MiNT – Masterclass in Neurotechnology
What is the society’s main goal?
The main goals of the MiNT Academy are:
- To be an active member of the neurotechnology research community in order to build the evidence base and data required for clinical practice guidelines
- To influence future product development via the clinical excellence and expertise of interdisciplinary (IDT) practitioners to better address complex clinical presentations
- To provide a clinical educational platform to integrate the use of neurotechnology into practice, based upon clinical reasoning, driving neural plasticity and influencing patient outcomes
Is there a personal story behind the establishment of the society?
As clinicians we recognise the potential role of technology to increase treatment dosage and support evidence-based practice. In turn, this will optimise patient outcomes. Historically, despite engaging with multiple devices, we struggled to embed technology into our clinical practice. Reflecting on the challenges and our experience led us to subsequently develop MiNT as the solution to improving clinical application of neurotechnology.
We know that successful device development requires clinician and end-user engagement in co-creation, focusing on the solution to a clinical problem. We now have a global reach of nearly 80 countries and are proud to be at the forefront of neurotech innovation.
Why did your society decide to take part in the RehabWeek?
Clinical representation is paramount to furthering the neurotechnology sector, and our presence at the previous 2 RehabWeek events (2022 in Rotterdam and 2023 in Singapore) confirmed this. Engineers and researchers are approaching MiNT to collaborate clinically with the development of their devices. MiNT assists device developers with patient trials to successfully take the technology to market. By sharing our successes and challenges with delegates at RehabWeek, we are expanding our disruptive approach to the implementation of neurotechnology in clinical practice.
Why is RehabWeek unique and why should people attend?
RehabWeek provides a forum for all sectors to collaborate, network and engage in furthering the field and clinical application of neurotechnology. It provides multiple opportunities to connect and explore this specialist area together with other like-minded inter-disciplinary professionals. Clinicians have a unique understanding of the complexities of a heterogenous patient population and MiNT will attract these individuals to RehabWeek.
What do you think will be the next big issue in the field? Why?
Currently there is a lack of data to inform evidence-based practice. At the same time the marketplace is vast and constantly growing, proving a minefield for clinicians to navigate. Clinicians have to rely on their individual judgement and experience to:
- choose which device to use with which patient, and when
- finance the most appropriate technology for their patient demographic
Moving forwards, data and clinical outcomes must be shared to create more guidance for clinicians, resulting in services that are more effective, responsive and answer the needs of their patients. Simultaneously, this will also support patient-specific product development, targeting devices to specific clinical problems. This requires collaboration through an intentional and unified research and education strategy. MiNT is at the forefront of resolving this challenge through its development of a Device Logbook, which will be one of successes to share at RehabWeek 2025.
Any success story you would like to share?
Following the launch of the MiNT website and educational platform in 2022, we are proud to have a global reach across 6 continents! This provides a worldwide forum, accessible 24-hours a day with a realm of knowledge and opportunities for all sectors to further their work in this field.
We have completed over 10 clinical trials and have liaised with over 50 companies in the last year to help them in their commercial product development.
We are very excited for you to join our international community on this groundbreaking success story.