge, but innovations are struggling to find their way to a first application in or for humans. HTRIC – the Health Technology Research & Innovation Cluster – aims to change that.

The challenges in healthcare are significant. If we want to work together to keep healthcare accessible and affordable in the future, then technological innovations and cooperation between the clinical practice and technology are absolutely necessary. Together these can help detect problems earlier, with less invasive procedures and faster recovery times. Much of this technology is already being developed, but all too often the solutions do not become available to the patient in time or at all. As a connector within a fragmented landscape, HTRIC brings together people and domains. HTRIC ensures that world-class research actually contributes to people’s health.

Combining knowledge and skills

The Northern Netherlands has a strong and innovative healthcare and medical technology industry. All of this existing knowledge and skills comes together in HTRIC. University Medical Center Groningen contributes medical and specialized technological expertise, for example, and the Faculties of Science & Engineering (FSE), Behavioural and Social Sciences, and Economics and Business participate on behalf of the University of Groningen. There are also strong connections with universities of applied sciences, with partners from the region, with national and international businesses, and with the government. These efforts yield new insights and new connections across the spectrum, from scientific research to the development of a final product.

Three programme lines

The focus within HTRIC is on three programme lines:

• operating theatre of the future
• replacing and improving parts of the human body, and
• innovative technology with local precision.