NEWS > Innovation could transform lives
Published: Monday, 05 Jul, 2010
02 July 2010: The lives of millions of people with chronic lung diseases could be transformed by an invention that is being tested in Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands as a result of a unique partnership with a leading hi-tech company that usually specialises in
02 July 2010: The lives of millions of people with chronic lung diseases could be transformed by an invention that is being tested in Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands as a result of a unique partnership with a leading hi-tech company that usually specialises in aerospace, defence and security. Professor Monica Spiteri, of the Directorate of Respiratory Medicine at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust (UHNS), came up with the idea of testing saliva as a means of monitoring the everyday condition of patients with serious lung conditions, especially during flare ups of disease.
Flare ups – or exacerbations – of diseases like emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma, a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, not only cause regular disruption to patients’ daily lives but are also the second biggest cause of emergency hospital admissions. Early recognition of an impending flare up could alert patients and the GPs, consultants and nurses caring for them to begin or change treatment, which could avoid them being rushed into hospital.
QinetiQ, which provides technical advice to customers around the world in the aerospace, defence and security markets, has produced the prototype ‘respiratory biosensor’ at its technology centre in Malvern, Worcestershire. The biosensor is now being fine-tuned ready to begin clinical trials at the UHNS in Stoke-on-Trent in July. The innovation follows a significant investment by Advanced Sensors Innovation Programme (ASIP), a joint venture between QinetiQ and Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency. MidTECH, the West Midlands NHS innovations hub, brought the hospital trust and QinetiQ together in a collaborative arrangement that has enabled QinetiQ scientists and NHS clinicians to develop the project. MidTECH has also arranged patent protection for Professor Spiteri’s ideas.
The new technology works by measuring bio-markers – proteins whose concentration reflects the severity or presence of disease – in saliva. Professor Spiteri and her team of research nurses, hospital specialists and GPs with a special interest in lung disease are now preparing for the clinical trials. Tests are currently being carried out to refine the portable machine before patient sample testing begins. In due course the technology will be further miniaturised to produce a ‘smart’, handheld device with its own in-built ‘lab on a chip’ to enable patients to monitor their own condition in the comfort of their home.
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