This is a novel product to change behaviours of healthcare professionals and raise awareness of MRSA.

Inspired by a tear away visor used by Formula 1 drivers during their races, Kuar Kuldeep developed the multilayered disposable apron to speed up the turnaround time between patients on a busy ward round. KK demonstrated that although it made sense to wear an apron when seeing a patient, it doesn’t happen in practice during a busy ward round, because the staff are overstretched and it is these simple measures that lose out.

Anyone who has ever broken their ankle will understand the importance of getting the treatment right first time in order to get back to full fitness as quickly as possible, particularly when surgery is required to reconstruct damaged ligaments - as West Ham and Northern Ireland International, Steve Lomas, found out when told he would be out of action for months following failed surgery on his ankle.

The ankle syndesmosis “TightRope™” fixation system, is a revolutionary new system to allow the ankle ligaments to be reconstructed without the use of metalwork. His device has since been successfully licensed to an Orthopaedic Products Company and was recently used on Chicago Bears’ quarterback, Rex Grossman.

Dr Archie Brain's brilliant contribution to the management of patients' airways was the groundbreaking concept of the Laryngeal Mask Airway or what is now known to the trade as the LMA. Since the 1920's the method of putting patients to sleep during anaesthesia involved either a facemask or passing a tube through the vocal cords and into the lungs. This often led to the sore throat patient's experienced after an anaesthetic.

Archie's lateral thinking and revolutionary innovation was to devise an internal mask applied directly to the back of the throat. To perfect his idea, and like most inventors, he conducted his research in an adapted Essex bedroom. Convinced and unswerving in his vision, Archie persisted over a number of years and like many stories of medical success, it all changed following a chance meeting with a similarly visionary businessman, Robert Gaines-Cooper.  In the late 1980's, it finally achieved its large scale production in both quality and quantity. Since then the LMA has been used by anaesthetists and other doctors around the world.

His idea has now been used on over 300 million patients' worldwide and has undoubtedly saved many patients' lives. 

This is a novel design & technology solution to help improve the resuscitation of the 43,000 patients a year in the UK who have a cardiac or respiratory arrest on a hospital ward. The design provides a platform from which to run resuscitation attempts, improving access to equipment and helping to define the resuscitation team's roles. With its advanced touch screen software it can guide, monitor and record the team's actions, enabling improved patient care. It will also allow the team to receive feedback to improve their future performance, hopefully allowing the average survival rate of 19% to be increased.

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This is a novel smart fabric that aims to bring independence to sufferers of spinal injuries or stroke. Following an accident ten years ago, an engineer from Bristol, who was left paralysed, felt helpless during his hospital stay because he was unable to use his hands to call the nurse. He started by developing a nurse call system that is activated by tiny movements on a fabric pad placed under the patient. Using programmable fabric keyboards, he hopes to adapt the technology to new solutions that will bring independence to its users both in hospital and in their homes. The inventor has set up a company and the products are expected to be available later this year.

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We have developed a novel nanomaterial for the development of cardiovascular medical devices including blood vessels and heart valves. It is common in patients with vascular disease for their blood vessels to become blocked, one of the surgical treatments is to bypass the blocked vessel using a vein taken from the patients own leg. Many patients do not have suitable veins for this purpose and the currently used artificial materials have poor results. A team of scientists from University College London have developed a coronary artery bypass graft using this novel polymer incorporating bioactive molecules that encourage endothelialisation of the graft from circulating stem cells. The graft has been extensively tested in vitro and in vivo and has been shown to have a high success rate. This innovation will revolutionise cardiac surgery and may have a wider application in preventing organ rejection.

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This is an exceptional NHS service using a state-of-the-art technology to speed up the diagnosis of breast cancer. Affecting over 37,000 women each year, breast cancer is the commonest female cancer in the UK. During surgery, a lymph gland is taken from the armpit and sent to the laboratory to check for spread, although in many hospitals the results can take up to five days. If the gland is positive then the patient may be recalled for a second operation to remove further lymph glands. A surgical team from Cardiff have developed a service which utilises the latest DNA technology to test the lymph gland, actually in the theatre at the time of surgery. If positive the definitive surgery takes place there and then, saving up to a third of women the need to undergo a second operation. The team aim to promote their service across the NHS, improving patient experiences and saving significant costs.

