The free magazine from the North West NHS Innovation Hub

“TrusTECH helps delivernew innovations to the market”

TrusTECH NEWS Issu

e 1

8

Welcome to Issue 18 of TrusTECH NEws

32

CO

NT

EN

TS

General News 2

TrusTECH Innovation Management 6

Open for Business 10

Knowledge Centre 12

Cover images (clockwise from top left)GraftBolt® see page 9RehabAngel® see page 6Saggy Boobs see page 8.

General News

The Dragons’ Lair is based on the principles of the BBC series ‘Dragons’ Den’, where pitchers have 5 minutes to pitch their idea with the aim of gaining funding to take it forward. NHS North West has commissioned TrusTECH to host three Dragons’ Lair events to date (14 January 2010, 28 May 2010 and 10 September 2010).

The ‘Dragons’ are a panel of chief executives including NHS North West’s CEO, Mike Farrar, medical directors and other senior NHS advisors. Together, they question the pitcher and then make a decision on whether to fund their proposal from the North West Regional Innovation Fund. The Dragons’ panel rotates for each pitch so that various senior NHS executives have the opportunity to contribute.

Two types of awards are available:

• Enabling Change awards (up to £250k) applied for via the InnovateNoW programme; and

• Trust-nominated awards (up to £50k) applied for via NHS North West.

There were eight pitchers at the first Dragons’ Lair, held at the Nowgen Centre: 5 Enabling Change and 3 Trust-nominated.

The winning ideas included a way to reduce hospital admissions by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) through an early warning system alerting them to extreme weather and environmental hazards.

Two others related to surgical operations. One aimed to reduce the number of operations that have to be cancelled on the day by improving assessment of patients’ conditions beforehand. Another encouraged the use of a monitoring device (Oesophageal Doppler) during surgery, which has the potential to reduce deaths and complications and cut the amount of time patients spend recovering in hospital afterwards.

Two other projects were for the benefit of stroke victims – providing 24-hour access to medical expertise in the immediate aftermath of a stroke

by linking hospitals with a remote network of stroke specialists able to assess patients via a broadband link; and the use of computer technology to provide enhanced speech and language therapy.

In May, there were six pitches made at the event held at NHS North West: 2 Enabling Change and 6 Trust-nominated.

Amongst the ideas successful in their funding requests were: Patientrack, an early warning software system designed to alert clinical staff to changes in the early warning scores of critically ill patients; PROMS 2.0, a patient reported outcome measures web-based questionnaire; Talking Leaflets, recorded information for patients that is accessible by ringing a geographical telephone number; Anticipatory Care Calendar for people with learning disabilities and dementia; and implementation of a system-wide pathway for the management of heart failure.

The September event saw 2 teams pitching for Enabling Change awards and 3 for Trust-nominated awards. The winning proposals included: running a probation health trainer service; providing dialectical behavioural therapy in the community for people with borderline personality disorders; improving rapid access blackout clinics; using software to predict the clinical and financial impact of different scenarios; and coating hospital toys and an isolation room with ‘liquid glass’ to make decontamination easier.

One of the winners, Dr Daniel Conway, said: “Taking part in the Dragons’ Lair was exciting. Being challenged by the Dragons really made us think about how to make it as effective as possible.”

Dr Richard Deed, TrusTECH’s Innovation Unit Manager, said: “We are looking for ideas that will help us achieve greater productivity and improve the quality of care. We already have a track record for innovation in the NHS across the North West.”

Dare to enter the Dragons’ Lair

The ‘Dragons’ make their decision.

Pictured from left to right are Mike Farrar, Judith Griffin, Bill Forsyth,

Peter Akid and Rowena Young

InnovateNoW is part of the North West’s Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) and TrusTECH has been commissioned by NHS North West to manage the web site, application process, judging of applications (with the help of an expert panel of frontline clinical staff) and monitoring of the awards for 2009/2010 and 2010/2011.

Three different types of award have been available under the InnovateNoW programme aimed at meeting the North West’s Clinical Pathway Group recommendations:

• Innovation Sharing (up to £5k) to support the adoption and spread of proven innovations

• Innovation Bursary (up to £25k) to pay for back-fill to enable staff to implement and evaluate an innovation

• Enabling Change (up to £250k) to enable large scale changes to be made across a range of teams and organisations.

Rounds 1 and 2 in 2009/10 had a focus on long term conditions and end of life care. Rounds 3 and 4 in 2010/11 had a focus on working across traditional boundaries such as NHS and social care.

Round 1:

Category No. Applications Total Amount Applications Funded Awarded

Innovation Sharing 38 10 £43,016.25 Innovation Bursary 73 11 £240,329.93 Enabling Change 138 3 £404,600.00

£687,946.18

Round 2:

Category No. Applications Total Amount Applications Funded Awarded

Innovation Sharing 7 5 £23,760.00 Innovation Bursary 28 9 £205,012.49 Enabling Change 68 2 £390,076.00

£618,848.49

Round 3:

Category No. Applications Total Amount Applications Funded Awarded

Innovation Sharing 23 10 £45,560.00 Innovation Bursary 50 10 £237,344.00 Enabling Change 94 2 £291,436.00

£574,340.00

Round 4 was launched in mid-August and the deadline for applications was 8 October 2010. Applications were invited for Innovation Sharing and Innovation Bursary awards only and the awards will be announced mid-December 2010.

It is currently unclear whether there will be any further funding rounds. For more information on the InnovateNoW awards visit: www.innovatenow.org.uk.

Welcome to Issue 18 of TrusTECH NEws

32

CO

NT

EN

TS

General News 2

TrusTECH Innovation Management 6

Open for Business 10

Knowledge Centre 12

Cover images (clockwise from top left)GraftBolt® see page 9RehabAngel® see page 6Saggy Boobs see page 8.

General News

The Dragons’ Lair is based on the principles of the BBC series ‘Dragons’ Den’, where pitchers have 5 minutes to pitch their idea with the aim of gaining funding to take it forward. NHS North West has commissioned TrusTECH to host three Dragons’ Lair events to date (14 January 2010, 28 May 2010 and 10 September 2010).

The ‘Dragons’ are a panel of chief executives including NHS North West’s CEO, Mike Farrar, medical directors and other senior NHS advisors. Together, they question the pitcher and then make a decision on whether to fund their proposal from the North West Regional Innovation Fund. The Dragons’ panel rotates for each pitch so that various senior NHS executives have the opportunity to contribute.

Two types of awards are available:

• Enabling Change awards (up to £250k) applied for via the InnovateNoW programme; and

• Trust-nominated awards (up to £50k) applied for via NHS North West.

There were eight pitchers at the first Dragons’ Lair, held at the Nowgen Centre: 5 Enabling Change and 3 Trust-nominated.

The winning ideas included a way to reduce hospital admissions by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) through an early warning system alerting them to extreme weather and environmental hazards.

Two others related to surgical operations. One aimed to reduce the number of operations that have to be cancelled on the day by improving assessment of patients’ conditions beforehand. Another encouraged the use of a monitoring device (Oesophageal Doppler) during surgery, which has the potential to reduce deaths and complications and cut the amount of time patients spend recovering in hospital afterwards.

