What is the society’s main goal?

The main goals of the MiNT Academy are:

• To establish a clinical educational platform to help integrate the use of neurotechnology into clinical practice based upon clinical reasoning to drive neural plasticity and influence patient outcomes
• To influence future product development to better address complex clinical problems 

Introduction to MiNT 

Is there a personal story behind the establishment of the society?

As clinicians we recognise the potential role of technology to increase treatment dosage and support evidence-based practice. In turn, this will optimise patient outcomes. Despite engaging with multiple devices, we struggled to embed technology into our clinical practice. We have reflected on the challenges and our experience, and subsequently developed MiNT as the solution to improving clinical application.

MiNT for Practitioners

Why did your society decide to take part in the RehabWeek?

Having attended several RehabWeeks as delegates, we recognised the lack of representation from practicing clinicians. We know that successful device development requires clinician and end-user engagement in co-creation, focussing on the solution to a clinical problem. Clinicians have a unique understanding of the complexities of a heterogenous patient population and MiNT will attract these individuals to RehabWeek.

Why is RehabWeek unique and why should people attend?

RehabWeek provides a forum for all sectors to collaborate, network and engage in furthering the field and clinical application of neurotechnology. It provides multiple opportunities to connect and explore this specialist area together with other like-minded inter-disciplinary professionals.

MiNT for Industry

What do you think will be the next big issue in the field? Why?

Currently there is a lack of data to inform evidence-based practice. At the same time the marketplace is vast and constantly growing, proving a minefield for clinicians to navigate. Clinicians have to rely on their individual judgement and experience to:

• choose which device to use with which patient, and when
• finance the most appropriate technology for their patient demographic

Moving forwards, data and clinical outcomes must be shared to create more guidance for clinicians, resulting in clinical services that are more effective, responsive and answer the needs of their patients. Simultaneously, this will also support patient-specific product development, targeting devices to specific clinical problems. This requires collaboration through an intentional and unified research and education strategy.

Any success story you would like to share?

This year saw the launch of a brand new website and educational platform: MiNT.www.themintacademy.co.uk.This provides a global forum, accessible 24-hours a day with a realm of knowledge and opportunities for all sectors to further their work in this field. We are very excited for you to join our international clinical community on this groundbreaking success story.