BK Medical has received an iF Product Design Gold Award for 2010 for its Flex Focus mobile ultrasound scanner.

An international jury of experts declared the compact, user-friendly device to be “brilliantly designed” for mobile use.

The iF Product Design Award has been internationally recognised for over 50 years as a mark of outstanding design achievement.

The iF Design jury evaluated 2,486 entries from 39 countries on criteria that included product design, workmanship, choice of materials, innovation, environmental friendliness, functionality, ergonomics and safety. Of the 778 Product Design Award winners, the jury selected 50 to receive an iF Gold Award as ‘best in competition’.

Regarding Flex Focus, which was launched in 2009, the jury commented: “This ultrasound device is extremely compact with a great interface layout. Basically, the entire device is nothing but a user interface, namely a control panel, which is a single piece covered with silicon, and a large, flat LCD screen, in portrait orientation to make the unit smaller. In the field of medical equipment, this product is simply brilliantly designed.”

Michael Brock, President and CEO of BK Medical, said, “The Flex Focus scanner gives the medical community the features they want inside a sleek, ultramodern package. I am proud of the Flex Focus, its design achievement, and the fact that the Flex Focus can now carry the iF quality seal.”

BK Medical, a wholly owned subsidiary of Analogic Corporation, is a leading supplier of diagnostic ultrasound equipment for surgery and the investigation of urological disorders, as well as other applications.

Headquartered in Denmark, BK Medical has subsidiary sales companies in the US, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and the UK.

    
Flex Focus 200

Spire Healthcare has purchased 17 ABX Pentra 80 haematology analysers from Horiba Medical to support its UK pathology network.

The purchase reflects Spire’s intention to expand its pathology services in the near future.

“Having an analyser and technology that can grow with us, and receiving professional, proactive and friendly service and training from Horiba Medical, enables us to provide equally excellent service to our own customers,” said Tim Woolley, Pathology Services Manager at Spire Healthcare”

Features that helped Horiba Medical to gain the contract include:

• The design of the ABX Pentra 80 – an integrated workstation with LCD-colour touch screen and autoloader, minimising its space requirement.

• Its record of successful high-throughput use, demonstrating its suitability for use in medical laboratories with a steadily increasing workload.

• The installation speed and training from Horiba Medical, who took less than six weeks to build, deliver and run the 17 analysers.

Cleve Wright, Horiba Medical’s UK Manager, commented: “It is our great pleasure to work with such a professional and forward-thinking organisation. Being able to work directly with the key stakeholders at Spire allowed us to secure and deliver on this significant contract in record time. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership.”

Spire Healthcare is the second largest group of private hospitals in the UK, operating 17 laboratories to support its 37 hospitals. It also provides laboratory services to external clients including NHS hospitals, GPs and the UK’s largest health screening organisation.

Headquartered in France, Horiba Medical is a leading developer and manufacturer of haematology diagnostic systems.

ABX Pentra 80 haematology analyser

A new portable device to measure the strength of alcoholic drinks promises to help retailers and authorities identify dangerous illicit alcohol supplies.

The device, developed by German testing agency CVUA, can be used on-site in less than a minute, and is as accurate as widely-used laboratory methods.

The measurement technology combines a patented multiple-beam infrared sensor with a flow-through cell for automated alcohol analysis.

The agency’s team tested the device on 260 different alcoholic drinks. Their system was found to be equal to or better than current laboratory analysers in its precision and reliability.

Analysis of unrecorded (non-commercial or illicit) alcohol samples was also accurate. Time-consuming sample preparation was not needed for wine or spirits, though it was for beer and other fizzy drinks.

“The device gives the opportunity for mobile on-site control in the context of labelling control of wine, beer and spirits, the process monitoring of fermentations, or the evaluation of unrecorded alcohols,” said Dirk Lachenmeier of CVUA.

The researchers noted that unrecorded alcohol accounts for a quarter of all alcohol consumed worldwide, and that in most cases “not even the most basic chemical composition such as alcoholic strength is known for these beverages”.

Traditionally, scientists have measured alcoholic strength by per cent volume, using distillation and density measurement. Infrared spectroscopy, a more recent method, typically requires expensive equipment and is a slow process.

The UK life sciences industry can support economic recovery but needs to prioritise the development and scope of higher skills, according to a Government report.

The first National Strategic Skills Audit, published by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, warns that the nation’s life sciences sector can only maintain its leading global role if skills development needs are identified and prioritised.

Higher-level and interdisciplinary skills, including leadership, management and procurement, were identified by the report as needing development.