Two other projects were for the benefit of stroke victims – providing 24-hour access to medical expertise in the immediate aftermath of a stroke

by linking hospitals with a remote network of stroke specialists able to assess patients via a broadband link; and the use of computer technology to provide enhanced speech and language therapy.

In May, there were six pitches made at the event held at NHS North West: 2 Enabling Change and 6 Trust-nominated.

Amongst the ideas successful in their funding requests were: Patientrack, an early warning software system designed to alert clinical staff to changes in the early warning scores of critically ill patients; PROMS 2.0, a patient reported outcome measures web-based questionnaire; Talking Leaflets, recorded information for patients that is accessible by ringing a geographical telephone number; Anticipatory Care Calendar for people with learning disabilities and dementia; and implementation of a system-wide pathway for the management of heart failure.

The September event saw 2 teams pitching for Enabling Change awards and 3 for Trust-nominated awards. The winning proposals included: running a probation health trainer service; providing dialectical behavioural therapy in the community for people with borderline personality disorders; improving rapid access blackout clinics; using software to predict the clinical and financial impact of different scenarios; and coating hospital toys and an isolation room with ‘liquid glass’ to make decontamination easier.

One of the winners, Dr Daniel Conway, said: “Taking part in the Dragons’ Lair was exciting. Being challenged by the Dragons really made us think about how to make it as effective as possible.”

Dr Richard Deed, TrusTECH’s Innovation Unit Manager, said: “We are looking for ideas that will help us achieve greater productivity and improve the quality of care. We already have a track record for innovation in the NHS across the North West.”

Dare to enter the Dragons’ Lair

The ‘Dragons’ make their decision.

Pictured from left to right are Mike Farrar, Judith Griffin, Bill Forsyth,

Peter Akid and Rowena Young

InnovateNoW is part of the North West’s Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) and TrusTECH has been commissioned by NHS North West to manage the web site, application process, judging of applications (with the help of an expert panel of frontline clinical staff) and monitoring of the awards for 2009/2010 and 2010/2011.

Three different types of award have been available under the InnovateNoW programme aimed at meeting the North West’s Clinical Pathway Group recommendations:

• Innovation Sharing (up to £5k) to support the adoption and spread of proven innovations

• Innovation Bursary (up to £25k) to pay for back-fill to enable staff to implement and evaluate an innovation

• Enabling Change (up to £250k) to enable large scale changes to be made across a range of teams and organisations.

Rounds 1 and 2 in 2009/10 had a focus on long term conditions and end of life care. Rounds 3 and 4 in 2010/11 had a focus on working across traditional boundaries such as NHS and social care.

Round 1:

Category No. Applications Total Amount Applications Funded Awarded

Innovation Sharing 38 10 £43,016.25 Innovation Bursary 73 11 £240,329.93 Enabling Change 138 3 £404,600.00

£687,946.18

Round 2:

Category No. Applications Total Amount Applications Funded Awarded

Innovation Sharing 7 5 £23,760.00 Innovation Bursary 28 9 £205,012.49 Enabling Change 68 2 £390,076.00

£618,848.49

Round 3:

Category No. Applications Total Amount Applications Funded Awarded

Innovation Sharing 23 10 £45,560.00 Innovation Bursary 50 10 £237,344.00 Enabling Change 94 2 £291,436.00

£574,340.00

Round 4 was launched in mid-August and the deadline for applications was 8 October 2010. Applications were invited for Innovation Sharing and Innovation Bursary awards only and the awards will be announced mid-December 2010.

It is currently unclear whether there will be any further funding rounds. For more information on the InnovateNoW awards visit: www.innovatenow.org.uk.

General News 2009 Innovation Awards Launch

54

Invention for innovation (i4i) is one of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) research programmes.

What is the aim of i4i?

The aim of the i4i programme is “to advance the translation of healthcare technologies for increased patient benefit through guided progression of innovative medical technologies” by funding research and development of medical devices, active implantable devices and in vitro diagnostic devices.

What are the changes to the i4i programme?

Following the arrival of Martin Hunt, as the new director for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme in October 2009, the funding streams within the i4i programme have undergone a period of review.

Until recently, there were 4 funding streams (FPD1, FPD2, FPD3a (later changed to FPD3) and FP3b (later changed to FPD4)) with slightly different application processes and guidance.

In October, the NIHR announced a more streamlined i4i programme containing only two funding streams: early-stage and late-stage product development awards.

What do the early-stage product development awards fund?

They can be used to carry out feasibility or pilot studies to support the further development of an innovative new technology or intervention to address an existing or emerging healthcare need in the NHS.

The applicants should already have some evidence from prior basic research that the technology/intervention will work. It is expected that the award will lead to the development of a prototype, identification of the barriers to commercialisation, and the development of a business plan and suitable management team.

What do the late-stage product development awards fund?

They can be used to build on the work of a completed feasibility or pilot study. It is expected that the award will provide further evidence that the technology/intervention will deliver improved healthcare outcomes in the NHS and be commercially viable. The outcomes from the late-stage award should include an advanced prototype and plans for commercialisation and intellectual property exploitation. In addition, the barriers to commercialisation should be identified, and should lead to the development of a credible business plan and appropriate management team.

How much funding is available?

Both awards provide funding for between one and three years, with the amount of funding being awarded

being determined by the scale and nature of the proposal. The awards can be made to collaborations involving NHS organisations, universities and/or industry based in England.

The amount of funding available in 2010/11 has not been publicised, but funding has gradually increased each year from £4 million in 2006/07 to £13 million in 2009/10.

What are the timescales?

Applications are made on-line using the NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) web site via a two stage process: an outline application, which is judged on its fit to the scope of the programme, following which a full proposal may be invited.

All full proposals undergo external peer review in confidence. At the time of writing the call for award applications has just closed (22 November 2010). Further calls will be advertised on the i4i web site: http://www.nihr-ccf.org.uk/site/programmes/i4i/.

Where can I go for further help?

If you are interested in applying for an i4i award please contact Dr Joanne Thomas, Senior Technology Manager at TrusTECH: joanne.thomas@cmft.nhs.uk.

Bionow, the Northwest Regional Development Agency’s (NWDA) biomedical cluster support group, held their annual Northwest Biomedical Awards at Mere Golf & Country Club on 11th November 2010. The event is a showcase of the very best of biomedicine in the region.

Healthcare Project of the Year was Femestim, lead by Professor Jackie Oldham, Manchester University. The development of Femestim was a joint project with Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. See page 7 to read more about the development and licensing of Femestim. One of the runners up in this category was Patientrack, the patient alerts system, also developed in collaboration with the Central Manchester Trust.

Other category winners were:

Northwest Company of the Year - Epistem Plc

Innovation in Diagnostics Project of the Year - Prokyma Technologies Ltd, KymaSep - rapid automated concentration and purification system

Promising Biomedical Technologist - Jane King-Haughey, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics

Startup of the Year - BioOxyDyn Ltd

Biomedical Project of the Year – Eden Biodesign, REIC – Prostate Cancer

Emerging Technology Project of the Year - Professor John Hunt, Clinical Engineering (UK CTE), University of Liverpool, Control of Stem Cells using Patterned Substrates.

Hosted by TrusTECH in September, the Council of European BioRegions (CEBR) held its most recent network of bio-communities meeting in Manchester on the topic of ‘clinical innovation in bio-communities’.

