Led by Prof David Jayne who brings expertise in surgical innovation through his roles as NIHR SI and Clinical Director for NIHR Surgical MIC, Centre for HealthTech Innovation, NIHR Advanced Surgical Technologies Incubator, and Leeds RCS Eng. Surgical Trials Centre. The theme pulls together a cohesive group of senior academics with expertise across the surgical disciplines: Pietro Valdastri (WS1 lead, Robotics and autonomous systems, supported by STORM Lab and EPSRC National Facility for Innovative Robotics Systems); Steve Evans (nanotechnology, Leeds Wolfson Imaging Facility, Bragg Centre for Materials Research); Mark Mon-Williams (Psychology, Centre for Immersive Technologies); Faisal Mushtaq (Centre for Immersive Technologies), Ryan Mathew (Neurosurgery), Aaron Quyn (General Surgery), Hemant Pandit (WS2 lead, Elective Orthopaedics, NIHR SI), Peter Giannoudis (Trauma) and David Russell (Vascular) supported by School of Engineering.
WS1 Prof Pietro Valdastri: Precision and Personalised Surgery
Over 10 million surgical operations are performed each year in the NHS, with patients increasingly benefiting from minimally invasive approaches with cost savings for the NHS. Endoluminal (scarless) surgery is the holy grail to treat gastrointestinal disease, but clinical application is limited by the available technology. Grand Challenge: to capitalise on three technologies revolutionising surgical practice with the power to make precision and personalised surgery part of routine NHS care.
WS2 Profs Hemant Pandit and Peter Giannoudis: Enhancing healing, limiting disability, and improving outcomes
Surgery has an essential role in the management of non-communicable diseases. Chronic degenerative conditions, such as osteoarthritis (OA), fractures, and diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are common. They cause pain, impaired movement/function, loss of earnings, and poor quality of life. Grand Challenge: to refine, validate and employ novel techniques and innovations addressing prevention, management and salvage treatment for people suffering from OA, fractures, and DFU. We aim is to restore soft tissue/bony/cartilage healing in a timely fashion, limit disability, and optimise treatment to ensure addition of life to years, rather than just years to life.