September 2008
Appealing to the User – MedTech
meeting hears from the experts
Cambridge Sept 29: At the September
ERBI Medtech event, sponsored by Team, speakers
from academia, industry and clinical practice
discussed the challenges of meeting the needs
of users and putting safety first in the medical
arena. The event was chaired by Professor
Chris Lowe, Director of the Institute of Biotechnology
and Professor of Biotechnology at Cambridge University,
and actively involved in many companies and collaborations
worldwide.
Professor John Clarkson, Director
of the Cambridge Engineering Design Centre (EDC),
opened the evening with a compelling presentation, “Safer
by Design”,
arguing that as the NHS doesn’t see itself as safety-critical, it seems
to accept a failure rate that would be unacceptable in any other high-risk industry. He
discussed the huge challenges faced in taking what we know from other safety-critical
industries and applying best practice to healthcare. Using a case study
based on the administration of a highly potent antimetabolite and antifolate
drug used in treatment of cancer and autoimmune
diseases, he provided a graphic example of “what could possibly go
wrong” and how many of the issues faced could have been prevented by the
timely use of a user-focused systems design approach. John’s presentation
drew on a “Design for Patient Safety” study carried out by a collaborative
group including the EDC which produced many recommendations for improving safety
in the NHS, but which, despite a positive response from government, has not yet
been implemented. The report can be found at: www-edc.eng.cam.ac.uk/medical/downloads/report.pdf.
Julian Dixon, Head of Team’s User Studies
group, outlined a highly practical guide to incorporating
Human Factors engineering into the product design
process in order to meet the needs of the user
and the regulator. Drawing on his
specialist background in both engineering and
psychology, he discussed the importance of small-scale,
iterative research, begun early in the process,
and the need to foster a user-centric mindset
amongst designers and engineers which clearly
resonated with an audience facing the challenges
of getting their products safely and successfully
to market. The clear message from Julian was “stop
before you start!” – don’t
do anything until you’ve put the
user at the heart of your design process.
Finally,
Mr Alan Getgood, Orthopaedic Specialist Registrar
and a Clinical Research Associate at Cambridge
University, gave the user’s view from a
clinician’s
perspective in which he stressed the important
role that innovation plays in improving both
surgical procedures and the patient experience.
Charting the history of hip replacement surgery,
he emphasised the vital need to collaborate with
clinicians from an early stage of development.
For any further information on the presentations
please feel free to contact info@team-consulting.com.
-ends-
Press contacts:
Team:
Diane Aston-James
+44 (0) 1799 532740
dea@team-consulting.com
ERBI:
Barnaby Perks
+44 (0) 1223 497411
barnabyperks@erbi.co.uk
Editors’ Notes:
About Team:
Team Consulting Limited is a leading product
development consultancy working primarily in
the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
Acknowledged as expert in medical and drug
delivery device development, Team works globally
with all kinds of companies, from start-up
ventures to multinational organisations. Team
helps its clients at all stages of the product
development process, blending design and engineering
with creativity and rigour to ensure that they
get the right product to market at the right
time.
Team is accredited to ISO 9001:2000 and 13485:2003.
www.team-consulting.com
About ERBI
ERBI is Europe’s leading regional biotechnology
and medical technology industry group. We
are a self-financing, non-governmental, membership-based
company with over 350 members from the bio-pharma
and medtech communities in Cambridge and the
East of England, as well as a significant number
of overseas members. ERBI also manages
the East of England Stem Cell Network (EESCN)
and chairs the Council for European Bioregions
(CEBR). We support our members to enable
them to enhance their global competitiveness.
For further information visit www.erbi.co.uk
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