The day brought together senior staff from SMEs, multinationals and biotech cluster and clinical innovation support projects. Experiences of supporting clinical innovation, both in and out of the clinic, were heard from Manchester, Uppsala and the Basque region. SMEs then gave their own experiences, good and bad in accessing the clinical market before Philips and the European Space Agency gave their input as international partners for innovation support.

The day was an excellent insight into the challenges faced by companies trying to access a clinical setting and market, and also the different health systems across Europe.

The meeting was hosted with a view to creating a Europe-wide ‘Special Interest Group’ within the Council of European BioRegions. This group is envisaged to bring together people involved in clinical innovation across Europe, to share experiences and resources and create collaborations between regions in Europe.

Claire Skentelbery, CEBR Network Manager, commented “The day exceeded our expectations in terms of

the potential value from networking clinical innovation across Europe. There was clearly much work that can be done in collaboration between biocommunities, not only to share experiences but to proactively work together in pooling resources and moving technologies and expert advice between regions. CEBR thanks TrusTECH for bringing their Europe-leading expertise to the day and we look forward to a long term and fruitful working group in Europe.”

Invention for Innovation (i4i)

Bionow Awards 2010

TrusTECH hosts European networking event

Prof. Jackie Oldham with Keith Chantler, TrusTECH

General News 2009 Innovation Awards Launch

54

Invention for innovation (i4i) is one of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) research programmes.

What is the aim of i4i?

The aim of the i4i programme is “to advance the translation of healthcare technologies for increased patient benefit through guided progression of innovative medical technologies” by funding research and development of medical devices, active implantable devices and in vitro diagnostic devices.

What are the changes to the i4i programme?

Following the arrival of Martin Hunt, as the new director for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme in October 2009, the funding streams within the i4i programme have undergone a period of review.

Until recently, there were 4 funding streams (FPD1, FPD2, FPD3a (later changed to FPD3) and FP3b (later changed to FPD4)) with slightly different application processes and guidance.

In October, the NIHR announced a more streamlined i4i programme containing only two funding streams: early-stage and late-stage product development awards.

What do the early-stage product development awards fund?

They can be used to carry out feasibility or pilot studies to support the further development of an innovative new technology or intervention to address an existing or emerging healthcare need in the NHS.

The applicants should already have some evidence from prior basic research that the technology/intervention will work. It is expected that the award will lead to the development of a prototype, identification of the barriers to commercialisation, and the development of a business plan and suitable management team.

What do the late-stage product development awards fund?

They can be used to build on the work of a completed feasibility or pilot study. It is expected that the award will provide further evidence that the technology/intervention will deliver improved healthcare outcomes in the NHS and be commercially viable. The outcomes from the late-stage award should include an advanced prototype and plans for commercialisation and intellectual property exploitation. In addition, the barriers to commercialisation should be identified, and should lead to the development of a credible business plan and appropriate management team.

How much funding is available?

Both awards provide funding for between one and three years, with the amount of funding being awarded

being determined by the scale and nature of the proposal. The awards can be made to collaborations involving NHS organisations, universities and/or industry based in England.

The amount of funding available in 2010/11 has not been publicised, but funding has gradually increased each year from £4 million in 2006/07 to £13 million in 2009/10.

What are the timescales?

Applications are made on-line using the NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) web site via a two stage process: an outline application, which is judged on its fit to the scope of the programme, following which a full proposal may be invited.

All full proposals undergo external peer review in confidence. At the time of writing the call for award applications has just closed (22 November 2010). Further calls will be advertised on the i4i web site: http://www.nihr-ccf.org.uk/site/programmes/i4i/.

Where can I go for further help?

If you are interested in applying for an i4i award please contact Dr Joanne Thomas, Senior Technology Manager at TrusTECH: joanne.thomas@cmft.nhs.uk.

Bionow, the Northwest Regional Development Agency’s (NWDA) biomedical cluster support group, held their annual Northwest Biomedical Awards at Mere Golf & Country Club on 11th November 2010. The event is a showcase of the very best of biomedicine in the region.

Healthcare Project of the Year was Femestim, lead by Professor Jackie Oldham, Manchester University. The development of Femestim was a joint project with Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. See page 7 to read more about the development and licensing of Femestim. One of the runners up in this category was Patientrack, the patient alerts system, also developed in collaboration with the Central Manchester Trust.

Other category winners were:

Northwest Company of the Year - Epistem Plc

Innovation in Diagnostics Project of the Year - Prokyma Technologies Ltd, KymaSep - rapid automated concentration and purification system

Promising Biomedical Technologist - Jane King-Haughey, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics

Startup of the Year - BioOxyDyn Ltd

Biomedical Project of the Year – Eden Biodesign, REIC – Prostate Cancer

Emerging Technology Project of the Year - Professor John Hunt, Clinical Engineering (UK CTE), University of Liverpool, Control of Stem Cells using Patterned Substrates.

Hosted by TrusTECH in September, the Council of European BioRegions (CEBR) held its most recent network of bio-communities meeting in Manchester on the topic of ‘clinical innovation in bio-communities’.

The day brought together senior staff from SMEs, multinationals and biotech cluster and clinical innovation support projects. Experiences of supporting clinical innovation, both in and out of the clinic, were heard from Manchester, Uppsala and the Basque region. SMEs then gave their own experiences, good and bad in accessing the clinical market before Philips and the European Space Agency gave their input as international partners for innovation support.

The day was an excellent insight into the challenges faced by companies trying to access a clinical setting and market, and also the different health systems across Europe.

The meeting was hosted with a view to creating a Europe-wide ‘Special Interest Group’ within the Council of European BioRegions. This group is envisaged to bring together people involved in clinical innovation across Europe, to share experiences and resources and create collaborations between regions in Europe.

Claire Skentelbery, CEBR Network Manager, commented “The day exceeded our expectations in terms of

the potential value from networking clinical innovation across Europe. There was clearly much work that can be done in collaboration between biocommunities, not only to share experiences but to proactively work together in pooling resources and moving technologies and expert advice between regions. CEBR thanks TrusTECH for bringing their Europe-leading expertise to the day and we look forward to a long term and fruitful working group in Europe.”

Invention for Innovation (i4i)

Bionow Awards 2010

TrusTECH hosts European networking event

Prof. Jackie Oldham with Keith Chantler, TrusTECH

Incontinence, the involuntary loss of urine associated with increased intra abdominal pressure (e.g. laughing, coughing or exercise), bladder urgency or both (mixed incontinence) has considerable impact on quality of life. Its management includes surgery, pharmaceuticals, electrical stimulation and pelvic floor muscle exercises. Treatment outcome is variable so incontinence often remains an embarrassing untreated problem, hidden from even the closest family. Many women simply manage the problem by the use of pads to contain the urine loss.

Professor Jackie Oldham and TrusTECH working with UMIP have combined with Femeda (a North West spinoff company) to use Professor Jackie Oldham’s innovative waveform technology, developed at Manchester Royal Infirmary and the University of Manchester, in their unique product Pelviva (the new name for Femistim). This product is an innovative disposable pelpon (similar to a tampon). After undergoing early clinical trials the intellectual property of the waveform in the device was licensed to Femeda, who continued the development of a single use, disposable product.

