Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 11 Life support

Science and engineering – the beating heart of healthcare

Healing with sound Helping the blind to see Richard, the 3D-printed king Silk: the 400 million-year-old super-material Professor Robert Winston on the joined-up science behind healthcare 4-9 Briefings: Research in action 10-11 Richard the 3D: Loughborough team print out replica of Richard III’s skull CONTENTS 12-13 See the person: Bean-can PhD poster promotes a major dementia project 14-18 Life support: EPSRC’s CEO on the role mathematics, engineering and science 10 play in safeguarding the national health 19 The treatment: Recent EPSRC healthcare investments 20-23 Fitter, healthier, happier: EPSRC-sponsored healthcare-related research 24-27 Face value: 3D printing technique revolutionises low-cost facial prosthetics 28-31 Bursting cancer’s bubble: Two 32 scientists, one vision – healing with sound 32-35 In profile: Professor John Fisher 36-37 Prescripton for success: Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations for 24 smarter patient support 38-39 Seeing’s believing: Optobionics – helping the blind to see 40-43 Glowing evidence: Academics and industry unite to develop a gel that glows in the presence of bacteria 52 44-47 Spin cycle: Silk products modelled on spider webs and silkworm threads could be used to repair the human body 48-51 20-20 vision: What advances in healthcare will there be 20 years from now? 52-53 Numbers game: Dr Ellen Brooks- Pollock on using mathematical modelling to predict the spread of disease 54 Rule of thumb: A new keyboard designed specifically for mobile devices

Editor: Mark Mallett ([email protected]) The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils Council (EPSRC) is the UK’s main agency for funding which have responsibility in other research areas. Design: Rachael Brown ([email protected]) research in engineering and the physical sciences. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of Contributors: Jenny Aranha; Dr Ellen Brooks-Pollock; EPSRC invests around £800 million a year in research common concern via Research Councils UK. Chris Buratta; Phil Davies; Professor David Delpy; and postgraduate training to help the nation handle To provide feedback on this magazine, and to Joanne Enderby; Professor John Fisher; Gemma the next generation of technological change. subscribe to print and/or electronic versions of Pioneer, please e-mail [email protected] Hulkes; Vicky Marlow; Grace Palmer; Roland Pease; The areas covered range from information Matt Shinn; Clare Waldron; Dr Gemma Webster; Lord technology to structural engineering, and Pictures courtesy of thinkstock.com unless Robert Winston; John Yates. mathematics to materials science. otherwise stated. This research forms the basis for future economic [email protected] development in the UK and improvements for Printed by RCUK’s in-house service provider Contact: 01793 444305/442804 everyone’s health, lifestyle and culture.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 2 CONTENTS

True to life Introduction by guest editor, Professor Robert Winston

EPSRC has linked its work closely to that benefit. Initiatives include stem cells to of other Research Councils, focusing on grow new tissues (pages 32-35), and the the academic backbone of this country, delivery of cancer drugs to exactly where Britain’s outstanding universities. Here they are most needed. The hope is that we world-class biomedical and related shall be able to administer these in optimal healthcare research is pursued by talented quantities, minimising harmful side effects people in whom EPSRC invests, nurturing (pages 28-31). scientists, engineers and physicians As people live longer, and the health throughout their careers. of older people becomes increasingly This country’s reputation is due to the important, researchers are harnessing new support of all the Research Councils, technologies from the digital economy, such the charitable foundations and industry, as iPad-based applications to help people and through increasingly multidisciplinary with dementia; similar technology also helps collaborations. EPSRC is at the vanguard, autistic children engage with the world providing the best in basic maths, chemistry, around them (page 6). physics and engineering. This issue of Some researchers supported by EPSRC Pioneer shows the diverse nature of what collaborate with companies across the we support – improving our environment A non-scientist friend recently asked healthcare spectrum – from start-ups to (page 4); providing for dementia sufferers me what EPSRC actually does. I replied blue-chip corporations. One such person is (pages 12-13); computer modelling for the that it spearheads innovative research in Professor John Fisher (pages 30-33) who prediction and monitoring of the spread of engineering and the physical sciences has combined a distinguished research infectious diseases (pages 52-53). to improve the quality of life. The UK is career with highly successful entrepreneurial acknowledged for the quality of its basic Strengthening bridges between all activities. Professor Fisher is a member of research to advance healthcare. But, I said, disciplines encourages innovation and EPSRC’s Council, the decision-making body there are challenges ahead. Though our underscores the social and ethical value responsible for determining policy, priorities research means we live longer, healthier of what we do. It also accelerates the and strategy, and for stewardship of its lives than at any point in history, we have arc towards application. This requires budget. I feel privileged to also have served an ageing population. There are also holistic thinking, the understanding of the on Council, and continue to maintain a close inequalities in human societies across the bigger picture. interest in EPSRC’s activities. globe. The progress we are making has EPSRC has strong partnerships with This edition of Pioneer reflects the diversity been largely possible because of improved industry such as Procter & Gamble; with of healthcare-related research supported by understanding, investigation and treatment charities like the Wellcome Trust and EPSRC. Hopefully, when my friend reads it of disease. Perhaps the greatest task Cancer Research UK (page 18-19); and he will applaud how some of the finest minds now is to translate that understanding into with organisations such as the Technology of our generation are pioneering research improved public health; here the work of Strategy Board (pages 38-43), translating in engineering and the physical sciences to EPSRC is of increasing importance. research for commercial and societal support every aspect of healthy life.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 3 briefings Sponsored research in action

