Spotlight www. thelancet. com/respiratory Vol 4 February 2016 103 the process included summarising epidemiological data, interviewing end-users and key informants, reviewing the scientific literature, engaging in brainstorming, inserting the gold-standard Asthma Action Plan algorithm into concept development, and designing laboratory and clinical trials. The published work from the Multidisciplinary Assessment of Technology Centre for Healthcare (MATCH) affiliated in the United Kingdom, embodies this important collaborative approach through links to several universities, industry partners, and policy makers. With several university centres and groups using similar processes to develop health-care innovation, there are vast opportunities for collaboration and shared learning. The University of Missouri-Columbia’s Tigerplace is an assisted living facility dedicated to enabling older adults to maintain maximum independence through nursing care facilitated by novel transdisciplinary sensor development and use. Also, the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute are developing assistive devices and improving accessibility for an aging population. Looking outside of the clinical field can also yield results. Following engineering and business partners and using the patent search as a way to analyse existing intellectual property and technology provides a wealth of knowledge regarding technological advancements. A thorough, systematic search identified 14 inventions related to home asthma monitoring. By tracking activity of assignees (ie, owners) and inventors of those patents, we identified one commercially available product to consider for possible use, and contact information regarding four other possible technologies. A conventional scientific literature database search (such as PubMed) would not have uncovered these technologies because those interfaces do not draw upon intellectual property databases catalogued by the US Patent and Trademark Office, World Intellectual Property Organization, Google Patents, and approval documentation at the US Food and Drug Administration. We identified the Derwent Innovations Index database (Thompson Reuters) to be a user-friendly search engine that covers domestic and international patents for beginners. Smart solutions need in depth knowledge of the problem to be solved and the science and technology that is available to solve the problem, with transdisciplinary and transcommunity research as essential to the development of smart solutions. By crossing borders between disciplines, and in our respected lay and health industry partners, smarter solutions will result in healthier people.