Treatment with the device delivers a stimulation regimen over 12 weeks that mimics firing patterns of nerves innervating healthy muscle. Devices are used for 30 minutes a day and then removed and thrown away.

Rigorous scientific testing in a randomised controlled trial of 130 women, presented to the International Continence Society in Aug 2010, showed the device to be highly effective, comfortable, easy to use and significantly better than existing treatment.

Episodes of leakage reduced from daily to weekly and were accompanied by a 50% improvement in quality of life compared to 25% for existing treatment. Many women described themselves as completely dry after 20 years of suffering.

During its development the Femeda product has received over £5million VC funding. This quality (MHRA approved) innovation is planned to be on sale in 2011, direct to consumers as an over the counter product available from chemists and supermarkets.

TrusTECH, working with UMIP, is assisting Femeda in their objective to launch a Global Brand.

In 2000, the Continence Foundation, estimated the NHS cost per year of managing clients with incontinence to be £423,467,000 - roughly 1/120th of the total costs of the NHS, consequently the potential savings and efficiencies to the NHS are considerable.

The Femeda project won the Healthcare Project of the Year Award at the recent NWDA BioNow awards on Nov 11th – see page 5.

TrusTECH Innovation Management

76

TrusTECH & UMIP working with Femeda secure significant deal to improve women’s quality of life

News BitesRehabAngel® device launched by olympic athlete

NHS Manchester has recently signed an agreement with the Family Planning Association, for a booklet developed by the Manchester Public Health Development Service: ‘The Over 50s Relationships and Sexual Health’.

The training course for teaching NHS staff the SAGE & THYME® model, a system for providing support to people in distress developed at University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, continues to generate considerable interest nationally and discussions are ongoing with several organisations to licence the training programme. Five licences have been agreed already this year with: a cancer research network; a large London NHS Trust; a local teaching hospital; a PCT; and an NHS organisation in Scotland.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust has developed a new version of their POTTS chart (Physiological Observation Track and Trigger system) for children: CPOTTS. The POTTS chart is a paper based method of collecting patient observations and calculating scores for patient alerts, which is currently available free of charge to NHS organisations. CPOTTS, an amended version for children, will be available from the Trust for a one off licence fee. For further information, contact Michelle Martin, TrusTECH’s Service Innovation Manager (0161 276 5970; michelle.martin@cmft.nhs.uk).

A patent application filed by The Christie NHS Foundation Trust to protect an algorithm used in image processing software, for improving the quality of cone-beam CT images, has just been granted.

The UK Olympic triathlete, Vanessa Raw, attended the launch of the RehabAngel® device at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists in Liverpool on 15 October.

The RehabAngel is a device that can be used to exercise the ankle, foot and leg as part of a rehabilitation programme for athletes recovering from injury. It can also be used in patients experiencing problems in their knee, ankle or foot following surgery, and in patients with conditions such as plantar fasciitis. It consists of a platform on which the patient stands that can be set to different angles. Depending on the incline/decline angle used, different muscle groups are exercised.

The device was the brainchild of NHS specialist podiatrist, Neil Frame of Cheshire East Community Health (CECH) and was developed over a number of years. Neil said: “The idea came about as a result of my long-term interest in biomechanics.”

Neil identified Medical Devices Technology International (MDTi) based in Wolverhampton as a company with the potential to develop the device into a commercial product. CECH initially asked TrusTECH to assess Neil’s device. When its potential applications were identified, CECH applied for funding from TrusTECH’s Pathfinder Development Fund to refine the design of the device, manufacture some prototypes, protect the intellectual property (registered design and trade mark) and fund independent research from Professor Jim Richards’ department at the University of Central Lancashire. Professor Richard’s research examined the effectiveness of the device at different inclines. The research will be submitted for publication shortly.

Whilst the product was in development, TrusTECH negotiated the licence agreement on behalf of CECH with MDTi. The product is now available via the NHS Supply Chain and MDTi is exploring global distribution channels.

Mike Farrar, chief executive of NHS North West and sports tsar to the Department of Health, has said: “The RehabAngel is a great example of the NHS working successfully in partnership with industry to offer great benefits to patients recovering from sports-related injuries, knee surgeries and those whose health is impacted by long-term conditions.”

For more information visit www.mdti.co.uk.

Vanessa Raw on the RehabAngel® watched by Neil Frame and Alastair Campbell

Martin Levermore, Chief Executive of MDTi, unveiling the RehabAngel®

Pelviva prototype

Incontinence, the involuntary loss of urine associated with increased intra abdominal pressure (e.g. laughing, coughing or exercise), bladder urgency or both (mixed incontinence) has considerable impact on quality of life. Its management includes surgery, pharmaceuticals, electrical stimulation and pelvic floor muscle exercises. Treatment outcome is variable so incontinence often remains an embarrassing untreated problem, hidden from even the closest family. Many women simply manage the problem by the use of pads to contain the urine loss.

Professor Jackie Oldham and TrusTECH working with UMIP have combined with Femeda (a North West spinoff company) to use Professor Jackie Oldham’s innovative waveform technology, developed at Manchester Royal Infirmary and the University of Manchester, in their unique product Pelviva (the new name for Femistim). This product is an innovative disposable pelpon (similar to a tampon). After undergoing early clinical trials the intellectual property of the waveform in the device was licensed to Femeda, who continued the development of a single use, disposable product.

Treatment with the device delivers a stimulation regimen over 12 weeks that mimics firing patterns of nerves innervating healthy muscle. Devices are used for 30 minutes a day and then removed and thrown away.

Rigorous scientific testing in a randomised controlled trial of 130 women, presented to the International Continence Society in Aug 2010, showed the device to be highly effective, comfortable, easy to use and significantly better than existing treatment.

Episodes of leakage reduced from daily to weekly and were accompanied by a 50% improvement in quality of life compared to 25% for existing treatment. Many women described themselves as completely dry after 20 years of suffering.

During its development the Femeda product has received over £5million VC funding. This quality (MHRA approved) innovation is planned to be on sale in 2011, direct to consumers as an over the counter product available from chemists and supermarkets.

TrusTECH, working with UMIP, is assisting Femeda in their objective to launch a Global Brand.

In 2000, the Continence Foundation, estimated the NHS cost per year of managing clients with incontinence to be £423,467,000 - roughly 1/120th of the total costs of the NHS, consequently the potential savings and efficiencies to the NHS are considerable.

The Femeda project won the Healthcare Project of the Year Award at the recent NWDA BioNow awards on Nov 11th – see page 5.

TrusTECH Innovation Management

76

TrusTECH & UMIP working with Femeda secure significant deal to improve women’s quality of life

News BitesRehabAngel® device launched by olympic athlete

NHS Manchester has recently signed an agreement with the Family Planning Association, for a booklet developed by the Manchester Public Health Development Service: ‘The Over 50s Relationships and Sexual Health’.

The training course for teaching NHS staff the SAGE & THYME® model, a system for providing support to people in distress developed at University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, continues to generate considerable interest nationally and discussions are ongoing with several organisations to licence the training programme. Five licences have been agreed already this year with: a cancer research network; a large London NHS Trust; a local teaching hospital; a PCT; and an NHS organisation in Scotland.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust has developed a new version of their POTTS chart (Physiological Observation Track and Trigger system) for children: CPOTTS. The POTTS chart is a paper based method of collecting patient observations and calculating scores for patient alerts, which is currently available free of charge to NHS organisations. CPOTTS, an amended version for children, will be available from the Trust for a one off licence fee. For further information, contact Michelle Martin, TrusTECH’s Service Innovation Manager (0161 276 5970; michelle.martin@cmft.nhs.uk).