The report highlighted the global importance of the UK life sciences sector and its innovation. However, the report found, for the sector to realise its potential it must meet its skills needs in the future:

• It is essential to support the availability of higher-level skills in the life sciences sector, and the development of more interdisciplinary skills.

• These higher skills will be critical for the sector as it faces increased competition for graduates and postgraduates from other sectors and nations.

• The supply of skilled trade and associate professionals will be critical for successful production in the medical technology sub-sector.

• The life sciences sector needs to ensure a supply of people with the leadership and management skills to meet its specific needs –management of multi-disciplined or geographically-dispersed teams, lean management, negotiation and procurement.

Chris Humphries CBE, Chief Executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, said: “This is an important report for the UK that demands attention. The life sciences and pharmaceuticals sector depends on people being equipped with the right skills for the jobs of the future.

“Despite having a more skilled workforce than at any time in our history, we still lag behind many of our major economic competitors. In order to catch up, skills investment needs to connect more to the jobs that need doing now and that will need doing in the future. We need more and better businesses with more and better jobs not just to recover from the recession, but be better than we were before it.”

 
Chris Humphries

A blinded British soldier has been fitted with a prototype device that allows him to ‘see’ with his tongue.

Lance Corporal Craig Lundberg, aged 24, was blinded by a grenade in Iraq three years ago. The device has enabled him to see shapes and contours.

The BrainPort from US company Wicab Inc consist of a square plastic ‘lollipop’ connected by a wire to a tiny video camera, mounted on sunglasses.

The user puts the ‘lollipop’ in their mouth and wears the sunglasses. The video camera images are converted to electrical impulses that they feel on their tongue.

“One of the things it has enabled me to do is pick up objects straight away, I can reach out and pick them up when before I would be fumbling around to feel for them,” Lundberg said.

The Ministry of Defence, which plans to spend about £18,000 on testing and training for the device, invited Lundberg to trial the BrainPort prototype.

The device works in a similar way to a cochlear implant. As Lundberg explained: “You get lines and shapes of things, it sees in black and white, so you get a two-dimensional image on your tongue. It’s a bit like a pins and needles sensation.”

Wicab Inc is planning to make a smaller version that sits behind the teeth or on the roof of the mouth, allowing it to be worn while speaking or eating. It also plans to increase the number of contact points on the tongue from 400 to 4,000, delivering much clearer images to the user.

Based in Wisonsin, Wicab Inc was established by American neuroscientist Dr Paul Bach-y-Rita in 1998. Dr Bach-y-Rita introduced the idea of ‘sensory substitution’, feeding signals from one sense into the brain circuits of another.

 
BrainPort

The first powered negative pressure product for management of surgically closed incisions has been launched in Europe.

The new Prevena Incision Management System from Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (KCI) aims to prevent post-operative infections.

The system features a single dressing that conforms to patient contours and is worn for the duration of therapy.

The Prevena System is indicated in the EU to protect clean, closed incisions. It is designed to remove exudate, hold the edges of the incision together, stimulate perfusion and reduce oedema.

KCI estimates that over 3m procedures are performed each year worldwide that could benefit from treatment with the Prevena System, representing a potential global market of over $1 billion.

Mike Genau, KCI global president, Active Healing Solutions, said: “Prevena represents a revolutionary solution for surgical incisions at risk for post-operative complications. We are excited to offer a product that may play a role in preventing and minimizing surgical complications.”

Dr. Nanne Kort, an orthopaedic surgeon at Orbis Medical Park in the Netherlands, recently used the product and commented: “The incision was clean and closed, exactly what I was hoping for in this co-morbid patient. At-risk patients ambulating in a non-clinical setting are also key patients for Prevena Therapy, as multiple dressing changes could lead to increased secondary infection.

“And finally, Prevena Therapy may potentially enable patients to be discharged earlier in comparison to standard of care, which may decrease their overall cost of treatment.”

Based in Texas, USA, Kinetic Concepts, Inc. is a global company specialising in products for wound care, tissue regeneration and therapeutic support.

A new device for remote monitoring of implanted cardiac devices enables clinicians at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton to set up ‘remote clinics’ for patients at home.

The CareLink system from Medtronic enables self-monitoring in patients with either of two heart devices: implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), which prevent sudden cardiac arrest, or implantable loop recorders (ILR), which detect cardiac arrhythmias.

Helen Ebanks, Senior Cardiac Physiologist at Musgrove, said: “Normally these patients would need to come into hospital for a check every six months. We started the home monitoring service nearly a year ago, and now have nearly 120 patients able to send in a check from their own home every three months.

