The following Centres of Industrial Collaboration can unlock cutting edge technical expertise or the specialist resources this industry needs.

The Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering CIC draws on expertise from a world-class group of business, clinical and research personnel, to support organisations aiming to take new concepts through to market in areas such as orthopaedics, wound-care, urology, cardiac & vascular, dental and head and neck surgery.

With access to the leading international micromoulding centre at the University of Bradford, The Polymer CIC is supporting industry to create a host of exiting new miniature biomedical products including cochlear ear implants, resorbable wound fixators and nanoceramics which can be used as bone-replacement agents.

With extensive expertise in drug delivery, The Pharmaceutical Innovation CIC provides product and device analysis, including drug delivery systems testing. The centre is working with leading pharmaceutical companies, to design and produce novel drug delivery devices.

The Materials Analysis and Research Services CIC provides a cutting-edge materials analysis service. The centre supported the development of the first ever needle-free insulin delivery system to be prescribed on the NHS through a safety analysis of the silicone mould release agent used in the injection moulding process.

The Precision Technologies CIC is at the forefront of micro and nanoscale metrology of medical devices implants and is developing new ultra-precision manufacturing capability for medical device manufacturers.

Research into the design of healthcare products is being undertaken by The Design Futures CIC. Design programmes include an identification system for medical connectors, a profiling bed for nursing and a hospital communication system, linking patients and hospital staff.

Other reasons why Yorkshire and Humber is leading the field in the healthcare technologies industry.

Medipex Ltd., the region's NHS Innovation Hub, manages the commercial exploitation of good ideas on behalf of the NHS in Yorkshire & Humber. The organisation identifies, assesses and commercialises new ideas. To date, Medipex have secured contracts with 33 NHS Trusts to deliver IP services, identified over 350 ideas, actively taking forward around 50 and secured 11 commercial deals (licensing, spin outs, direct sales). They are partners on research contracts to the value of '1.63 million.

Medilink (Yorkshire & Humber) Ltd. is a professional trade association that brings together medical device companies, hospitals, universities and business support agencies to stimulate innovation and new product development. It also provides a gateway for national and international clients interested in developing relationships (commercial, research or clinical) with the region's medical sector. Medilink support businesses with sources of intelligence and funding, the development of supply chain networks, or simply opening doors to other like minded organisations.

The UK National Cancer Research Network (NCRN) Coordinating Centre provides the NHS with an infrastructure to support prospective trials of cancer treatments and other well-designed studies and to integrate and support research undertaken by cancer charities. Its aim is to improve the speed, quality and integration of research, ultimately resulting in improved patient care.

The new Cancer Research Centre at Sheffield's Weston Park Hospital provides specific facilities to enable clinical trials in cancer to flourish and develop further. This exciting venture provides state-of-the-art, comfortable facilities for patients taking part in research studies and allows particular emphasis on our areas of special expertise, notably metastatic bone disease and drug development.

The Institute of Cancer Therapeutics is part of the School of Life Sciences at the University of Bradford and incorporates the Tom Connors Cancer Research Centre. Research themes at the Institute encompass the development of new molecules and describe three broad stages of medicine development: discovery, pre-clinical evaluation and clinical application.

Clinical Biosciences Institute, based at the University of Hull, is an inter-disciplinary institute with high quality facilities. It aims to understand human disease at a molecular, cellular and whole-animal level to foster improvements in patient diagnosis and therapy.

The YCR Cancer Research Unit (York) is located within the Department of Biology at The University of York, which is a large and diverse department, rated as a Grade 5 (research excellent) in the top group of Biology Departments in all recent surveys of the UK Universities.

The Kroto Research Campus is UK's largest dedicated multi-disciplinary research facility and home to The Kroto Research Institute and Nanoscience and Technology Centre. Comprising over 18,000 square metres it covers the following themes: Electronic nanotechnology, Environmental engineering science, Future generation materials, Nanocharacterisation and nanomanipulation, Soft nanotechnology, Tissue engineering and modelling and Virtual Reality

The Centre for Stem Cell Biology at the University of Sheffield is a world class Centre of Excellence, undertaking research and providing training in stem cell biology. It provides access to state of the art proteomic and genomic facilities and is experienced in a wide range of analytical sciences related to the identification and characterisation of stem cells.

The Institute of Wound Care (Hull) is an innovative joint venture between University of Hull, Smith & Nephew and the NHS. Unique in the UK, it's a Centre of Excellence in wound healing research.

Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering at Leeds University is one of the largest orthopaedic engineering research groups in Europe.

The Surface Engineering Research Group at The University of Sheffield has a track record of working with orthopaedic companies to improve surface compatibility.

The Research and Engineering Research Group at Sheffield Hallam University is active in materials analysis and failure diagnosis with industrial customers and Government agencies, such as the MHRA.

The University of Hull's Centre for Medical Engineering and Technology (CMET) is a collaborative centre, bringing together multi-disciplinary expertise from the university and Hull York Medical School. Its mission is to research, develop and promote technology in healthcare with special focus on modelling, simulation and visualisation