A patent application filed by The Christie NHS Foundation Trust to protect an algorithm used in image processing software, for improving the quality of cone-beam CT images, has just been granted.

The UK Olympic triathlete, Vanessa Raw, attended the launch of the RehabAngel® device at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists in Liverpool on 15 October.

The RehabAngel is a device that can be used to exercise the ankle, foot and leg as part of a rehabilitation programme for athletes recovering from injury. It can also be used in patients experiencing problems in their knee, ankle or foot following surgery, and in patients with conditions such as plantar fasciitis. It consists of a platform on which the patient stands that can be set to different angles. Depending on the incline/decline angle used, different muscle groups are exercised.

The device was the brainchild of NHS specialist podiatrist, Neil Frame of Cheshire East Community Health (CECH) and was developed over a number of years. Neil said: “The idea came about as a result of my long-term interest in biomechanics.”

Neil identified Medical Devices Technology International (MDTi) based in Wolverhampton as a company with the potential to develop the device into a commercial product. CECH initially asked TrusTECH to assess Neil’s device. When its potential applications were identified, CECH applied for funding from TrusTECH’s Pathfinder Development Fund to refine the design of the device, manufacture some prototypes, protect the intellectual property (registered design and trade mark) and fund independent research from Professor Jim Richards’ department at the University of Central Lancashire. Professor Richard’s research examined the effectiveness of the device at different inclines. The research will be submitted for publication shortly.

Whilst the product was in development, TrusTECH negotiated the licence agreement on behalf of CECH with MDTi. The product is now available via the NHS Supply Chain and MDTi is exploring global distribution channels.

Mike Farrar, chief executive of NHS North West and sports tsar to the Department of Health, has said: “The RehabAngel is a great example of the NHS working successfully in partnership with industry to offer great benefits to patients recovering from sports-related injuries, knee surgeries and those whose health is impacted by long-term conditions.”

For more information visit www.mdti.co.uk.

Vanessa Raw on the RehabAngel® watched by Neil Frame and Alastair Campbell

Martin Levermore, Chief Executive of MDTi, unveiling the RehabAngel®

Pelviva prototype

98

TrusTECH Innovation Management

Saggy Boobs and Other Breastfeeding Myths is a book written by Val Finigan, a midwife and infant feeding coordinator at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. Val successfully applied for funding from the National Lottery Awards for All scheme to run a project to engage with mothers in the local community and stimulate discussion around some of the myths associated with breastfeeding. The aim was to encourage mothers to give their babies a good start in life by breast-feeding them. Val involved LIME, the hospital arts organisation, to work with her to capture the information discussed at workshops in a creative way so that it could be used to encourage women to breast feed. LIME commissioned a specialist embroidery artist, Lou Gardiner,

who attended focus groups and worked with Val to illustrate a book compiling some of the common myths and presenting

the facts to dispel these myths. The resulting book, designed by Rob Vale, the LIME arts coordinator for the Trust, was a colourful, creative and humorous book, which was produced in a limited print run of 1000 copies and given out to mothers and clinics in the local community. The book received lots of positive feedback both locally and at a national level, being highly commended in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Maternity (APPGM) awards in 2008.

Interest and feedback on the book was so good that Val and the team involved saw the potential for a wider publication and identified a publisher who was interested. TrusTECH have helped the Trust to put an agreement in place with

the publisher and supporting agreements with the artist and LIME. The book is now on sale through mainstream outlets and the Trust will receive royalties on all sales.

For further information visit the Pinter and Martin website, www.pinterandmartin.com, or look for the book on all well known book seller websites. Find out more about Lou Gardiner’s work at www.lougardiner.co.uk.

Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has had a year of awards success arising from its work with Patientrack to develop and implement Patientrack’s alerts system for detecting and managing the deteriorating patient.

The Trust has won the 2010 E-health Insider award in the category ‘Best use of IT to promote patient safety’.

Dr Steve Jones, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care and Sarah Ingleby, Lead Nurse in Acute Care, collected the award on behalf of the Trust. The Trust won the award for its work in trialling and implementing Patientrack. The trial showed clear improvements in preventing deterioration in acutely ill patients and reducing ICU admissions and bed days.

The Trust is now rolling out the system in a Trust-wide programme.

In November 2010, Steve and Sarah represented the Trust again at the HSJ Awards where the Trust won in the Improving Care with Technology category for its work with Patientrack and Patientrack was also a runner up in the Healthcare Project of the Year Category at the NWDA’s 2010 Bionow Awards.

Several North West Trusts have been successful in these awards. See more about the winners and finalists in all categories at www.ehealthawards.com and www.hsjawards.co.uk.

The HSJ has also produced a best practice report, which provides summaries of all of the HSJ Award finalist’s entries, and is available to download from www.hsj.co.uk.

Mr Martyn Snow performing an ACL reconstruction in his current role as consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (UHSM) recently received its first royalty cheque from sales of GraftBolt®.

GraftBolt is a device that is used to secure a tendon graft to the tibia during reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) at the back of the knee. ACL injuries occur in about 1 in 3,000 people, and they are particularly common in sports people. Famous injuries include Michael Owen’s during the first few minutes of England’s World Cup match against Sweden in 2006. Tiger Woods also had problems with his ACL during the 2008 U.S. Open.

The idea for the device arose when Mr Martyn Snow, then a Specialist Registrar in Orthopaedics based at UHSM, was working with Dr Bin Wang,

Lecturer in Engineering at the University of Manchester. They approached TrusTECH for advice and funding and were successful in receiving a TrusTECH Pathfinder Development Fund grant to develop their design further, and carry out some initial testing. The research, undertaken by Mahmoud Chizari a PhD student at the time, with assistance from Martyn and Bin, indicated that the new device performed better than existing devices on the market, so some of the development funding was used to file a UK patent application.

A number of companies were then approached about making and selling the device, and Arthrex Inc expressed an interest in having a licence. The licence was negotiated by TrusTECH on behalf of UHSM over several months.

Once the licence was signed, Arthrex undertook further design refinement. The product was finally launched earlier this year, five years after its initial development.

Patent protection for the device is currently being pursued in a number of territories including Europe, US, Canada and Australia. Income from the licensing and sales of GraftBolt is shared between UHSM and the University of Manchester and the inventors will receive a portion of this income, in line with their organisations’ intellectual property policies.

For further information visit: www.arthrex.com

GraftBolt® – improving ACL reconstruction surgery

GraftBolt® sold by Arthrex

SAGGY BOOBS!

