University of Nottingham
  

 Retirement of Professor John Crowe

John CroweAfter 33 years at the University of Nottingham, Professor John Crowe is retiring. He has made a huge contribution to healthcare technology development in this time, having played a major part of several key projects.

John joined the University in 1987, having spent his formative research years at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, and Lancashire Polytechnic, Preston. He was appointed Professor of Biomedical Engineering in 2009. His research, at the physical / life science interface, includes the development of new instrumentation for physiological monitoring as well as investigating cellular activity and form.

Monica Healthcare

Collaboration with Professor Barrie Hayes-Gill and colleagues in Obstetrics and Gynaecology led to the development of an antenatal fetal heart rate recorder. This was commercialised through the highly successful spinout company, Monica Healthcare, which won the Bioscience category of the Research Council's 2004 Business Plan Competition. Monica was acquired by GE Healthcare in 2017.

Utilising this ECG-based technology he gained a unique understanding of how Doppler ultrasound based fetal monitors work; and using data collected with this technique, and the application of fractal based signal processing tools, he 'observed' a change in the 'wiring' of the fetal brain at around 24 weeks gestation. 

Other work in biomedical optics involved the development of novel oximeters and the design of new forms of laser Doppler blow flow meters. 

SurePulse Medical Ltd

Photo-shows,-right-to-left-Professor-John-Crowe,-Dr-Don-Sharkey,-Barrie-Hayes-Gill,-Prince-PhilipPictured with Dr Don Sharkey, Professor Barrie Hayes-Gill and Prince Philip

John was instrumental in the development of the technology behind award-winning SurePulse Medical Ltd spin-out company, developing an optical heart rate monitor for use on newborns requiring resuscitation immediately after birth.

 

MATCH

John participated in the Iarge EPSRC MATCH programme (Multidisciplinary Assessment of Technology Centre for Healthcare). This developed methods for assessing medical devices from three major perspectives; economic evaluation, industrial process, and user needs.

The Uncertainty Elicitation tool developed in this project is designed to help elicit probability distributions about uncertain model parameters from experts, in situations where suitable data is either unavailable or sparse and has been widely used in healthcare and other applications such as environmental modelling.

remedi

His expertise was also in demand in what was the new industry of regenerative medicine, where he participated in the remedi programme. This EPSRC programme addressed the scientific, technical, business and regulatory issues of the new regenerative medicine industry and helped to unlock its potential to contribute to next generation healthcare delivery and the UK economy.

John's input was in the sensing and characterisation of regenerative medicine products. Work in this area continues via the development of a total internal reflection microscope (TIRM) that is capable of monitoring cell attachment.

MindTech

More recently, John has worked with National Institute of Health Research's (NIHR) Health Technology Cooperative (HTC) in mental health, MindTech, investigating the possibility of monitoring the 'activity signature' of people with bipolar disorder or dementia, with a view to assisting the self assessment of their condition and helping to manage independent living.

John's contribution across so many different areas has left a great legacy. Always passionate about helping others, frequently argumentative and a great friend and colleague to many of us, he will be missed. We wish him well for his retirement.