When Damien Bradley, a Donegal paramedic, cared for his mother, Rita, through stage four ovarian cancer, he found himself juggling endless hospital visits, drainage procedures, and the emotional toll of watching someone he loved lose precious time to clinical corridors.
Everything changed when he connected with SymPhysis Medical, a Galway-based medtech company that offered a solution to ease the burden. Along with their pioneering device, releaze™, which is designed to enable patients with malignant pleural effusion (MPE ) manage fluid drainage safely at home independently, they are also developing a companion app which enables people to track their treatment progress at home and communicate remotely with their clinical team.
For Damien’s family, having the app available to them meant Rita could spend more time where she wanted to be, at home, surrounded by family, with dignity. “It wasn’t just about medical management,” Damien says. “It gave us back time together.”
Dr David P Breen, consultant respiratory physician at Galway University Hospitals and lead clinician for Lung Cancer Services, with specialist expertise in interventional pulmonology who has been closely involved in local clinical evaluation of the device, says stories like Damien’s highlight why home-based solutions matter.
“Too many patients spend their final weeks in and out of hospital when they would prefer to be at home,” he explains. “What we are developing here in Galway shows that innovation can be both high tech and deeply human.”
Founded by Tim Jones and Dr Michelle Tierney, SymPhysis Medical is part of the city’s thriving medtech ecosystem, combining world-class engineering with patient-first design. The company currently employs 13 people locally, with further growth planned as releaze™ progresses toward EU and US availability.
For Galway, it is another reminder that world-changing healthcare innovation does not just happen in Boston or Berlin, it happens right here on the Corrib.