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This is a unique method of delivering medications without the use of needles. A tiny rod of solid medication is pushed into the skin at low velocity using a simple, handheld, reusable device. Volunteers prefer the system over needles because not only is there no risk of accidental needle stick injury and hence risk of spread of blood borne illnesses, but also delivery is over in a fraction of a second. Easy to use and requiring no specific training, the system is ideal for self-administration. Furthermore, as the solid medication has a longer shelf life and does not require refrigeration, the system is an ideal platform for large vaccination programmes in the developing world.

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This is a point of care test for diagnosing bladder cancer. It detects the presence of a special protein, a marker for bladder cancer in a urine sample. The main current method for diagnosing bladder cancer is cystoscopy, which involves passing an endoscope up the urethra and into the bladder under anaesthetic. The new test will be much cheaper, is non-invasive, and hopes to save many patients the need for a cystoscopy. Bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer with high level of recurrence. The team hope that the test could be used to monitor cancer patients and check for recurrence and in the long run, possibly become a screening tool. The test is undergoing clinical trials and should be available in two to three years.

Judges Comments: The underlying technology behind this innovation won a previous Medical Futures Award and they are delighted to now see it find clinical utility. They are keen to see this enter into clinical trials, and if positive, they believe it could drastically change the management of this serious disease.

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Will you be a winner of the inaugural Dentistry & Oral Health Innovation Awards?

Dentistry & Oral Health Innovation Awards are searching for your ideas for new technologies, services or therapies in Dental & Oral Healthcare that can bring improvements to patient care.

Will you be a winner of the inaugural ENT & Audiology Innovation Awards?

The ENT & Audiology Innovation Awards are searching for your ideas for new technologies, services or therapies in ENT and audiology care that can bring improvements to patient care.

This is a medical device that will enable dentists to produce images of teeth, bones and gums similar to X-rays using Infrared light. The team have developed the instrument using a miniature camera and a set of tiny mirrors to produce images of the teeth but without the risks associated with X-rays, especially in children. The idea came about through collaboration between physicists and dentists and the hope is to enable dentists to monitor teeth and bones over time. InfraRed Imaging potentially has much wider application for example, in measuring bone density. The team is currently testing out their device in the laboratory and they are seeking funding to develop and test a clinical instrument.

Judges Comments: The Judges were highly impressed by the potential of this technology and wish to see it progress and obtain proof of concept

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This is a medical device to improve the diagnosis of hearing loss. Every person has a specific hearing profile, however techniques currently used to measure hearing are limited, measuring only eight frequency points. They also require a large hospital based laboratory, and can take up to half an hour to complete. A company from Oxford is developing a much simpler, hand-held device that uses technology to measure hundreds of frequencies in less than 30 seconds. Pre-clinical trials have been very positive and the team are now looking for funding to commence clinical trials, with the aim of having a market ready device by the end of 2009.

Judges Comments: The Judges felt this was a very exciting concept that needs to go through appropriate clinical trials, and if positive, they would like to see this brought to the market in the shortest possible time

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This is a polymer technology to make a liquid bone for use as bone graft during surgery. A team of scientists from Nottingham have developed a synthetic, biodegradable material which has the texture of toothpaste but when injected into the body hardens within 15 minutes, at body temperature and has similar characteristics to normal bone. Approximately 1.5 million bone graft procedures are performed annually worldwide. Many of these require bone to be taken from other parts of the body, or from other donors. Although there are many other synthetic materials on the market, they are difficult to shape and the new ‘injectable bone' is a much simpler procedure, allowing bone voids to be filled with ease. The material is biodegradable allowing new bone to replace it gradually. The team are seeking funding to carry out clinical trials.

Judges Comments: The Judges felt that this was a platform technology with significant clinical utility. They particularly liked the fact that it did not heat up when inserted into the body like many other injectable substances. They would like to see this enter into clinical trials.

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