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Microsulis Medical Ltd was founded in 1997 by the University of Bath to commercialise Professor Nigel Cronin's invention of a device for microwave endometrial ablation (MEA) for use in treating excessive menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia). This minimally invasive therapy has a success rate exceeding 80% and remarkably short treatment and recuperation times. It has been used to treat over 20,000 patients worldwide since 2008. In Feb 2011 Microsulis sold the rights to its MEA device for $3m to a US company in order to concentrate on another application of Cronin's microwave technology, namely microwave tissue ablation (MTA) for use in treating cancer. Microsulis MTA systems are in place in over 100 hospitals worldwide and have been used in over 5000 treatments of tumours of the liver, lung, kidney and bone, including otherwise inoperable cases. In Feb 2013, the company was bought by AngioDynamics (a major international provider of healthcare devices) for $15m. This acquisition is expected to provide a major boost to both the reach of the life-saving MTA technology and global sales. Currently Microsulis employ around 20 people at their base near Portsmouth, producing and developing their MTA devices. Their sales revenue since 2008 totals over £11m.
Impact: Economic and societal The Millimetre Wave and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) group has developed internation-ally award-winning instrumentation, and associated components that have been produced commercially by Thomas Keating Ltd. They have also led a pio-neering public understanding programme (PUP).
Significance: Thomas Keating have developed a range of new product lines serving > 20 international customers including [text removed for publication] of recent orders. The PUP has reached ~82 000 at-tendees.
Reach: Systems have been sold internationally and PUP has developed into specific exhibitions at a range of science centres.
Attribution: The work has been led by PHYESTA Researcher Dr Graham Smith
Translational research created new techniques for medical biosignal analysis in both the ECG and Pulse Oximetry areas. CardioDigital, a university spin-out company, was incorporated in 2001 to commercialise the research and became a world leader in the development and supply of signal analysis solutions for the medical device industry. The technology has been applied to defibrillation techniques to improve survival rates following sudden cardiac arrest, with a range of closely linked pulse oximetry based technologies applicable for general ward use. The technologies provide both enhanced and extended performance of the pulse oximeter leading to improved patient care and hospital workflows.
Research on high-voltage power devices by the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering (DoEng) was commercialised by its spin-off company, Cambridge Semiconductor Limited (CamSemi), which, in the REF period, has:
CamSemi chips are more efficient than traditional linear power supplies. The CamSemi chips that were produced before the end of the REF period are estimated to save of the order of 100GWh of electricity and 50,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year in total.
Wave power research at Queen's has led directly to the development of two types of convertor by Aquamarine Power Ltd (Edinburgh) and Voith Hydro Wavegen (Inverness). Direct employment totalling 400 person years has resulted along with hundreds of people in other companies delivering the different phases of the prototype machines. Financed by over £60 million from both the public but mainly the private sectors, this represents 20% of the total investment in wave power worldwide during this period. Internationally recognised success in wave power has led to the establishment of the Queen's team in tidal stream energy and environmental monitoring of marine renewable systems.
Practical Waveform Engineering, developed at Cardiff, is having a major impact on how modern- day microwave power amplifiers are designed, delivering real competitive advantages for global communications companies such as Nokia-Siemens-Networks and M/A-COM.
Economic impact is through reduced time-to-market and lower design costs, leading to high- performance power amplifier products. Examples include $40M revenue and employment of additional staff for M/A-Com, and the successful spin-off company Mesuro Ltd., generating revenue in excess of £2.5M.
Impact on practice is through successful demonstration of new device technologies and amplifier architectures, the introduction of PWE-based CAD models, and most significantly, the introduction of the "Cardiff Model" into mainstream simulation tools.
Environmental Impact is by improving the efficiency of power amplifiers and significantly reducing the carbon contribution of mobile communications systems, translating into savings of approximately £2.5M/year and a 17 kiloton reduction in CO2 emission for a typical EU network.
Guidelines and standards underpinned by Strathclyde research have improved the design, assessment and the safety of marine structures subjected to wave impact in large steep waves. The guidelines and standards are widely used in the design of floating structures, particularly Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSOs) and offshore wind turbines. Since January 2008 the work has impacted the design, strength assessment and failure analysis of fixed offshore oil and gas platforms, renewable energy devices and ships. The guidelines and standards are used by designers to mitigate against damage caused by breaking wave impact, thereby improving the safety of mariners and offshore workers, reducing lost production due to downtime, and cutting the risk of environmental impact due to oil pollution. The research has also been used by Strathclyde researchers in industry-focussed studies, in legal work related to the loss of the oil tanker Prestige (2009-2013), in the assessment of the Schiehallion FPSO for BP (2010), and design of a Scottish harbour wave screen (2009) that allows ferries to access and stay in the harbour in more severe weather.
The impact of this research has been of commercial benefit for TgK Scientific Ltd, a Wiltshire- based SME, who have successfully commercialised a FT-IR Stopped-Flow instrument. This has achieved market share as a result of incorporating an innovative cuvette designed and fabricated by the University of Birmingham's School of Biosciences. The company has sold nine of these instruments since they were first marketed in 2008, generating ~£200,000 in sales. This has made a substantial contribution to the company's total sales, most obviously in 2012 where sales of four instruments accounted for around 10% of their ~£800,000 turnover. The instrument allows the study of fast biological reactions by rapid scanning Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The Birmingham contribution is a cuvette of a unique design that enables biological materials to be mixed and observed after 2-3 ms, allowing enzyme-catalysed reactions which have non- chromophoric substrates to be studied in physiological conditions. TgK have combined the cuvette with their stopped-flow drive system and a spectrometer produced by Bruker to make a complete apparatus; it is believed that this gives the instrument a unique functionality valued by a significant niche market.
Edinburgh Designs Ltd., (EDL) was spun-out to exploit ERPE research from the original Wave Power Group. With six staff and an annual turnover approaching £2M EDL has supplied the equipment and control systems for wave tanks in 19 countries including the world's largest computer-controlled wave test facility, the US Navy Manoeuvring and Station Keeping Tank. They are currently completing the world's first circular tank, combining waves with currents in any relative direction, which is operated by the 6 person company, "FloWave" EDL, still run by the founding staff, it is the world-leading supplier of wave-making technology for scientific and recreational facilities.
Analysis of partial discharges for management of high-voltage assets has become commercialised in the last 20 years. Work at the University since 1993 has improved asset management techniques used by companies world-wide. This was achieved in two ways: first, improving power network reliability, enabled through two start-up companies employing 59 people and turning over £5m/annum; and second, by providing techniques for testing and verifying safety of new electrical power components for aerospace applications (e.g. A380). In four illustrative case studies, over £3m savings are identified for end-users through improved reliability of power networks. Further impact has been delivered by ensuring the reliability of power networks in aircraft.