The Medical Devices for Vulnerable Skin Network (MDVSN) represented an EPSRC-NIHR HTC funded partnership led by the University of Southampton (Bader and Worsley) and Kings College London (Grocott), with support from the NIHR Healthcare Technology Co-operatives (HTCs) associated with Devices for Dignity (D4D) and Wound Prevention & Treatment and named academic and industrial collaborators.
The Network's strategic aims were to introduce cutting-edge technologies and scientific understanding in order to reduce the incidence of mechanical-induced damage of vulnerable skin caused by interventional medical devices in various clinical settings.
Following the success of the EPSRC-NIHR HTC Partnership Award: Medical Devices and Vulnerable Skin Network: Optimising safety in design, the Network was awarded an additional 'PLUS' Award. Medical Devices and Vulnerable Skin PLUS - Intelligent sensing to promote self-management ' funding was awarded July 2016. The new funding overlapped with MDVSN in 2016-2017 and provided the basis to expand our outreach to academic, industrial and clinical partners.
The global aim of the MDVSN PLUS : Intelligent sensing to promote self-management was to bring disruptive technologies to the medical device market to promote sustainable evolution and long-term healthcare improvements. MDVSN PLUS worked with these partners to produce cost-effective functional medical-device and sensing technologies and novel materials and designs that could minimise the risk of damage to vulnerable tissues to improve patient safety.
MDVSNPLUS funded a series of feasibility studies aligned with our core aims and targetted one or more of three EPSRC Grand Challenges:
Optimising Treatment
Frontiers of Physical Intervention
Transforming Community Health and Care.
Each potential proposal was reviewed by an independent innovation panel and assessed based on the clinical need and feasibility to translate the research findings to clinical practice.
It benefited from two expert Co-Investigators:
Professor Ralph Sinkus from King’s College London, who has extensive experience in developing imaging technologies associated with MR and US elastography. His expertise offered the potential to establish material properties e.g. compressive modulus of soft tissues. This was critical if we were to design mechanical devices with interface materials for medical devices, which could match the properties of vulnerable skin.
Professor Steve Morgan, from the University of Nottingham, provided expertise in optical fibre sensors, which could be used to provide a range of biomarkers at the device-skin interface. Sensing elements could either be embedded within the device or incorporated into a separate platform, such as the textile or smart bandage. This offered the potential to detect early signs of damage resulting from prolonged use of medical devices.
MDVSNPLUS continued to draw expertise and collaboration from our Health Technology partners; Devices for Dignity and WoundTech. In addition, a new named industrial partner (Peacocks Medical Group) provided a basis to explore our research activities into the orthotics healthcare market.
The Network has brought together a interdisciplinary skill mix and expertise to deliver the scientific and technological challenges provided by the research questions posed by the clinical need.
The Network will engage with other partners and in particular our two supporting HTCs in Wound Prevention & Treatment and Devices for Dignity, who will prioritise subsequent activities based on identified clinical needs.
The Medical Devices and Vulnerable Skin Network is led by the University of Southampton, King's College London and the University of Nottingham