Awards success for Patientrack

Picking up the HSJ Award, left to right: Dr Ian Denley (Category Judge), Richard Cox and Suzanne Lewis (Clinical Educators for Acute Care Team), Sarah Ingleby, Dr Steve Jones, Jeremy Vine (Awards Host)

98

TrusTECH Innovation Management

Saggy Boobs and Other Breastfeeding Myths is a book written by Val Finigan, a midwife and infant feeding coordinator at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. Val successfully applied for funding from the National Lottery Awards for All scheme to run a project to engage with mothers in the local community and stimulate discussion around some of the myths associated with breastfeeding. The aim was to encourage mothers to give their babies a good start in life by breast-feeding them. Val involved LIME, the hospital arts organisation, to work with her to capture the information discussed at workshops in a creative way so that it could be used to encourage women to breast feed. LIME commissioned a specialist embroidery artist, Lou Gardiner,

who attended focus groups and worked with Val to illustrate a book compiling some of the common myths and presenting

the facts to dispel these myths. The resulting book, designed by Rob Vale, the LIME arts coordinator for the Trust, was a colourful, creative and humorous book, which was produced in a limited print run of 1000 copies and given out to mothers and clinics in the local community. The book received lots of positive feedback both locally and at a national level, being highly commended in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Maternity (APPGM) awards in 2008.

Interest and feedback on the book was so good that Val and the team involved saw the potential for a wider publication and identified a publisher who was interested. TrusTECH have helped the Trust to put an agreement in place with

the publisher and supporting agreements with the artist and LIME. The book is now on sale through mainstream outlets and the Trust will receive royalties on all sales.

For further information visit the Pinter and Martin website, www.pinterandmartin.com, or look for the book on all well known book seller websites. Find out more about Lou Gardiner’s work at www.lougardiner.co.uk.

Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has had a year of awards success arising from its work with Patientrack to develop and implement Patientrack’s alerts system for detecting and managing the deteriorating patient.

The Trust has won the 2010 E-health Insider award in the category ‘Best use of IT to promote patient safety’.

Dr Steve Jones, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care and Sarah Ingleby, Lead Nurse in Acute Care, collected the award on behalf of the Trust. The Trust won the award for its work in trialling and implementing Patientrack. The trial showed clear improvements in preventing deterioration in acutely ill patients and reducing ICU admissions and bed days.

The Trust is now rolling out the system in a Trust-wide programme.

In November 2010, Steve and Sarah represented the Trust again at the HSJ Awards where the Trust won in the Improving Care with Technology category for its work with Patientrack and Patientrack was also a runner up in the Healthcare Project of the Year Category at the NWDA’s 2010 Bionow Awards.

Several North West Trusts have been successful in these awards. See more about the winners and finalists in all categories at www.ehealthawards.com and www.hsjawards.co.uk.

The HSJ has also produced a best practice report, which provides summaries of all of the HSJ Award finalist’s entries, and is available to download from www.hsj.co.uk.

Mr Martyn Snow performing an ACL reconstruction in his current role as consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (UHSM) recently received its first royalty cheque from sales of GraftBolt®.

GraftBolt is a device that is used to secure a tendon graft to the tibia during reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) at the back of the knee. ACL injuries occur in about 1 in 3,000 people, and they are particularly common in sports people. Famous injuries include Michael Owen’s during the first few minutes of England’s World Cup match against Sweden in 2006. Tiger Woods also had problems with his ACL during the 2008 U.S. Open.

The idea for the device arose when Mr Martyn Snow, then a Specialist Registrar in Orthopaedics based at UHSM, was working with Dr Bin Wang,

Lecturer in Engineering at the University of Manchester. They approached TrusTECH for advice and funding and were successful in receiving a TrusTECH Pathfinder Development Fund grant to develop their design further, and carry out some initial testing. The research, undertaken by Mahmoud Chizari a PhD student at the time, with assistance from Martyn and Bin, indicated that the new device performed better than existing devices on the market, so some of the development funding was used to file a UK patent application.

A number of companies were then approached about making and selling the device, and Arthrex Inc expressed an interest in having a licence. The licence was negotiated by TrusTECH on behalf of UHSM over several months.

Once the licence was signed, Arthrex undertook further design refinement. The product was finally launched earlier this year, five years after its initial development.

Patent protection for the device is currently being pursued in a number of territories including Europe, US, Canada and Australia. Income from the licensing and sales of GraftBolt is shared between UHSM and the University of Manchester and the inventors will receive a portion of this income, in line with their organisations’ intellectual property policies.

For further information visit: www.arthrex.com

GraftBolt® – improving ACL reconstruction surgery

GraftBolt® sold by Arthrex

SAGGY BOOBS!

Awards success for Patientrack

Picking up the HSJ Award, left to right: Dr Ian Denley (Category Judge), Richard Cox and Suzanne Lewis (Clinical Educators for Acute Care Team), Sarah Ingleby, Dr Steve Jones, Jeremy Vine (Awards Host)

1110

Open for Business

ACTNoW® (operated by TrusTECH) is an online, searchable database of NHS investigators, experts and clinical research expertise across the North of England. It is a resource aimed at Pharmaceutical and Medical Device industries, Academia and the NHS to promote Health Service Research Capabilities and help facilitate the placement of product evaluations and clinical trials in the NHS.

This online directory was established by TrusTECH in 2004 and has a remit to advocate, encourage and facilitate research in the NHS. All research enquiries from Industry, HEIs or other Trusts go direct to the R&D dept and not direct to the researcher, this single point of contact per NHS Trust is designed to ease communications,

facilitate site selection and give R&D the best chance to support from an early stage. We fully support and signpost the NIHR Clinical Research Networks, Biomedical Research Centres/Units, Research Design Services etc.

The ACTNoW service has grown by 50% in added researchers, 120% in website visitors and 185% in registered users over the last 2 years.

We still need to keep registrations of active researchers and research support staff as current as possible. The table shows a breakdown of the 970 registered researchers (and research support staff including nursing and allied health professions) in the North West of England by NHS Trust.

Have you registered?

An exciting new pilot project aimed at helping to ensure trials sponsored by medical technology (Medtech) companies are eligible for the NIHR CRN portfolio has begun.

The pilot is bringing the medical technology industry together with the NHS and NIHR research networks in the region. This will enable high quality clinical evaluations of new technologies to be conducted, which benefit patients and NHS.

Being run by TrusTECH over the next 12 months, the programme will focus on the following areas:

• Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) & Ophthalmology – hearing aids

• Endocrine/Diabetes – gastric bands, insulin pumps, glucometer

• Gastrointestinal – diagnostic devices

• Musculoskeletal – orthopaedic support.

Adrian Warner, project manager for the pilot, said: “Companies with innovative medical devices can make a huge difference to patient care as well as improving quality and productivity in the Health Service.

“This project will ensure that these Medtech companies can access proven NIHR clinical research systems which are designed to speed clinical research and provide the robust clinical evidence required by the NHS.

“The project will focus on the needs of the NHS in Manchester by utilising expertise in local NIHR clinical priority groups and the GM CLRN.”

Companies with innovative medical technology in these clinical areas and interested in this programme should contact Adrian at 0161 901 2511 or adrian.warner@cmft.nhs.uk.

The project is supported by NIHR Greater Manchester Comprehensive Local Network (GM CLRN).

Smart Solutions is an NHS funded programme to find new ways to help combat healthcare associated infections (HCAIs), which has been supported by the NHS National Innovation Centre. Businesses from all industry sectors were invited to put forward suitable products and technologies to be assessed by a team of experts, with a view to evaluating them in a healthcare setting and potentially supplying them across the NHS. Nine products were selected from over 250 submitted for review and over the last year these products have been evaluated in trials in Trusts in the North West and nationally.

