Innovations in healthcare highlighted

Many of the products on display at the Innovation Expo demonstrated how ideas from front line NHS staff based on the needs of their patients can be brought to life by working with science and industry. Among the innovations highlighted at the event was the i-Snake robot, currently being developed by the medical robotics team from Imperial College London – led by Professor Guang-Zhong Yang and Lord Darzi. The ‘i-Snake’ will incorporate state of the art imaging and intuitive manipulation technologies, allowing surgeons to carry out more complex and demanding procedures within the body, previously only possible using more invasive surgical approaches. It will use fully articulated joints powered by special motors, with multiple sensing mechanisms and imaging tools at its “head”, to extend the vision and dexterity of the surgeon, allowing them to navigate difficult and restrictive regions of the body. Some of the many possible applications of i-Snake include the clinical investigation of the alimentary tract, or complex, multi-vessel coronary bypass surgery. The cost benefits that the i-Snake will introduce include earlier, cheaper and less invasive treatment, faster recovery and procedure times. Also presented on the Imperial College London stand was a collaborative project involving the design of a new resuscitation “crash” trolley, which will support the cardiac arrest team by improving communication, coordination and overall efficiency. The new trolley offers an innovative design that ensures equipment is easy to find and notifies staff when anything is missing or has expired. Resuscitation of a patient is a highly complex process, which requires a cardiac arrest team and an appropriately stocked resuscitation trolley. For the past 60 years the design of the crash trolley has not changed and it is little more than a modified workman’s tool chest. A design and patient safety team was formed to design a purpose-built resuscitation platform or Resus:Station. The multidisciplinary team involved clinicians and experts in patient safety from the Imperial Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality, which is part of the department of biosurgery and surgical technology at Imperial College London, and designers from the Royal College of Art Helen Hamlyn Centre. Features of the Resus:Station are:

• The trolley can also be fitted with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tagging so that items could be stock checked instantaneously.

• It is fitted with a touch screen computer, which clearly illustrates the resuscitation protocol, encourages clear division of team roles and team leadership and can facilitate post arrest audit and data capture.