'I am incredibly honoured' - Brighouse health innovation wins £100,000 to expand across hospitals
A Calderdale health innovation helping patients manage anxiety during high-stress medical treatments such as chemotherapy has won £100,000 in the Mayor’s Big Ideas Challenge.
The funding will help expand the project across local NHS hospitals.
Developed by Brighouse-based founder Michael Crinnion, Luma³ Editions uses intuitive light guidance to help patients follow simple breathwork during high-anxiety NHS procedures.
The funding will support expansion in the radiology and endoscopy departments, with the long-term goal of embedding preventative mental well-being skills into all routine clinical care.
Michael said: “I am incredibly honoured and grateful to have won this challenge.
“West Yorkshire is quickly establishing itself as a leading region for health tech innovation, and I'm proud to contribute to that growth.
“The funding and recognition from this award will directly enable more individuals to gain the essential skills and support required to manage their healthcare-related anxieties and the growing stresses of modern life.”
More than 150 Luma³ units have been deployed across West Yorkshire, including seven clinical settings within Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
This includes chemotherapy units supported by Macmillan Cancer Support, where devices are free at the point of use.
The devices are non-digital and literacy-free, requiring no apps, no reading and no prior training, aiming to remove barriers for patients experiencing acute treatment distress, “chemo brain” cognitive fog, low literacy, language processing difficulties and financial exclusion.
A patient who used Luma³ during chemotherapy said: “I can say on two occasions, I just couldn't sleep... and then just did the breathing until I... zoned out.
“So, sort of without pharmaceutical intervention, I was able to calm myself down.”
The initial roll-out focused on Bradford and Wakefield, areas with some of the highest levels of socio-economic deprivation in West Yorkshire.
More than 3,500 clinical episodes were supported across seven settings, reaching approximately 1,500 unique patients.
With the £100,000 award, the company will expand into the radiology and endoscopy departments and launch further clinical research with Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust to strengthen the case for wider NHS adoption.
The long-term ambition is to see Luma³ Editions become a standard part of high-anxiety NHS treatment pathways.