Spotlight Clinical, Medical & Diagnostic Products


Around the world, people are living longer - largely thanks to modern medicine – and it is crucial that new generations of health technologies keep pace if we are to cope with the demands of our growing, ageing population.


Continuing progress in the equipment and technology that underpin medicine are rarely thought of in the same way as new, ‘blockbuster’ drugs, but the impact of innovations in medical engineering can be as great as any pharmaceutical invention.


Engineering Innovative Solutions for 21st Century Medicine


One obvious example of early medical engineering was the introduction of implants – such as artificial joints and cardiac pacemakers – which transformed treatments for certain diseases in the 20th Century. Gradual improvements in the mechanics of knee implants mean they now function better and last longer than when they were first invented, but there is always room for further development.


In June, the Wellcome Trust announced that it would, in partnership with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), fund four new Centres of Excellence in Medical Engineering in the UK. The intent is that each centre will provide an environment for mathematics, physical science, engineering and medical research to come together, to encourage exploratory research and the translation of that research into specific product developments of benefit to healthcare.


Four interdisciplinary research teams - at Imperial College London, King's College London, the University of Leeds and the University of Oxford - will receive a combined total of £41 million over the next five years. The funding will help these teams to invent high-tech solutions to medical challenges, potentially improving thousands of patients' lives.


The initiative offers a unique opportunity to bring engineers and medical scientists together to drive forward this field of research, to see how different fields approach medical challenges and, that by working as a cohesive team, they can address these more robustly.


MEDICAL IMAGING


lives. The team, led by Professor Reza Razavi, will also address the challenge of rolling out new developments in imaging across the NHS.


PERSONALISED HEALTHCARE


Much of the 20th Century was devoted to developing treatments that are broadly effective in most people. However, it has become clear that long-term conditions such as diabetes, asthma and cancer are best managed by taking into account how the individual is responding to their particular therapy.


At the Oxford Medical Engineering Centre, Professor Lionel Tarassenko and colleagues will be developing techniques and strategies to precisely measure individuals’ response to their condition and therapies, and use those measurements to adjust and improve the way the person is being treated. This approach could have real impact on survival rates and improve the quality of life for people living with long-term conditions, from birth to old age.


“..it is crucial that new generations of health technologies keep pace if we are to cope with the demands of our growing, ageing population”


Some small babies thrive when they are born, whereas others do not. By studying babies in the womb and during the first year of life, the team hopes to understand what factors make the difference. They will use ultrasound imaging and MRI to assess brain and liver function in order to characterise organ growth and function. This should provide the evidence base for the development of new intrauterine treatments and interventions optimised for each baby and their particular rate of growth in the womb.


At King’s College London, medical engineering research will build on existing strengths in the clinical areas of cardiovascular, cancer and neurology while focusing on a well-developed expertise in medical imaging.


Strong engineering will help to standardise imaging techniques and analysis, and enable the effective translation of research developments into effective, definitive clinical trials.


For example, imaging could be used to understand the development of atherosclerotic plaques and identify which are likely to lead to heart disease. This could lead to a method of predicting who is at high risk of heart attack, allowing intervention to take place before the heart fails.


In cancer, imaging can help to produce a better diagnosis – to say exactly how much cancer a person has and precisely where it is. Imaging will then also play a role in targeting treatment and improving success rates.


Author Details:


Dr Nicola Bailey, Business Analyst, Technology Transfer at the Wellcome Trust Email: n.bailey@wellcome.ac.uk


And in psychological problems, such as depression, where around half of patients do not benefit from current treatments, imaging combined with mathematical techniques will allow researchers to see the effects of a drug in the brain within a week or two, instead of the months it currently takes to assess treatments. By monitoring these effects, doctors could get fast, objective assessment of how the drug is working for that patient.


The new centre will bring together high quality engineers, physicists, computer scientists, chemists and clinicians to develop new clinical applications of imaging to improve


People, especially young people, with a mild or moderate form of a long-term condition such as asthma or diabetes expect to lead a normal life and do not want to change their routine or be confined to one location for self- monitoring. Mobile phone technology provides the right solution for mobility and integration of monitoring into daily life, delivering personalised healthcare content to the individual’s handset. So-called ‘teletechnology’ has particular potential in the developing world, where 70% of the 3.3 billion mobile phone subscribers live. And by 2030, the number of people with diabetes will increase to 366 million, 298 million of these in developing countries.


One other project the Oxford team are already looking at is targeting drug delivery for liver cancer. Only a small proportion of people with liver cancer are able to have surgery to treat it, but the alternative chemotherapy is generally not very effective. Using ultrasound, new technology could first assess the extent of the cancer, and then actually control activation of chemotherapy drugs in the tumour and ensure the drug is delivered to the right location at the right dose for each patient.


NEW SOLUTIONS FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS


Osteoarthritis is a common degenerative disorder affecting joints throughout the body, leading to significant pain and loss of mobility. It affects about 8.5 million people in the UK alone and is the most common cause of chronic pain, with huge social and economic costs.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40