CHILDREN with speech difficulties and heart patients could benefit from innovative technology being developed by six Oxfordshire companies who have won awards in a Government competition.

The Department of Trade and Industry Smart awards support small companies who want to develop a new product or conduct a feasibility study to decide whether an idea is commercially viable.

Mindweavers, Oxford University's 21st spin-out company, received 45,000 to develop its "learning experience" software.

Based at the Oxford Centre for Innovation in Mill Street, Osney, it was set up by psychologist Dr David Moore, who has linked up with computer games developers, neuroscientists and teachers to develop a pioneering computer program to help children with hearing problems.

He said: "We have developed a novel way to enhance people's sensory and motor skills.

"These skills are used both in everyday life, such as when you listen to someone speaking, and in more specialised tasks, such as learning a second language or improving sports performance."

The software, based on leading-edge neuroscience research, adjusts the difficulty of the task as the player's performance improves.

He added: "The results should lead to improved and entertaining training that could benefit all children."

Resonance Instruments, of Thorney Leys Business Park, Witney, received 45,000 for its feasibility study into the design of a new magnet.

Research manager David Simkin said: "Our existing instruments target specific applications such as measuring the fat content of chocolate, or the amount of oil in seeds. This new development will enable us to supply instruments to a wider range of applications."

Dr Simkin added: "The company has been in the forefront of next-generation instruments since its inception, and this project will further enhance its abilities."

The company was set up in a garage eight years ago by four former Oxford Instruments employees, who set out to compete directly with their old company. It now employs 22 people, half of them ex-Oxford Instruments staff.

It has 2m annual turnover and exports 90 per cent of its products, having opened up a new market in China.

Bicester-based automotive electronics manufacturer Stack won 140,000 to develop a data-logging system for the motorsport industry.

Managing director Alan Rock said: "This award allows us to develop a new innovative technology in a much shorter time scale than we would otherwise achieve.

"Stack operates in a highly competitive global market and I believe that this development will redefine the market requirement, as well as giving Stack a significant advantage over our international competitors."

Biotechnology company Ludger, of Littlemore Park, Oxford, won 45,000 for a glycotechnology feasibility study of a new way of analysing the complex glycans or sugars found on the surfaces on cells. Glycans play important roles in immunity, inflammation, reproduction, and diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.

Director Dr Daryl Fernandes said: "Our aim is to produce tools that allow analyses that were previously not possible. This would open the gateway to a new understanding of the roles that glycans play in the maintenance of health and the development of cellular diseases."

Bartington Instruments, of Witney, won 45,000 for a feasibility study into a magnetometer to diagnose patients with heart disease, to replace the superconducting quantum interference device (squid) magnetometer currently used in hospitals.

Technical sales director Cyril Chapman said: "The current magnetometer is very expensive, requires liquid gas coolant for its operation and is prone to electrical interference. By replacing this with the smaller lower-cost version, MCG units would become less expensive and the technique could be more widely applied for medical research, non-contact patient monitoring and the diagnosis of heart disease."

Oxford Medical Image Analysis, based at the Oxford Centre for Innovation, won 58,000 to develop a new way to analyse heart patients' ultrasound scans.