Team’s £1.3m to design ‘smarter’ medical tools

Engineers and scientists at a Scottish university have been awarded £1.3 million for a project to make medical devices “smaller, smarter and cheaper”.

Experts in optical, mechanical, electronic and manufacturing engineering at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh will form the new Medical Device Manufacturing Group to tackle challenges in the industry.

Research at the university has identified priority areas for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council funding and the group plans to develop medical devices that can be incorporated into, or on to, the end of optical fibres so that lasers can target, treat or remove lesions or tumours better and in a less invasive way.

Also in the pipeline are miniature robotic systems that could detect or remove cancerous tissue.

Group leader Professor Duncan Hand said: “We’re asking clinicians and industry representatives what their priorities and clinical needs are, then we’ll engineer realistic, cost-effective solutions for them.

“Medical devices pose their own particular manufacturing challenges, given the required operating environment and the need for cost effectiveness.

“We’ll be investigating how to miniaturise multi-technology systems with the functionality that clinicians, industry partners and, ultimately, patients require, devising packaging and integration systems that keep devices safe, stable and smart.

“The additional challenge is ensuring they can all be manufactured at a low cost, to make sure the healthcare sector can afford them.”