of photo-catalytic reduction, a It is estimated that this process, if successful process that uses solar energy to at a commercial scale, could offset globally

convert CO2 into fuels like methane up to 700 million tonnes of CO2 each year, and methanol. significantly more than total UK annual The centre’s director and UK emissions which the UK Government project leader is Professor estimates at around 500 million tonnes. Mercedes Maroto-Valer (pictured The project includes scientists based in examining a catalyst used in the Taiwan, the USA, Canada and China, and prototype solar fuel reactors). includes leading industrial players, ensuring Professor Maroto-Valer holds the technology developed can be used with a joint EPSRC Challenging existing infrastructure. Engineering Fellowship with Professor Adam Lee from the Advisory board member, E.ON’s Dr Robin University of Warwick, and the two Irons, says: “This research is a fantastic Gas works are collaborating on the project. opportunity to bring a potentially hugely valuable technology to market. Industry Scientists at the EPSRC-funded Centre She says: “Your home will be producing CO as it consumes energy, but that will be will be working hand-in-hand with the for Innovation in Carbon Capture and 2 international team of academics, making this Storage (CICCS) at Heriot-Watt University turned into natural gas by the reactor using a truly global project designed to deliver a are developing unique sunlight and water- water and sunlight – it’s revolutionary. globally significant breakthrough.” powered ‘reactors’ for capturing and storing “This novel reactor and process could carbon dioxide (CO2 ) in the home. unlock a hugely significant source of carbon- The research project is funded under the At the heart of the technology is a unique neutral fuel – turning a climate-changing gas Research Councils UK Energy Programme, system aimed at increasing the efficiency into a climate-saving fuel.” which is led by EPSRC. Mood swings to detect basic emotions such as anger, surprise and happiness. As well as tracking initial public reactions to events, the system can analyse how the public mood changes over time following subsequent incidents or interventions. Furthermore, the program can collate expressions of feelings in real time, map them geographically and track how they develop. The system, which can be scaled up easily to monitor tweets globally, has a variety of potential applications including use by the police to track potential criminal behaviour or threats to public safety, or to guide national policy on the best way to react to Image: Shutterstock major incidents. An EPSRC-supported research team at such as the 2011 London riots or the The Loughborough research team was led Loughborough University have developed a murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby, through Twitter. by Professor Tom Jackson and co-funded computer program that can map the mood The system can analyse up to 2,000 tweets by EPSRC and the Defence Science and of the nation and its reaction to big events, a second, using sophisticated software Technology Laboratory (DSTL).

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 4 briefings Sponsored research in action

