| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Point-of-care testing |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founder | John Curtis |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | MEMS and coagulation devices |
Number of employees | 40 (2011) |
| Website | www |
Microvisk is British a medical device company based in Oxfordshire that produces coagulant monitoring devices. Its main product is a microviscometer to perform the prothrombin time test, which measures how long it takes blood to clot. [1]
It was a member of the Welsh Optoelectronics Forum - a group of companies specialising in optoelectronics which developed out of Pilkington’s glass manufacturing operations. [2]
The company was spun out of the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council in 2004, with initial backing from public Rainbow Seed Fund. It was funded through a mixture of private and venture capital investors,[ which? ] and established collaboration with the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust. The UK clinical trials were facilitated by Trustech - part of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement’s network of hubs across England. [3]
Initially the site at St Asaph, North Wales handled sales and shipping, overall project management, clinical chemistry, data analysis, component production and administration. Research into sensors and micro-electromechanical technology was conducted at the site at Chipping Warden, Oxfordshire, along with sensor and electronics development. It developed a MEMs based microviscometer for the prothrombin time test.
In 2006 the company expanded its premises and undertook a clinical trial with the Royal London Hospital, which gave excellent results in comparison with a universally recognised laboratory-based industry standard.[ citation needed ] Initial research was carried out at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
In 2008 the company increased staff levels and moved to a new facility with custom-built laboratories and additional office space, allowing future expansion. The company changed management in 2016 and moved to a new facility in Oxford in 2018 and moved its administration to Worminghall. [4]
The company's main product is the CoagMax, a point of care INR monitor for home and professional use.