Supporting NHS innovation: How Devices for Dignity helped shape the S-Press rehabilitation device

Sheffield is internationally recognised for its strength in health research and innovation. The city’s contribution to new technologies and treatments is currently being celebrated through the “Shaped in Sheffield” campaign led by Shaped in Sheffield celebrates UKRI’s science investment impact – UKRI, which highlights how research organisations, universities and NHS partners across the region are transforming healthcare.

At the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Long-term conditions – Devices for Dignity (D4D), based at Sheffield Teaching Hospital, we play an active role in this innovation ecosystem. Our mission is to work with clinicians, researchers, industry partners and patients to develop technologies that improve the lives of people living with long-term conditions.

One example of this collaborative approach is our support for the S-Press, a rehabilitation device designed to help patients rebuild leg strength earlier in their recovery.

Turning clinical insight into innovation

The S-Press was developed by Sheffield physiotherapist Jennifer Turner, who drew on more than 22 years of experience working within NHS rehabilitation services.

Throughout her career, Jennifer frequently supported patients transferred from acute hospital wards who had experienced prolonged periods of illness or bed rest. Many of these individuals, particularly older adults and those living with multiple long-term conditions, experienced significant muscle weakness, a phenomenon often referred to as deconditioning.

Deconditioning can have serious consequences for recovery. Reduced muscle strength can delay mobility, increase the risk of falls and extend the time it takes for patients to regain independence.

The S-Press was designed to address this challenge by enabling patients to begin strengthening key leg muscles earlier in the rehabilitation process. The device supports early leg muscle strength recovery and can be used by patients while still in bed or seated in a chair. This helps initiate muscle activation sooner and supports a smoother transition to standing and walking during recovery. 

The technology has been evaluated through Sheffield’s research and clinical partnerships, including collaboration with the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, helping to explore how it may support earlier mobilisation and functional recovery.

How we supported the development of S-Press

At Devices for Dignity, we work closely with innovators to help translate promising ideas into technologies that are clinically relevant, usable and ready for real-world healthcare environments.

Our support for the S-Press focused on strengthening its early development pathway and ensuring the device was informed by real clinical needs from the outset.

One of the first steps involved convening a multidisciplinary “Dragon’s Den”-style panel made up of healthcare professionals. The panel reviewed early prototypes and provided practical feedback on potential clinical applications, design considerations and usability within rehabilitation settings. This input helped refine the device concept and identify areas for further development.

We also supported the team in developing a successful funding application to the Council for Allied Health Professionals Research (CAHPRA). Through this funding, we facilitated connections with specialist clinicians at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, including experts in infection prevention and control and tissue viability. Their insights ensured that the device design considered the practical realities of clinical use, such as hygiene, patient safety and compatibility with existing care environments.

Alongside this, our team helped generate early market and user insights to inform the device’s development. This included co-developing a physiotherapy questionnaire and conducting qualitative interviews with potential users, including care home staff and residents as well as clinicians and patients within an inpatient stroke rehabilitation setting.

These insights helped the innovator better understand the contexts in which the device might be used, the needs of different user groups and potential barriers to adoption.

To support the next stage of development, we also connected the S-Press team with clinical engineering expertise. This support helped progress work on the technical file required for regulatory approval, as well as preparation for CE marking and further funding applications.

Together, this package of support helped strengthen the device’s clinical relevance, usability and pathway towards potential adoption in healthcare settings.

Supporting innovation for long-term conditions

The S-Press project illustrates the wider role we play at Devices for Dignity. We support the development of technologies that address the complex needs of people living with long-term conditions, working across the innovation pathway from early ideas through to evaluation and implementation.

Our work spans a range of areas including rehabilitation technologies, assistive devices, wound care, continence solutions and innovations that enable people to live independently at home for longer.

A key part of our approach is co-design. By involving patients, carers and healthcare professionals throughout the development process, we help ensure that technologies are shaped by the people who will ultimately use them.

We are also part of the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre Network, a national hub of 14 HealthTech Research Centres which brings together expertise from across the UK to accelerate the development and evaluation of new medical technologies. Through this national collaboration, we help innovators access the research capability and clinical insight needed to move technologies closer to adoption in the NHS.

Working with innovators

We work with clinicians, researchers, entrepreneurs and companies who are developing technologies to support people living with long-term conditions.

Whether you are refining an early concept or preparing for clinical evaluation, our team can help with areas such as user insight, co-design, clinical engagement, regulatory readiness and funding applications.

By working together, we aim to ensure that promising innovations have the best possible chance of delivering real benefits for patients and healthcare services.

If you are developing a new health technology and would like to explore how Devices for Dignity could support your project, we would be delighted to hear from you.