Erasing Flower power e-footprints

A ‘cleaner app’ which enables people at risk from domestic violence to seek help online without leaving an electronic trail behind them has been developed by EPSRC-supported researchers at Newcastle University. Lead researcher, Dr Budi Arief, says: “Any online access leaves behind an electronic trail. For most of us this is a useful record but for someone living in fear of abuse the very systems set up to help them can actually be used against them. “What our technology does is erase these electronic footprints, allowing people to seek help in safety without fear of reprisal.” Once accessed, the app selectively wipes clean the user’s digital footprints while leaving other electronic trails intact – a completely clean browsing history raises suspicions. The research is part of the Research Councils UK Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy (SiDE) initiative at Newcastle University. A consortium of researchers led by water courses, we are also confident Following the initial pilot studies, trials Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at we can develop ‘biofactories’ that can of the new technologies began in the University of Warwick is developing the tailor the shapes and sizes of the metallic spring 2013. use of common flowers, such as Alyssum nanoparticles arising from the process. (pictured), to remove poisonous chemicals “This would give manufacturers of catalytic including arsenic and platinum from polluted convertors, developers of cancer treatments land and water courses, potentially allowing and other applicable technologies exactly that land to be reclaimed and reused. the right shape, size and functionality The research resulted from a blue-sky of nanoparticle they need without any thinking ‘sandpit’ workshop, organised by subsequent refinement. EPSRC, involving scientists from Warwick, “We are also expecting to recover other Newcastle, Birmingham, Cranfield and high-value materials such as fine chemicals, Edinburgh universities. pharmaceuticals, and anti-oxidants from the A lead researcher on the project, WMG’s crops during the same biorefining process.” Professor Kerry Kirwan, says: “The EPSRC recently awarded the research processes we are developing will not consortium a grant of £3 million to develop only remove poisons from land and the technology.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 5 briefings Sponsored research in action Child’s play one of four UK schools to take children can manipulate objects, explore part in the ECHOES research the environment, and have fun with and project, jointly funded by EPSRC learn from a virtual screen character called and the Economic and Social Andy, who encourages them to engage in Research Council, to explore specific activities. how technology can make a Created using artificial intelligence software, difference in the classroom. Andy is able to pick up on the needs, Research has shown that interests, fears, likes and dislikes of children with autism often find individual children. computers and technology Cameras are integrated into the system, safe, motivating and engaging; enabling Andy to ‘see’ the children’s Topcliffe Primary School in Birmingham and teachers at the school have found behaviour. Project leader Dr Kaska Porayska- is helping break new ground by using that the ECHOES project has greatly Pomsta, says: “Andy is designed to react technology to help pupils with autism helped the children improve their social differently to different children and adapt his communicate more effectively. and communication skills. actions accordingly… Artificial intelligence has The school, which teaches around ECHOES uses a large interactive plasma a big role to play in the design of educational 30 children with various levels of autism, is touchscreen (pictured) through which the technology for young children.” Programme preference predictor

Scientists at King’s College London have designed an internet-based digital recorder which can predict what a viewer will want to watch on catch-up TV. The SCORE device can be used from a television set or computer and is designed to significantly reduce internet traffic and the overall carbon footprint of catch-up TV. The study, led by Dr Nishanth Sastry, was funded by EPSRC and involved colleagues from the University of Cambridge, the University of Pisa and the BBC. The team analysed consumption patterns from a data-driven study Dr Sastry says: “By learning more about energy usage on the internet by over of nearly six million users of BBC the existing viewing habits of users we have 40 per cent and reduce network traffic iPlayer. They compared their findings now been able to anticipate their usage of by nearly 60 per cent. with traditional ‘linear’ TV services to catch-up TV. “Importantly, we have also designed understand the network support required “Our evaluations show that SCORE, which the SCORE device to operate in a way and suggest ways in which overall load stands for Speculative Content Offloading that does not compromise the privacy or ‘footprint’ could be reduced. and Recording Engine, can bring down of users.”

