A new type of condom that could revolutionise safe sex is just one of seven potentially lifesaving medical devices to be backed by NSW government grants.

The new condom is made from a 'hydrogel' skin-like material that its creators say is designed to feel like you're 'wearing nothing at all'.

Eudeamon Technologies won $1million from a share of $9.85million in NSW government grants, which supports medtech innovators that are trying to get their ideas off the ground.

The Wollongong-based company will use the money from the grant to further refine the prototype, which will include testing the product on humans.

Eudeamon co-founder biomedical engineer Dr Robert Gorkin said the texture of the new condom is designed so it looks and feels more appealing.

Condoms have been around for thousands of years, and in that time have been made of linen, goat's bladders, animal intestines, vulcanised rubber, and more recently, latex.

The next-generation condom is non-allergenic, made from hydrogels - a type of material that's mostly water-based - that acts like latex but with enhanced feeling.

The soft and squishy material is self-lubricating, reducing the risk of breakage, and it doesn't have odour or taste. It also fights off germs and bacteria that cause STIs, as well as sperm.

Although condoms can prevent both pregnancy and STIs, the developers said they are often avoided because people have the idea that they reduce sensation.

'There are 1 million new STIs diagnosed every day, 80 million unplanned pregnancies per year, a $60 billion global burden and the biggest issue for condoms is feel,' Dr Gorkin told The Sydney Morning Herald.

'Our product is designed to overcome the number one issue with condoms because ultimately the choice of using this medical device is up to the consumer.'

Dr Gorkin said he came up with the idea in 2013 when he applied for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant, after reading an article that said 'Bill Gates wants safer sex'.

At the time, he was testing skin-like hydrogels in the lab and he wondered whether the material would help the American magnate achieve his goal.

The team won that grant and it allowed Dr Gorkin and his team to refine the hydrogel materials that would later become the recently awarded condom prototype.

Dr Gorkin said the next part of the development process is to get some humans to trial the product by having sex with them.

Eudaemon Technologies hopes to partner with a commercial brand so that the condom can be on the market within two years.