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University of Salford researchers have transferred knowledge from research in the foot health devices sector into products and services in commercial and clinical settings, supporting a £100 billion global healthcare equipment and supplies industry, contributing to economies and to quality of life on a daily basis for those with foot and lower limb health problems, world-wide. The benefiting partners are part of global businesses and public and private sector clinical services and researchers have pioneered the connection of research to commercial foot health contexts on a unique scale:
Since 1998 the University of Leeds has developed the Leeds Foot and Ankle STudies in Rheumatology (FASTER) programme — to drive improvements in UK musculoskeletal foot care services. Results from FASTER clinical trials and a national survey of podiatry services directly informed NICE guidelines on foot care in arthritis. FASTER's research also provided key evidence for a national consensus on standards of care and aided a shift in the treatment paradigm for foot care in arthritis patients. These standards and NICE recommendations are included in the latest Royal College of GPs curriculum. They have also informed government policies on commissioning for podiatry services throughout England. Since the inception of the FASTER programme independent reports suggest that access to foot health services for people with rheumatoid arthritis has increased from less than 50% immediately prior to FASTER, to nearly 80% of patients today.
Research carried out by the SESRC has resulted in a new category of health and wellness footwear which has been commercialised by FitFlop Ltd.
Since 2008, the Company has:
The Orthotic Research & Locomotor Assessment Unit (ORLAU) (http://www.rjah.nhs.uk/ORLAU) has run multidisciplinary services to improve the function and lifestyle of severely disabled patients since 1975. New specialist clinical services have been established, based on research and development activity. The effectiveness of these services has been the subject of further investigations. Work has focused on the development of novel technology (in gait analysis and orthotics) and increasing understanding of human movement. Conditions treated include cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, neuromuscular disorders, arthritis and stroke. Technological developments have led to licencing within the commercial sector. ORLAU has also contributed to the development of national and international clinical education and guidelines.
Over the last 15 years the Medical Applications Group (MAG) has engaged in applied research into the use of product design techniques and technologies in medical procedures. Their work has directly led to better, safer, faster, more accurate and less intrusive surgical procedures. The group has worked with surgeons at NHS hospitals all over the UK to deliver well over 2,000 medical models for surgical use during the period. A number of hospitals have adopted MAG's techniques, meaning that the Group's research has improved the dignity, comfort and quality of life of around two and a half thousand people since 2008 whilst saving the UK tax payer many thousands of pounds.
[Throughout this template, references to underpinning research are numbered 1-6; sources to corroborate are numbered 7-15]
Through the introduction of innovative design approaches, processes tools and methods into the research of complex healthcare issues, a range of individuals — including members of professional groups, e.g., in nutrition management and physical rehabilitation, clinical trials managers, healthcare professionals and patients (involved, e.g., in random controlled trials), are now able to consider and use tools and approaches that they did not use previously. These, policy-makers, leads in research councils, charities, and members of lay user representative groups have seen, through demonstrations, national and international presentations and professional publications, advantages of these innovative tools and approaches that enable more patient-centred treatment and enhanced patient-professional relationships.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a debilitating inflammatory condition, affecting around 500,000 people in the UK and around 0.5-1% of the adult population worldwide. Using novel techniques to study human synovium, Professor Sir Marc Feldmann and Professor Sir Ravinder Maini from the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology identified a therapeutic target, TNFα, for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Following successful clinical trials, showing the safety and effectiveness of this new target, anti-TNFα antibodies have now become the gold standard treatment for severe rheumatoid arthritis worldwide. In addition to dramatically impacting patient care, anti-TNFα antibodies represent the largest group of therapies against rheumatoid arthritis on the market, with annual sales currently exceeding US$24.4 billion.
Footrot (FR) causes 90% of lameness in sheep. FR reduces productivity and lowers sheep welfare. Research at the University of Warwick, initiated in 1999 and still active, has led to the development of a novel management strategy for footrot in sheep: prompt antibiotic treatment (PAT) - sheep treated with intramuscular and topical antibiotics within three days of becoming lame with FR. This has resulted in a reduction in the overall prevalence of lameness in sheep flocks in England from 10% (2004) to 5% (2011) and 3% (2013). In 2011, evidence from research at Warwick on PAT was used by the Farm Animal Welfare Council of Great Britain to support their statement that it was feasible to reduce the prevalence of lameness in the national flock from 10% to 2% by 2021. From 2005 onwards, PAT has been disseminated to 50,000 sheep farmers through knowledge transfer (KT) by EBLEX, the levy body for sheep farmers in England using booklets, CDs and more than 100 on-farm events. More than 50% of farmers who had attended an EBLEX KT meeting on lameness stated that they had changed their management of lameness as a result of new information from the event. The Sheep Veterinary Society in the UK has adopted PAT as the recognised management approach for FR and a leading sheep vet in Germany has written a book promoting PAT. The work has been presented in Europe as part of Animal Welfare Research in an Enlarged Europe (AWARE), an EU-funded project educating all countries in the enlarged EU zone on animal welfare (http://tinyurl.com/o6onaxd). In 2012, the lead Warwick researcher Professor Green was awarded the Royal Agricultural Society of England medal specifically for `impact to the sheep farming community in reducing footrot in sheep'.
In 1997 ERPE invented a novel automatic machining feature recognition technology which has been incorporated into the Pathtrace EdgeCAM Solid Machinist Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) package, now owned by Planit plc. EdgeCAM is considered as one of the leading independent solid machinist CAM package, with 10 - 15% of the world market. Related ERPE feature recognition in shape representation and characterisation has enabled the design of a 3D shape browser for product data management systems. Commercialised in 2005 as ShapeSpace with £0.7M current market value, for application to the parts industry in automotive markets, it has attracted the US Actify Inc., as an equity sharing partner to aid ShapeSpace to access worldwide markets.
Research carried out by the SESRC has resulted in the development of three novel devices that improve foot and lower limb circulation. These have been commercialised by Actegy Health Ltd.
Since 2008, impact arising from this research includes,