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 6 briefings Sponsored research in action Pile drivers With space in city centres at a premium, and when time for construction projects is of the essence, a research team led by Professor Kenichi Soga and Dr Mohammed Elshafie have pioneered a way to test whether the foundations of buildings under demolition or reconstruction can be reused – saving construction companies time and money, and helping reduce environmental impact. Working with construction group Skanska, the team, from the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction, which is sponsored by EPSRC and the Technology Strategy Board, cored into the Sea power foundation supports of a London office development (pictured), opposite London’s A multi-partner academic/industrial block under demolition. They then inserted Gherkin, is 80 per cent more efficient than consortium led by the University of Durham optical fibre-based sensors to measure the the building it replaces. The project won and funded by EPSRC is working on a strain the foundations could absorb, and the Sustainability Category at the Ground project to sustainably manufacture liquid then advised on which could be reused. Engineering awards 2013. hydrocarbon fuels from seaweed. The new building effectively retains over Skanska plans to use the same approach The preliminary research was funded by 50 per cent of the original structural mass in the future. By reusing foundations, not the Molecular Engineering Translational – helping the company save £6 million, reduce construction time and decrease only will it be able save time and reduce CO Research Centre (METRC). 2 carbon emissions by over 1,000 tonnes on emissions, it estimates typical savings of Working with agricultural consultancy, installation alone. Overall, the new 16-storey £2-3 million per project. Silage Solutions, the research team, led by Durham’s Dr Chris Greenwell, showed that seaweed is an ideal raw material for converting into liquid fuel. Bravo echo As well as having a rapid growth cycle, seaweed has a solar efficiency that’s around University of Southampton researchers three times greater than terrestrial biomass. have shown that blind and visually It can also be grown alongside other water- impaired people have the potential to use based activities such as offshore wind farms echolocation, similar to that used by bats and fish farms; and does not compete with and dolphins, to determine the location of food crops for land or water. an object. This preliminary project led to the formation The team examined how hearing, and of MacroBioCrude, a five-year academic/ particularly the hearing of echoes, could industry consortium funded by EPSRC. help blind and visually impaired people with Led by Durham’s Professor Phil Dyer, spatial awareness and navigation. the consortium seeks to establish an Working with colleagues from the University integrated supply and processing pipeline of Cyprus, the team, led by Dr Daniel The knowledge gained from this study, for the sustainable manufacture of liquid Rowan, showed that both sighted and which was funded by an RCUK Basic hydrocarbon fuels from seaweed. blind people with good hearing, even if Technology Programme grant and EPSRC The inventors of the preservation technique completely inexperienced with echolocation, Vacation Bursaries, will help to develop intend to set up a company to develop and had the potential to use echoes to tell training programmes and devices for blind exploit their findings. where objects are. and sighted people in low-vision situations.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 7 briefings Sponsored research in action Energy-wise

Imaginative ways A six-month trial has seen reductions of up to empower to 20 per cent in energy use at the Federal factory employees Mogul factory in Derbyshire, proving that to cut energy use big savings can be achieved in factories have been devised and offices without the need for major and successfully capital investment. trialled by a Funded by EPSRC and the Technology consortium of Strategy Board, the project members UK universities included clean technology company Moixa and businesses. Technology, the Universities of Dundee, In the new approach energy Leeds and Southampton, University College usage data is collected by specially London and a range of industrial partners. developed low-cost sensors and Project Manager, Moixa Technology’s Dan fed into a live 3D computer model Mason, says: “When empty areas are over-lit of the factory that staff can consult or computers are left on at night, it’s the on their PCs, enabling them to pinpoint workforce that’s best placed to do something where energy is being wasted. The about it. What we’ve seen is that it really is sensors automatically trigger text messages possible to change people’s mindset about reminding staff to turn off lights and energy use and get them to think about what equipment that have been left on. they can do to make a difference.” Websafe An EPSRC-sponsored The Lucky Thirteen project, led by Professor research team came Kenny Paterson at Royal Holloway, to the aid of major University of London, staged ‘attacks’ international software on the Transport Layer Security system giants after they (TLS) which, combined with CBC mode discovered a weakness encryption, is used widely to protect in encryption software internet traffic. used to safeguard Professor Paterson says: “The test information sent by users focused on whether it was possible to see to web sites. information that was meant to be securely Left unchecked, the glitch encrypted. Our research found that TLS could have affected anyone could be broken – meaning that new disclosing personal details patches to prevent cyber-attacks are vital.” when shopping and banking The research team disclosed the details on the World Wide Web to those companies affected, including – that’s around 85 per Google and Microsoft, and have been cent of the world’s working with them to put in place online population. measures to prevent attacks.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 8 briefings Sponsored research in action

