BMG743: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Assignment Overview

In a group of four to five people, you will act as consultants and work with a start-up client
called eXRt Intelligent Healthcare (https://exrt.io/ ). You are required to analyse their
current technology commercialisation strategy and business model, identify opportunities
present within their external market and make recommendations which may enhance
their competitive position and aid their growth.

In particular, the client is interested in recommendations which address the following:

- What particular markets (countries and regions) and customer segments (types of
customers e.g. private and public healthcare, private consumers) present
opportunities for their technology and business (i.e. trends in sectors, social trends,
technological trends)?
- What competitors are in the market?
- How can they position themselves compared to these competitors?
- How can they articulate their core value proposition compared to competitors
(features, benefits, implementation)?
- What type of other applications may their products/software have outside
healthcare?
- What key partners/strategic alliances may help them leverage their positioning in
the market?
- Thoughts and ideas around their brand name ‘The Magic Glass’

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Client Organisation: eXRt Intelligent Healthcare Systems

Background to Company
eXRt Intelligent Healthcare Systems is a newly incorporated company from Ulster
University, led by Dr Dominic Holmes and Dr Darryl Charles. The development of the
company was motivated by their research into stroke survivors. They identified that stroke
survivors find it a challenge to access post hospitalisation physiotherapy services (due to a
lack of physiotherapists and finances available for the service). Furthermore, many stroke
patients have low levels of adherence and motivation to carry out rehabilitation exercises
over a continued period of time. This then results in higher rates hospitalisation
readmittance, social exclusion, an increased burden on carers and ultimately a higher than
necessary financial liability all round.

The product
The company has developed ‘The Magic Glass’ (*their brand name is still being refined)
which is a connected health, virtual reality (VR) system which is targeted as an upper limb,
stroke rehabilitation system. It enables stroke survivors to self-manage their rehabilitation
in their own home. It does this through delivering remote management and monitoring.
Stroke survivors receive a personalised physical rehabilitation programme from their
physiotherapist and are managed and monitored remotely by their physiotherapist via a
web/mobile dashboard.

Alongside ‘The Magic Glass’, the researchers have developed:

 A series of Physiotherapy Games, with embedded gold standard physiotherapy
methods to promote and motivate upper limb recovery. It is thought that turning
rehabilitation into a game might improve use and adoption and in turn help improve
the patient’s quality of life.
 An immersive and engaging experience, which increases rehabilitation adherence
thus developing faster recovery.

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  A bespoke intelligent system, providing a personalised user interface that delivers
suitable interaction levels to match the patients motor capabilities.

Research underpinning the company

The company has been developed as a result of over €2m of research funding. The project
gained traction via a funded European Union program in 2017, which enabled the team in
partnership with Tech4Care Italy to carry out a large clinical trial in both Italy and Northern
Ireland (113 patients, over 6 months). Results of the trial demonstrated a 50% improvement
in the Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale(SS-QoL score) 1, 86% usability score and 12-fold
increase in physio engagement.

eXRt Intelligent Healthcare have now secured £300k of Start Up funding from Innovate UK
to deliver a 12-month commercialisation program. This follow on from their successful
iCURe journey, which is a programme set up to support research teams from universities
develop their ideas into commercialisable products and services
(https://www.setsquared.co.uk/programme/icure-programme-2/).

The market opportunity and customer base that the company is targeting
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This is a scale, it is a patient-centred outcome measure intended to provide an assessment of health-
related quality of life specific to stroke survivors.

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The business is currently targeting stroke patients and hospitals in the UK and USA markets.
The stroke patient may be the end user but the hospital (private or public) is most likely the
purchaser of their product/software. There is a possibility that private patients could be a
direct customer in the future. The company are also open to ideas and research from you all
regarding future applications of their product/software in different sectors and markets.

In Northern Ireland there are 5 NHS trusts, in England, there are 146 Acute Trusts, in
Scotland, there are 14 Health Boards and in Wales there are 8 Trusts. The total number of
Acute organisations in the UK is 176 – this is the UK “NHS” market size.

Overview of stroke patient market

There are currently 3.7m people living with a stroke and approximately 1m strokes per year
across Europe. 75% are living with an upper limb disability. There are around 100,000 new
stroke victims a year in the UK. It is reported that one person has a stroke every 5 minutes in
the UK. Globally, there are over 13 million new stroke victims a year.

There are around 1.3 million stroke survivors in the UK, and around 80 million people
globally who are living with and recovering from strokes. These people rely upon rehab in
order to regained movement and get back to their life goals. However, due to inadequate
rehab then some may have not recovered to the extent that they would desire or require.

Nearly 6 million people a year die from strokes, and around 116 million years of life are lost
through stroke deaths and disabilities (World Stroke Organisation). This equates to £6
trillion in new strokes alone, globally, annually. Deaths from stroke account for around three
quarters of all cardiovascular deaths. (Stroke Association).