All seven trials (three products were compared in one trial) for Smart Solutions have come to a conclusion now. As soon as the approvals are in place from the Department of Health the results will be posted on the Smart

Solutions website. All the Principal Investigators from the trials have been interviewed and these will be compiled into a DVD and the video will also appear on the Smart Solutions website.

One of the products evaluated in the Smart Solutions programme was a liquid glass technology, which is used to coat surfaces and inhibits the build up of bacteria. Nanopool, the company behind the technology ran their trial at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust.

The Principal Investigator, Martin Kiernan, Nurse Consultant in Infection Control said, “When we started Smart Solutions we thought we’d get one or two good ideas. It appears we’ll do even better than that. One of the key advantages of Nanopool is that surfaces do not change appearance –

therefore, staff don’t think they can change the cleaning procedures.”

Results indicate that surfaces coated with Nanopool’s liquid glass have 25% less contamination compared with uncoated surfaces. The company have gone on to work with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where they have coated the communal toys used by the children. More information about the Smart solutions for HCAI programme is available at www.smartsolutionsforhcai.co.uk.The Smart Solutions programme is currently closed to new entries, however TrusTECH continues to work with companies on a consultancy basis to evaluate products with HCAI solutions and place product trials in NHS Trusts in the North West region.

The Commercial Services Group at TrusTECH has expanded recently to keep up with the incredible demand from the medical device industry. The current team has an impressive array of qualifications and experience, comprising two MBAs, two PhDs, clinical trials experience, a Six-Sigma black belt, a registered nurse and a chartered marketer.

Many of TrusTECH’s Commercial Services activities fall under the banner of ‘The Innovation Gateway’.

“Recognising that innovation in and out of the NHS is a two-way street is an important part of being able to deliver top quality novel products and services” said Commercial Services Manager, Dr Bryan Griffiths.

“In order to clarify our offering to clients we have recently developed our ‘menu’ of services” – which include:

• Commercial Consultancy Services• Hosting NHS Focus Groups• Developing Case Studies for New

Products• Market Research/Intelligence reports • Clinical Evaluations.

“An initial meeting with industry partners is free of charge and often takes place at monthly surgeries held by the team.”

Much of the Commercial Services team’s work involves market research or market intelligence studies.

They recently completed six separate reports for the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). This involved topics as diverse as a handheld laser fluorescent torch for visualisation of bacterial contamination in a hospital environment to the development of a commercial boron neutron capture therapy facility.

2011 will be a time of great opportunity as TrusTECH launches a number of new initiatives that will complement its Commercial Services activity in assisting entry of medical devices into the NHS. The Greater Manchester Comprehensive Local Research Network Medical Technology Pilot Programme will launch on December 2nd 2010 and the Smart Solutions for HealthCare programme will go live in January 2011 (see www.smartsolutionsforhc.co.uk for further details).

200 Researchers added to ACTNoW Database Optimising Medtech access to the NHS

Smart Solutions for Healthcare Associated Infections

TrusTECH Commercial Services Update – Rapid access to NHS Expertise

Key Features • Online, searchable, voluntary

database of trial experienced investigators, researchers and resources

• 1720 separate listings across the North of England, including 1289 registered investigators

• Single point of contact per NHS Trust – to ease communications and facilitate site selection

• Powerful keyword search functions for speciality and sub-speciality/ fields of expertise listings

For further information about ACTNoW, visit us at: www.actnow-database.co.uk Or contact: Adrian Warner, Business Development ManagerE: adrian.warner@cmft.nhs.uk T: 0161 901 2511

League Table of Registered Consultant Researchers per NHS Trust in the North West

TrusTECH Commercial Services Team. Left to Right:

Adrian Warner, Dr Paul Hanmer, Daniel Zamora, Alexis Baxter, Dr Bryan Griffiths, Elizabeth Muir.

1110

Open for Business

ACTNoW® (operated by TrusTECH) is an online, searchable database of NHS investigators, experts and clinical research expertise across the North of England. It is a resource aimed at Pharmaceutical and Medical Device industries, Academia and the NHS to promote Health Service Research Capabilities and help facilitate the placement of product evaluations and clinical trials in the NHS.

This online directory was established by TrusTECH in 2004 and has a remit to advocate, encourage and facilitate research in the NHS. All research enquiries from Industry, HEIs or other Trusts go direct to the R&D dept and not direct to the researcher, this single point of contact per NHS Trust is designed to ease communications,

facilitate site selection and give R&D the best chance to support from an early stage. We fully support and signpost the NIHR Clinical Research Networks, Biomedical Research Centres/Units, Research Design Services etc.

The ACTNoW service has grown by 50% in added researchers, 120% in website visitors and 185% in registered users over the last 2 years.

We still need to keep registrations of active researchers and research support staff as current as possible. The table shows a breakdown of the 970 registered researchers (and research support staff including nursing and allied health professions) in the North West of England by NHS Trust.

Have you registered?

An exciting new pilot project aimed at helping to ensure trials sponsored by medical technology (Medtech) companies are eligible for the NIHR CRN portfolio has begun.

The pilot is bringing the medical technology industry together with the NHS and NIHR research networks in the region. This will enable high quality clinical evaluations of new technologies to be conducted, which benefit patients and NHS.

Being run by TrusTECH over the next 12 months, the programme will focus on the following areas:

• Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) & Ophthalmology – hearing aids

• Endocrine/Diabetes – gastric bands, insulin pumps, glucometer

• Gastrointestinal – diagnostic devices

• Musculoskeletal – orthopaedic support.

Adrian Warner, project manager for the pilot, said: “Companies with innovative medical devices can make a huge difference to patient care as well as improving quality and productivity in the Health Service.

“This project will ensure that these Medtech companies can access proven NIHR clinical research systems which are designed to speed clinical research and provide the robust clinical evidence required by the NHS.

“The project will focus on the needs of the NHS in Manchester by utilising expertise in local NIHR clinical priority groups and the GM CLRN.”

Companies with innovative medical technology in these clinical areas and interested in this programme should contact Adrian at 0161 901 2511 or adrian.warner@cmft.nhs.uk.

The project is supported by NIHR Greater Manchester Comprehensive Local Network (GM CLRN).

Smart Solutions is an NHS funded programme to find new ways to help combat healthcare associated infections (HCAIs), which has been supported by the NHS National Innovation Centre. Businesses from all industry sectors were invited to put forward suitable products and technologies to be assessed by a team of experts, with a view to evaluating them in a healthcare setting and potentially supplying them across the NHS. Nine products were selected from over 250 submitted for review and over the last year these products have been evaluated in trials in Trusts in the North West and nationally.

All seven trials (three products were compared in one trial) for Smart Solutions have come to a conclusion now. As soon as the approvals are in place from the Department of Health the results will be posted on the Smart

Solutions website. All the Principal Investigators from the trials have been interviewed and these will be compiled into a DVD and the video will also appear on the Smart Solutions website.

One of the products evaluated in the Smart Solutions programme was a liquid glass technology, which is used to coat surfaces and inhibits the build up of bacteria. Nanopool, the company behind the technology ran their trial at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust.