Award for phone app A mobile phone app designed by EPSRC- sponsored PhD student, Mark Iliffe, has won a major competition organised by the World Bank. The app, called Taarifa, could give people in Africa the power to improve sanitation in their communities, and is one of three grand prize winners in the World Bank’s Sanitation Hackathon, a global drive to engage researchers in communication technology in real-world problems relating to health and sanitation. The app allows people to input and share Mark, who is a doctoral researcher at community, won the chance to travel to their own sanitation problems using SMS, the University of Nottingham’s EPSRC- Silicon Valley in California for meetings web forms, e-mail or social media. The funded Horizon Digital Economy Research with venture capitalists and other potential reports can be monitored by local authorities Institute and Nottingham Geospatial investors who can help turn the ideas and acted upon to carry out repairs and Institute, together with colleagues who into viable and sustainable businesses improvements, giving citizens the power to co-developed the award-winning app which can have maximum impact around Websafe affect changes in their own communities. and representatives from the Taarifa the world. Heads up A ‘tactile helmet’ developed by EPSRC- filled with smoke, will be able to use the funded researchers at the University of signals to find walls and other obstacles Sheffield’s Centre for Robotics could that could help guide them through provide firefighters operating in challenging unfamiliar environments. conditions with vital clues about their A lightweight version of the technology surroundings. The helmet is fitted with could also be useful to people with visual ultrasound sensors that detect the impairments, acting as an additional distances between the helmet and nearby ‘sense’ to guide users or to help them walls or other obstacles. avoid hazards. The signals are transmitted to vibration The helmet, which was inspired by pads attached to the inside of the helmet, research into tactile sensing in rodents, touching the wearer’s forehead. Rescue whose whiskers give early warning of workers, such as firefighters, who might be potential hazards, was exhibited at the working in dark conditions or in buildings 2013 Gadget Show Live event.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 9 Richard the 3D

In 1485, Richard III came to a gruesome end at the Battle of Bosworth. Now EPSRC-sponsored researchers have used 3D printing technology to recreate the skeleton of the last King of England to be slain in battle.

It’s not often municipal facilities in middle as training aids by the country’s leading a shared project, which has been unique England hit the headlines, but the discovery National Health Service surgeons. in the impact it has had on the public’s under a car park in Leicester of the skeleton Professor Harris says: “This assignment was engagement with history, archaeology of King Richard III is a remarkable exception. the first time we had worked with a skeleton and science.” Following extensive multidisciplinary of such an age, but we were confident we The replica skull is now on display as part research, a team of University of Leicester could replicate it using our latest cutting- of Leicester City Council’s exhibition, archaeologists, in partnership with Leicester edge machinery.” Richard III: Leicester’s Search for a City Council and the Richard III Society, To begin the process the team were sent CT King. Record numbers of visitors proved that the skeleton was indeed that scans taken by Leicester Royal Infirmary of have already been to the of Richard. the actual remains of King Richard III, who exhibition in the city’s To help preserve details of this historic was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Guildhall. discovery for future generations, experts bringing to an end both the Plantagenet Professor Harris from Loughborough University’s School of dynasty and the Wars of the Roses. and his team at Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering The next stage was to transform the scans Loughborough are were invited by the Leicester team to make into a 3D computer model. Laser sintering now working on an electronic reconstruction of the king’s was then used to create a physical replica replicating the rest skeleton, and then a physical replica using of the king’s skull. This technique uses a of the king’s the latest 3D printing techniques. high-power laser to fuse small particles of remains using Professor Russell Harris, head of materials, in this case plastic, into a mass 3D printing Loughborough’s Additive Manufacturing that has a three-dimensional shape. technology. He says: Research Group, leads his team’s Professor Harris says: “Generating the first “Working involvement in the project. He says: “We 3D computer models was a very exciting with all knew this was an opportunity not to be process, when the number of significant those missed – this find has literally rewritten the injuries Richard had sustained in battle involved in history books.” became clear. Recording these features, in this incredible Professor Harris, whose research is both electronic and physical form, will be discovery has sponsored by EPSRC, is a world leader invaluable for future studies.” been a privilege. in the use of Additive Manufacturing – Richard Buckley, from University of Leicester “I am delighted that our also known as 3D printing – for medical Archaeological Services, led the search for expertise has been able to applications. The process allows physical the king’s remains as part of a project that help create a lasting legacy for objects to be built directly from 3D included geneticists, osteoarchaeologists, Richard III.” computer-aided-design (CAD) data without forensic pathologists and genealogists. the need for tooling and with minimal He says the Loughborough team were an human intervention. ‘exemplary partner’ in the project: “This You can find out more about the project Professor Harris has investigated many is a great example of the benefits which in The View, a magazine devoted to medical uses of the technologies, including accrue when different disciplines pull research at Loughborough University. creating complex skeletal models for use together and apply their specialist skills to www.lboro.ac.uk

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 10 Richard the 3D Photography: Andrew Weekes Photography Weekes Andrew Photography:

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 11 WHAT’S IN A LABEL?

