Ex-Crows star Matthew Liptak to turn inventor
FIRST a footballer, then a surgeon and now an inventor. Next on the agenda is a commercial push in conjunction with Flinders University and the State Government.
FIRST a footballer, then a surgeon and now an inventor. Next on the agenda is a commercial push in conjunction with Flinders University and the State Government.
There’s never a quiet moment for orthopedic surgeon and former Adelaide Crows player Matthew Liptak.
And like everything else in the business world, an awful lot comes down to who you know.
And that’s where Flinders University’s Professor Karen Reynolds and a DMITRE-assisted scheme to fuse the creative with the commercial comes into play.
The Medical Technologies Program (MTP), new last year but run as the Medical Device partnering Program since 2008, has helped more than 100 South Australian companies develop, manufacture and exploit their thinking into tangible products with a commercial future in the medical devices marketplace.
Dr Liptak’s post-operative rehabilitation device, a transportable means to measure the rate of rehabilitation exercises which he hopes will become commercially viable within the next 12 months, is just one of the many MTP success stories.
Like many inventions deemed to have a sizeable commercial future at the MTP, Dr Liptak submitted his idea, came through a panel selection process then sat with experts in a university-led workshop to hear their thoughts and advice.
“We get all these great ideas coming through and see if we can help,” said Professor Reynolds. “It’s about starting projects and making things happen. Medical devices companies have no experience of working with universities.
“I put the program together to try and combat the differences of opinion between industry and universities.
“There are well known barriers to working together, different motivations. The program is designed to circumvent these barriers.”
Access and awareness are key outcomes, she said.
“We offer various levels of assistance, some are just pointing companies towards the right people or introductions, half of them may not be a full blown project.
“The medical device sector is very small, businesses really don’t have access to the right people to help them get the projects put forward. The program is about trying to have better access to the medical devices industry.”
And it’s not just Flinders Uni at the forefront. Expertise is called upon from any of Adelaide’s three main universities where required, with the relevant specialist the key determinant. Help comes in the shape of up to a $750,000 State Government input to the MTP over three years, equating to 250 hours of expert advice and help per project if required, anything from the full on to a nod in the right direction. Whatever suits.
Also fast-moving its way through the MTP framework is a hand-held magnetometer probe, designed by ITEK Ventures to determine the spread of cancer by detecting small amounts of clinically introduced magnetic material in the lymph nodes.
There is a financial input from the inventors — a $5000 contribution will typically secure around $20,000 funding — though the university doesn’t take an intellectual property stake. “It’s all about establishing good faith and good relationships,” said Professor Reynolds.
The next round of MTP projects is currently open. For more details see www.mdpp.org.au.