“The patient has a grey box, about the size of a lunchbox, which plugs into the phone line. This device gets the data from the implanted device and sends it down the phone line to us. We then access and review the data on our computers, record it, and call the patient in if we have any concerns.

“This is much better for patients as the checks are more frequent, and if they feel unwell or concerned they can send us another download at any time so that we can make an immediate assessment.”

Patient Jim Legg commented: “This new equipment is marvellous and easy to use. It’s very reassuring to know that I can send information in at any time without even having to leave the house, and I know I still have all the back-up and support of the specialist team at Musgrove.”

The CareLink system enabled the cardiac team at Musgrove to carry out remote clinics for many heart patients during January’s heavy snow, without any disruption to services.

 
Helen Ebanks

Immediate support to help people quit smoking has been made available by the DH in the form of a new iPhone application.

Launched on No Smoking Day (10 March), the ‘Quit Smoking’ programme offers: daily tips to manage cravings; a running tally of how much money you have saved or could save by quitting; a count of how long you have been smoke-free; instant access to the national Stop Smoking Helpline and specialist advisors; and contact information for local Stop Smoking services.

Public Health Minister Gillian Merron said: “Quitting smoking is the single best thing you can do to improve your health – significantly reducing the risk of serious conditions such as lung cancer and heart disease.

“Smokers who quit using free NHS support are up to four times more likely to be successful. This new app is one of the many innovative ways the Government is helping people quit for good. Last month we launched an ambitious strategy to halve the number of smokers by 2020.”

Deborah Arnott of charity ASH said: “Around two-thirds of smokers want to quit and try time and again. So using modern technology to help them finally achieve that goal is a welcome idea.”

The new application is compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch. It is available from iTunes, www.smokefree.nhs.uk and NHS Choices.

Those without an iPhone or iPod touch can text the word ‘calculator’ to 64746 to receive information on an NHS Choices smoking calculator.

A similar application, launched by the NHS in December to help people keep track of their alcohol intake, has so far been downloaded 65,000 times.

 
Gillian Merron

Cancer patients in Kent will gain access to faster, more efficient radiotherapy treatments through the installation at Kent Oncology Centre of two RapidArc machines from Varian Medical Systems.

The new systems are due to be delivered to oncology departments in Maidstone and Canterbury in the spring.

RapidArc enables clinicians to deliver a precise image-guided and intensity-modulated radiotherapy treatment in as little as one or two revolutions of the treatment machine. This allows for greater precision, since there is less chance of patient or tumour movement during treatment, and also improves patient comfort.

“This is exciting news for the Kent Oncology Centre as it will be the first time image-guided and intensity-modulated radiotherapy can be offered to the nearly two million people served by the Kent Oncology Centre,” said Dr. Stewart Coltart, Clinical Director.

“These new machines will ensure we have sufficient capacity to keep waiting times at the current levels while offering patients faster and more efficient treatments. Our consultants are especially excited about starting RapidArc treatments, which we feel will be a terrific additional tool in our armoury.”

David Scott, Varian’s UK Sales Director, said: “This project is immensely significant for cancer patients in Kent, as they will quickly have access to RapidArc technology. More and more hospitals are selecting RapidArc as a way of delivering advanced and ultra-precise treatments without putting pressure on waiting lists.”

Since its introduction to the UK in late 2009, RapidArc has been installed in at least seven locations.

 
Varian RapidArc

Surrey-based JAOtech, a leading manufacturer of hospital bedside ‘smart’ terminals, has opened its US headquarters in Trumbull, Connecticut.

The new facility will serve as JAOtech’s sales, marketing and technical support centre for the US and Canada.

Warren Kressinger-Dunn, CEO of JAOtech, said: “The United States represents our largest and fastest-growing market opportunity, as healthcare providers recognise the potential for an attractive return on investment as well as efficiency savings through patient multimedia entertainment and clinical access solutions.

“Our Connecticut-based team has significant experience in the US healthcare sector, and is working closely with our partners to deliver solutions that address the specific needs of healthcare providers.”

The new US location is one of four offices worldwide from which JAOtech manages its business. The global headquarters are based in Redhill, Surrey.

The US office is led by John Jensen, Chairman, who has more than 40 years of overall business and management experience. The business development team is led by Ian Davison, Vice President, and Rich Purcell, Sales Manager.

JAOtech supplies a range of embedded medical computers, used at the bedside for access to electronic medical records and for patient education and entertainment. Over 35,000 JAOtech terminals have been installed in hospitals worldwide.

 
JAOtech smart terminal