Helen is an 87 year old lady who lives in a residential care home. What do we know about her? She has late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, she’s hard-of-hearing, she has trouble communicating, she has mobility problems, she can become very confused and she’s incontinent. But what do we know about the real Helen?

• People with dementia are in danger of being seen as • This research will develop software to create simple only a set of needs by care staff as they are very difficult but effective ‘external personalities’ that can act as a to get to know due to communication difficulties communication bridge between carers and people with age-related cognitive impairment • Social interaction has many benefits and affects the quality of care and life of a person with dementia • Information about the person, not the dementia, will be made easily available to care staff with the aim of allowing • A person with dementia is still a person with a life full them to see the person, not the illness, thereby helping to of experiences, achievements and history improve the quality of care provided.

• It is important to know a person as an individual, • How do you represent someone’s personality? How do understand their life history, their likes and dislikes, and you highlight someone’s life? How do you make people how they want to live their life in order to provide the right see an individual? type of care and support

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 12 See the person

Dementia is a growing concern worldwide, with an estimated 35.6 million sufferers. Dr Gemma Webster (pictured) explains how a clever take on a popular baked bean can design helped open up people’s minds about dementia research – and find a way to see beyond the label.

Back in 2009, during The research led to a successful spin out my first year as a PhD company, CIRCA Connect Ltd. HARNESSING THE DIGITAL student at the University Dementia currently costs the UK £17 billion ECONOMY of Dundee, this take on per year and care homes are stretched further Dr Gemma Webster’s research was a baked bean can label than ever before. Communication difficulties conducted under the auspices of the won me first prize at the associated with dementia can be particularly Social inclusion through the Digital British Science Festival challenging for care staff. perspective scheme in Economy (SiDE) and dot.rural research Portrait consists of a unique snapshot of each which researchers present and explore the hubs, which are funded through the person living in the care home and contains social implications of their work. The poster Research Councils UK Digital Economy important but limited personal and social may be four years old, but its theme is just Programme, led by EPSRC. information about the people with dementia as relevant as ever. for their care staff to access. The SiDE research hub aims to tackle social exclusion by making it easier When designing the poster, the question Portrait is unique in that it was designed from for people to access the life-changing arose: How do you show dementia? Do you the perspective of care staff who, within five benefits offered by digital technologies. use a stereotypical photograph of an older minutes of their normal work routines, are able person looking confused or sad, reinforcing to learn about the person’s family and key life SiDE addresses four fields where the stigma, or do you make people see events before they entered the care home, as digital technologies and the building of beyond the label – to take that second look? well as their preferences, hobbies or interests. a truly inclusive digital economy could This line of thinking led me to the final In short, it allows care staff to know who the bring major social benefits: connected concept for the poster, the artwork for which people are, not what illness they have. home and community, accessibility, was completed by my supervisor at the time, In 2011 I was awarded £10,000 at the inclusive transport services and Gary Gowans. Research Councils UK Telling Tales of creative industries. Seeing beyond the label is the aim of the Engagement competition to further my The dot.rural research hub explores Portrait project, which I developed as part research on Portrait. This award has allowed the contribution digital technologies of my PhD research together with Professor Portrait to be developed into a web-based can make to enhancing key services, Vicki L. Hanson from the EPSRC-supported system for use on tablet devices such generating business opportunities, SiDE RCUK Digital Economy research hub at as iPads and allowed the system to be boosting quality of life and the University of Dundee. permanently installed and used in care promoting the economic, social and Portrait is a software tool designed for use by homes. Feedback from care home staff has environmental sustainability of rural care staff in residential care environments to been very positive. areas across the UK. gain an initial understanding of people’s lives After completing my PhD in 2011 I joined the Research at the dot.rural hub prior to entering care. It has its origins in a dot.rural Digital Economy research hub at the is based around four themes: 2004-2007 EPSRC-funded project involving University of Aberdeen as a Research Fellow access and mobilities, healthcare, Gary Gowans and led by Dr Norman Alm, to working on projects looking at how digital enterprise and culture, and natural help people living with dementia through the communications technology can help people resource conservation. use of cutting-edge computer technology and in rural areas connect with each other and user-centred design. with the world around them.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 13 PIONEER 10 Summer 2013 26 Life support EPSRC Chief Executive, Professor David Delpy, explains the key role of UK scientists and engineers in pioneering technologies for the life sciences, and shows how innovative thinking and adventurous partnerships are helping to keep the UK at the forefront of global healthcare-related research.

