Triangle Projects case study:

New instruments for keyhole surgery

The first Imperial College-InnovationRCA Triangle Project featured the research and development of three new laparoscopic instruments. The project owes its genesis to surgeon-in-training Herbert Arnarsson, a PhD research student at Imperial’s Wolfson Surgical Technology Laboratory as well as at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London.

Arnarsson’s interest in this area dates back to his studies as a medical student. At Imperial College he was encouraged by his head of department, Professor Sir Ara Darzi, to patent his innovative ideas on instrument research and development.

Arnarsson explains: “Soon after I started looking at patent options I was contacted by Tony Hickson who heads up Medical and Life Sciences at Imperial College Innovations. We chose two ideas which I assigned to them and the ball started rolling”.

After filing for provisional patents was complete, Tony Hickson contacted InnovationRCA for assistance with design and rapid prototyping. He explains: “Since graduate RCA industrial design engineers already had experience in the design of surgical instruments, this seemed to present an ideal way of matching innovative ideas with design expertise at the highest level.” Subsequently, MBAs from the Imperial College Business School undertook a commercial viability survey commissioned by Tony Hickson.

The InnovationRCA design team comprised Roger Coleman, Professor of Inclusive Design in the RCA’s Helen Hamlyn Centre, and designers Edward Goodwin and Richard Hartshorn, two graduates in Industrial Design Engineering, a joint Masters programme between the RCA and Imperial.

The project developed the PortPlacer™ to support the introduction of laparoscopic tools into the patient’s abdomen, a port cleaner to clear visual pathways during this type of surgery, and a Smart Bougie which expands to support specific surgical procedures in relation to internal organs.

The PortPlacer™ was nominated for the best innovation to improve patient safety in the Medical Innovation Awards 2005.