The Principal Investigator, Martin Kiernan, Nurse Consultant in Infection Control said, “When we started Smart Solutions we thought we’d get one or two good ideas. It appears we’ll do even better than that. One of the key advantages of Nanopool is that surfaces do not change appearance –

therefore, staff don’t think they can change the cleaning procedures.”

Results indicate that surfaces coated with Nanopool’s liquid glass have 25% less contamination compared with uncoated surfaces. The company have gone on to work with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where they have coated the communal toys used by the children. More information about the Smart solutions for HCAI programme is available at www.smartsolutionsforhcai.co.uk.The Smart Solutions programme is currently closed to new entries, however TrusTECH continues to work with companies on a consultancy basis to evaluate products with HCAI solutions and place product trials in NHS Trusts in the North West region.

The Commercial Services Group at TrusTECH has expanded recently to keep up with the incredible demand from the medical device industry. The current team has an impressive array of qualifications and experience, comprising two MBAs, two PhDs, clinical trials experience, a Six-Sigma black belt, a registered nurse and a chartered marketer.

Many of TrusTECH’s Commercial Services activities fall under the banner of ‘The Innovation Gateway’.

“Recognising that innovation in and out of the NHS is a two-way street is an important part of being able to deliver top quality novel products and services” said Commercial Services Manager, Dr Bryan Griffiths.

“In order to clarify our offering to clients we have recently developed our ‘menu’ of services” – which include:

• Commercial Consultancy Services• Hosting NHS Focus Groups• Developing Case Studies for New

Products• Market Research/Intelligence reports • Clinical Evaluations.

“An initial meeting with industry partners is free of charge and often takes place at monthly surgeries held by the team.”

Much of the Commercial Services team’s work involves market research or market intelligence studies.

They recently completed six separate reports for the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). This involved topics as diverse as a handheld laser fluorescent torch for visualisation of bacterial contamination in a hospital environment to the development of a commercial boron neutron capture therapy facility.

2011 will be a time of great opportunity as TrusTECH launches a number of new initiatives that will complement its Commercial Services activity in assisting entry of medical devices into the NHS. The Greater Manchester Comprehensive Local Research Network Medical Technology Pilot Programme will launch on December 2nd 2010 and the Smart Solutions for HealthCare programme will go live in January 2011 (see www.smartsolutionsforhc.co.uk for further details).

200 Researchers added to ACTNoW Database Optimising Medtech access to the NHS

Smart Solutions for Healthcare Associated Infections

TrusTECH Commercial Services Update – Rapid access to NHS Expertise

Key Features • Online, searchable, voluntary

database of trial experienced investigators, researchers and resources

• 1720 separate listings across the North of England, including 1289 registered investigators

• Single point of contact per NHS Trust – to ease communications and facilitate site selection

• Powerful keyword search functions for speciality and sub-speciality/ fields of expertise listings

For further information about ACTNoW, visit us at: www.actnow-database.co.uk Or contact: Adrian Warner, Business Development ManagerE: adrian.warner@cmft.nhs.uk T: 0161 901 2511

League Table of Registered Consultant Researchers per NHS Trust in the North West

TrusTECH Commercial Services Team. Left to Right:

Adrian Warner, Dr Paul Hanmer, Daniel Zamora, Alexis Baxter, Dr Bryan Griffiths, Elizabeth Muir.

12

Knowledge Centre

If you have any comments or suggestions for future issues of TrusTECH News, please contactIsabel Bilous, TrusTECH Communications Manager on: T: 0161 276 6964 E: isabel.bilous@cmft.nhs.uk

© Dec 2010, TrusTECH, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. All rights reserved, not to be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the copyright holder.

Make your markDo you have an innovative service or product that you would like to be recognised? Giving your materials a recognisable identity through branding is an effective way of increasing awareness of the service or product and helps users or customers to recognise the source and value of the service or product. Branding is about creating a recognisable identity, which could be through use of images, logos, slogans, design styles, colours, shapes, fonts and formats. At an organisational level, branding is about creating a corporate identity; the NHS branding is a good example of this (see www.nhsidentity.nhs.uk for more information about use of the NHS brand). At the level of a service or product, branding is about standing out from the crowd and being remembered. Trade marks are important branding tools; a trade mark is a symbol that can distinguish your product or service from those provided by other people or organisations in the same marketplace. Using a trade mark can help in building the reputation of your product or service. Trade marks can be simple text marks or they can be logos with a distinctive look such as the blue NHS lozenge.Trade marks can be protected legally through a formal registration process so that other people or organisations cannot use your trade mark to brand similar goods or services. A registered trade mark is indi-cated by using the symbol ® after the

word(s)/logo. If a trade mark is not registered it can be indicated by using the letters TM but it is harder to defend a mark legally without formal registration. It is an offence to use the symbol ® unless the mark is formally registered. Note that it is not possible to protect words or short phrases by copyright and the copyright symbol © should not be used for this purpose.There are rules about what can qualify as a trade mark. It must be distinctive and not descriptive e.g. it cannot be geographical. A book shop in Preston would be unlikely to be granted a trade mark for “Preston Books” as it is descriptive rather than distinctive. An application for a trade mark must not be the same or similar (i.e. likely to cause confusion) to an existing trade mark. Trade marks are registered in classes of goods or services; classes 1-34 are for goods and classes 35-45 are for services. It is often sensible to register a trade mark in several classes, e.g. class 9 includes computer software, class 16 printed materials, class 41 education and provision of training, class 44 medical services. A trade mark associated with an innovative training programme and materials might be registered in classes 16 and 41. It is possible that the same word or words may be registered independently by separate owners as trade marks for different classes of goods or service e.g. the word PENGUIN is used for both books and biscuits.

Applications for trade mark registration are made through the UK Intellectual Property Office (www.ipo.gov.uk). The costs for filing an application for a UK Trade Mark are currently £200 for one class plus a further £50 for each additional class. For some trade mark applications, it may be sensible to use a patent agent, in which case the costs are likely to be in the region of £500 for one registration class. Trade mark registration is territorial and a UK registered mark will only be valid in the UK. If trade mark protection is required in other countries then it will be necessary to apply for trade mark registration in those territories. For the EU, a community trademark (CTM) is available. The costs for filing a CTM application through a patent agent are likely to be closer to £2000. [Most patent agents work with all types of formal intellectual property registration and will have experts in the fields of trade marks and registered design as well as patents.] Once registered, a trade mark can be maintained indefinitely subject to payment of renewal fees every 10 years and provided that you are still using the trade mark.

TrusTECH can provide help and advice if you are thinking of filing a trade mark application. More information is also available on the UK intellectual property office website, www.ipo.gov.uk. A few of the trade marks that we have helped North West Trusts to register are shown below.

ScanSpeak® is innovative communication software developed by speech and language therapists at Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT to help severely disabled children acquire language skills. The trade mark was registered as a simple text mark.

Proximat® is a child friendly tool for measuring hip range in children with cerebral palsy. It was developed by physiotherapists at Manchester PCT.

The logo is registered as a trade mark and is used to brand all of the materials in the Proximat® pack.

Sage & Thyme® is a training course, developed by University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, to give staff the skills they need to deliver basic psychological support to people in distress.The logo is registered as a trade mark and is used on all course notes and promotional literature.