Challenges relating to stroke rehabilitation

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Healthcare organisations are struggling with the resources (number of physiotherapists and
finance) to provide the quality and quantity of rehabilitation, hence resulting in sub-optimal
care. Another substantial problem is that when stroke patients are discharged from hospital,
many report that the feel alone and unsupported and therefore struggle to maintain their
physiotherapy. This emphasises the need for a solution that improves the physical
rehabilitation process and improves patient motor recovery at home, while better
connecting the stroke patient to their clinical support and the community.

Access to rehabilitation and long-term support is a substantial issue in many parts of

Europe, where the deliverance of rehabilitation is not widely monitored. When people are
discharged home, they have limited access to rehabilitation and support resulting in the
level of rehabilitation dropping from the high standard of care given in the hospital. The
economic burden of stroke care costs healthcare providers up to €45 billion in the EU.
Reducing the number of strokes and the likelihood of long-term disability will reduce these
costs. Healthcare organisations simply cannot afford to provide the quality and quantity of
rehabilitation that is needed for optimal patient recovery.

Initial commercialisation strategy

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Through their current strong relationships in several NI trusts, the company plans to sell
‘The Magic Glass’ to these trusts first and expand into the UK, Ireland and USA public and
private healthcare organisations over years 1 - 3. Between Year 3 – 5, the goal is to move
into the European markets beginning with sales in Italy and Norway, then expanding
strategically across Europe. There are interested in other markets globally such as Asia.

Key benefits offered by ‘Magic Glass’

Magic Glass offers a complete system from its patient rehabilitation tools, physiotherapy
management and monitoring tools, alongside a complete support framework enhancing
patient’s recovery and improving connections to their healthcare network.

The solution makes recuperation viable at home, with its:

 Immersive VR for increased adherence to rehabilitation.
 Enhanced AI for adaptive rehabilitation.
 A large array of exercises from coarse movement to precise finger and hand exercises.
 Various exercise methods such as Mirror therapy for the inclusion of more patients.
 Communication tools to reduce patient isolation and give physiotherapist better access
to their patients remotely.

Magic Glass is a personal virtual space that a person enters by putting a VR headset on. They
are immersed and surrounded by a 360-degree world, which they can view by moving their
head and body. They can interact with objects in the world by using their hands. The user's
hand movements are tracked by tiny cameras embedded inside the VR headset. The tracked
movements are then virtualised allowing the user to use their hands to touch, grab and
manipulate virtual objects.

Other key benefits with ‘The Magic Glass’ provides are:

- Aiding poor adherence and take up for stroke rehab.
- Improving outcomes and better quality of life for stroke patients.

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 - A tool which can support healthcare organisations, when there is a shortage of
trained staff.
- Delivering rehab, more effectively and more cheaply.
- Supporting healthcare organisations, with their Covid19 precautions (e.g.: limiting
the need for face to face visits).

Management team
Dr Dominic Holmes, CEO, an experienced Software Engineer with a 1st class Hons degree in
Computer Game Development and a PhD in VR stroke rehabilitation. He is the lead
developer on Magic Glass. He is passionate about new technologies and as an inventor was
a finalist in the Honeycomb Buzz awards 2014 for his gamer feedback jacket.

Dr Darryl Charles, CTO, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science. His research background over
20 years is in computational intelligence with applied expertise in serious games and apps as
well as intelligent interactive storytelling, machine learning in games, user modelling, cloud
computing, and connected health.

Professor Suzanne McDonough, Clinical Advisor, Head of School of Physiotherapy at Royal

College of Surgeons in Ireland. Suzanne was previously Professor of Health and
Rehabilitation at Ulster University, where she headed up the Centre for Health and
Rehabilitation Technologies (CHaRT) within the Institute of Nursing & Health.

Dr Katy Pedlow, Clinical Trial Manager, an expert in Neurological physiotherapy and until
recently was a practising stroke rehabilitation physiotherapist in Brain Injury Matters,
Belfast. She now lectures in physiotherapy at Ulster University.

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Detailed Assignment Guidelines
Your assignment must include the following sections

(I) INTRODUCTION (5%)

What is the remit of the project? Give a brief overview of the case study organisation, their
background and their technology.

(II) CURRENT INNOVATION STRATEGY/ TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALISATION STRATEGY (10%)

Identify what is meant by an innovation/technology commercialisation strategy. What type of
innovation/technology commercialisation strategy are eXRt Intelligent Healthcare adopting?
What type of innovation have they developed?

(III) CURRENT BUSINESS MODEL (30%)

Provide a detailed description of the case study organisations business model using
Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas. You should first discuss what a business model is. What
is the value in a company understanding their business model? What are the different
components of a business model?
Then develop a visual of the business model canvas but also discuss this in more detail
underneath. Identify which parts of their business model are strong and which areas could be
improved.

(IV) BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION (15%)

Discuss what business model innovation is and how an organisation can engage in business
model innovation (use appropriate theory).

