Our aim: A £5 million prize to create breakthrough non-pharmacological technologies for managing persistent and chronic pain
It’s estimated that 1 in 5 Americans live with persistent pain, while in the UK the number could be as high as 1 in 2.
Persistent pain is defined as pain that carries on for longer than 12 weeks despite medication or treatment. Pain flares are unpredictable and a major issue for people living with the condition. It is often unclear what triggers a flare and what impacts their frequency and severity, with the condition unique to each individual.
As a flare occurs, managing that pain can prove extraordinarily difficult, severely impacting a person’s quality of life and wellbeing. When long-term medication is ineffective – or as is highlighted by the opioid epidemic in the USA, undesirable – sufferers of persistent pain deserve the option of non-pharmacological solutions to predict flares and manage them when they occur.
A challenge prize to unlock solutions for people living with persistent pain will deliver innovations that help individuals anticipate a flare up and predict their severity. This would help a person manage their day, allowing them to take charge over their condition rather than living at the mercy of it. It could be accomplished by tracking information, such as real-time biometric, environmental and behavioural data, to observe and identify patterns that would alert an individual to better pain management strategies unique to them. The prize would incentivise and support the creation of new wearable devices, providing a non-invasive and non-pharmacological solution for the millions of people around the world living with persistent and chronic pain.
The prize will inspire persistent pain experts and people with lived experience to collaborate with technology and product design partners to turn clinical research into real-world products for people living with chronic pain. It would incentivise existing innovators in the field of biofeedback and wearable devices to apply their ingenuity to new opportunities to manage a condition that impacts people in many different ways.
The science, technology and design required to create biofeedback solutions – such as wearable devices, biometric sensors, machine learning and novel behavioural science approaches – are rapidly developing, not least for consumer lifestyle trackers. Innovators need the right incentive to apply these approaches to medical devices that increase the quality of life for millions.
The Persistent Pain Management Prize will bring together a global network of innovators and talent to unlock a new category of technologies for managing persistent pain.
This prize idea is designed to be a conversation starter, so tell us what you think!
The best prize ideas are developed through extensive research and engagement with experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience of the problems they are focused on. We start with a first draft like the one above – then work to improve, refine and validate our thinking.
We’re particularly keen to have conversations about this idea with potential funders and organisations working in the field. Get in touch if you’re interested – or if you think you have a better idea – and we’ll schedule a call.
Challenge Works has put together a report shedding light on the role of challenge prizes in revitalising the UK Innovation Strategy.
Challenge prizes can complement grants, reduce risk in portfolios of government innovation investments, and can be particularly effective at stimulating near-market innovation targeting specific outcomes and private R&D investment.
