The Centre for Innovation and Technology Assessment in Health (NIATS) is a research group of the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU) registered with the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and recognized by the Ministry of Health (Department of Science and Technology, DECIT).

The group is a member of the Brazilian Network for Health Technology Assessment (REBRATS) since 2012. The group has been recognized nationally and internationally for its technical, scientific, social and administrative actions.

The research areas of the group are:

• Health Technology Assessment, with the aim of evaluating and comparing the clinical and technical performance of new and existing electro-medical technologies;
• Biomedical Signal Processing, which is focused on creating and using signal processing techniques aimed at modelling and analysing biological systems;
• Biomechanics, focused upon the development and use of systems for monitoring and evaluation of human movement;
• Telemedicine, which is focused on the conception of systems and protocols that allow decision making as well as remote monitoring of biomedical information;
• Medical Imaging, centred on imaging evaluation, control and quality, diagnostic imaging, and digital image processing.

The group has organized and participated actively in meetings and workshops organized by the Ministry of Health with a focus on evaluation of health technologies.

The members of NIATS have contributed to the consolidation of Biomedical Engineering (BE) in Brazil, particularly in the Triângulo Mineiro region, Minas Gerais, Brazil. For this, members of the group have actively participated, in 2006, in the process of creating the second undergraduate program in EB in Brazil in a federal institution.

In 2012 members of the group have also participated in the creation process of Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Engineering of the Federal University of Uberlândia. The group has been organizing, since 2007, the Symposium on Biomedical Engineering of the Federal University of Uberlândia.

Such actions reflect the group's ability to attract, train and coordinate human resources, be they undergraduate, postgraduate (MSc and PhD) or postdoctoral researchers. The impact of the research of the group has allowed the establishment of a number of national and international lasting cooperation.