(V) MARKET ANALYSIS (20%)

Provide an analysis of the current business landscape eXRt Intelligent Healthcare operate
within. Who are their competitors? What market opportunities and trends are present which
might be attractive for the company and their offerings? Are there any social/ consumer

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behaviour trends relevant to the business?

(VI) RECOMMENDATIONS (20%)

Provide practical recommendations which might help eXRt Intelligent Healthcare develop and
grow. This should align with information covered in your other sections such as overcoming
weaknesses in their current business model or taking advantage of opportunities identified in
section V. It could cover things such as suggesting particular markets to enter, organisations
they might partner up with, how they should position themselves in the market,
communication/marketing strategies etc.
Clearly identify which parts of their business model will be enhanced/changed as a result of
your recommendations, i.e. value propositions, key customers etc.

(VII) APPENDICES
Appendices are optional. If you wish to include appendices, they should include supporting
material that is directly linked to the main report.

(VIII) REFERENCES
All parts of the report should include academic references as appropriate.

Assignment notes
 This project involved both a group presentation (Assessment 1, 20% of module marks) and an
individual Report (Assessment 2, 80% of module marks).
 Groups should be self-selected where possible. You will be required to confirm your group to
the module co-ordinator by week 4. Groups can be self-selected however, if you are unable
to form a group by week 4, then the module co-ordinator/tutor will put you into a randomly
selected group on week 4.
 The group presentation slides for all groups should be submitted online by the 9 th of
December 2022 by 11.59pm (UK Time). This is regardless of what week your group is
presenting.

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 The presentation will take place w/c Monday the 12 th of December 2022 and should be 15
minutes long. 5 minutes will then be allocated for questions.
 Each group member will present an aspect of the presentation in order to receive the group
mark.
 The names and number of ALL members of the group must be written on the first page of the
presentation slides. Any group who does not do this may be penalised.
 If a student misses their group presentation, then they need to fill in an exceptional
circumstances form and will be required to complete a 4-minute individual presentation and
answer 2 questions before they are allocated any marks for this element of the assessment.
 Each student must submit an individual peer review for indicate the level of engagement
and contribution of other members of the group. This must be submitted by Friday, the 16 th
of December, 2022
 The report is individual, where care must be taken to ensure your report is differentiated
from others. i.e. do not copy anyone’s work even if you were in the same group.
 The deadline for the written report is the 16th of January 2023 by 23.59pm.
 Wordcount 4000 words +-10%
 Both theoretical and practical aspects must be included in the write up.
 Coursework must demonstrate the applicability of the theories, frameworks and discussions
to specific settings.

Further Details
 Do not contact the case organisation directly for additional information. All questions for
the case study organisation should be submitted to the module co-ordinator who will filter
out those already covered in class and those which are relevant for the assignment. The
module co-ordinator is the direct contact point to the case study organisations.
 If you wish to contact organisations/consumers to gather data, please be mindful of the
need to gain ethical approval if collecting data from individuals (human participants).
 Both theoretical and practical aspects must be included in the write up.
 Coursework must demonstrate the applicability of the theories, frameworks and discussions

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 to specific settings.
 Word count includes the title page, contents page, in-text references and citations but
excludes tables, reference list and appendices.
 Your work should include references to relevant journal articles and other good quality
information sources and should be properly laid out using the Harvard system of
referencing. More detailed guidance is available in the ‘Guide to Referencing in the Harvard
Style’. We encourage you to make good use of all the support services offered by your
Faculty Subject Librarian, further details are in the Learning Support Services Section.
 You should refer to the assessment criteria to provide fuller details of the marking criteria
for each classification band.
 In addition,you should refer to the standard assessment guidelines as presented in your
Course Handbook/Support Area, this includes guidance and policies on referencing style,
palagiarism, etc.
 We recommend the use of Studiosity which offers constructive feedback on draft written

submissions within 24 hrs.  

 This Assessment Due Date and Time is final, and a late submission will be penalised by the
deduction of marks (see course handbook for penalties).
 Non-compliance with the word limit will result in a penalty being applied in accordance with
the University Word Limit Policy which can be found on your Course Support Area in
Blackboard.
 All submissions must be via Turnitin. You should aim to keep your similarity score below
20% otherwise you might be liable for a deduction in marks.
 You can submit your assignment as many times as you want to check your similarity score
before the assignment deadline.
 Must include coursework cover sheet and sign to acknowledge originality of work
 Any extensions require filling in an EC1 form and approval granted from your programme
director.

Feedback Provision

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 All groups will receive formative feedback on their progress during workshops and seminars
held in class.
 Oral feedback will be provided after the presentation on the day of the presentation, which
should be incorporated into the final report.
 Student marks will be posted on Blackboard in due cause.
 Group feedback will be posted on Blackboard, highlighting what was done well, and what
could have been improved upon.
 Throughout the module students will be allocated time to perform preparatory role play
elements of their group presentation and will receive development oral feedback during
these iterations. In addition, one-to-one discussions on ideas and questions regarding the
interpretation of the set coursework will take place during class time.

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