Around the world, Through multidisciplinary partnerships with stimulating international investment. healthcare systems industry, academia, charities and other In short, we are at the vanguard of a new face two enormous research funders and users, we have a way of looking at healthcare: making use of and related research and training portfolio of over digital technology, applying adventurous, challenges: financial £500 million to help meet the challenges multidisciplinary science in areas such sustainability and posed by the escalating financial, physical as nanotechnology, DNA sequencing, an ageing population. and societal costs of long-term healthcare. advanced materials and tissue engineering One quarter of the UK Whether it is physicists working on – and getting people out of hospital and into population has a chronic condition such as imaging technology for MRI diagnosis; the home. heart disease and diabetes. An estimated engineers designing the hospitals of the At the University of Oxford, Professor four million older people in the UK have a future; chemists working on the latest Lionel Tarassenko, supported by EPSRC, limiting long-standing illness. By 2020 more drug development; or tissue engineers is developing medical monitoring than one million people will have dementia. providing ways to let damaged bodies technology to empower patients to manage conditions such as diabetes and asthma In the past, our healthcare system was heal themselves, the research and talented in the home through tools such as mobile based around curable illnesses where you people supported by EPSRC are vital to phone software. went into hospital unwell and came out meeting these challenges. better. Most people now leave hospital By improving the prediction of health Research into smart sensing systems is with long-term conditions which need to conditions, developing more effective helping dementia sufferers live safely and be managed at home. We need radically therapies, and enabling more people to independently. In June this year, EPSRC, the different models of care, including new kinds manage their own health and wellbeing, Arts and Humanities Research Council and of technology and therapies. the research we support provides a hi- the Economic and Social Research Council invested £8 million in seven major new EPSRC is at the forefront of research and tech platform upon which companies and research projects into how we can better doctoral training in technologies, techniques other research users can develop new design our built environment to promote and methodologies for the healthcare and products and practices – creating new jobs, mobility for an ageing population. life sciences sector. building new commercial opportunities and (Continued on next page)

15 To help ensure the life sciences sector has the tools and techniques it needs to develop world-leading medical technology, medical Research into smart biotechnology, pharmaceutical products, and industrial biotechnology, we are also sensing systems is helping dementia sufferers investing in healthcare-focused Centres for Innovative Manufacturing in areas such live safely and independently. as low-cost pharmaceutical products and regenerative medicines. Working alongside a wide range of industrial partners, the Centres accelerate (Continued from previous page) the application of the technologies they EPSRC-sponsored researchers at Since then, DNA research has accelerated develop, potentially leading to their Edinburgh Napier University, working with dramatically, but the work still takes time. launch on commercial markets. Microsoft, are using cloud computing to EPSRC-supported researchers at the Over 40 per cent of UK medical develop a safe way to store and share University of Southampton are leading the technology companies were formed patient records. The data capturing system way in developing super-fast DNA tests, in the past decade, including many will include records from all healthcare while Oxford Nanopore, a company set up spin outs arising from university- professionals, giving them a full picture when to commercialise EPSRC-funded research, based research. assessing an individual’s needs. is developing a sensing system for low-cost Success stories from EPSRC- The system allows organisations to mobile DNA sequencing developed at the sponsored research include securely disclose critical or time-dependent University of Cambridge. Apatech, whose revolutionary health and social care records, and could Investing in people synthetic bone graft material overcome the problem of files not being To provide the highly-skilled people needed is used by surgeons shared between GPs and hospitals, to drive forward research and innovation, worldwide, and which saving the NHS money and time when EPSRC funds the training of around 9,000 was sold to US giant assessing new patients. Ultimately the postgraduate students in engineering Baxter for $330 million, research could significantly reduce the and the physical sciences (EPS). Indeed, and medical imaging use of paper records. we are the largest UK sponsor of EPS experts Mirada Medical Elsewhere, an EPSRC-sponsored team doctoral training, and a great many of the who supply to hospitals from City University London and Coventry PhD students we support are engaged in and cancer centres University have developed the MyCare card multidisciplinary research connected to the around the world. which, while it may look like just another life sciences. As the UK’s credit card in your wallet, stores personal We are also investing heavily in specific main agency for medical data that could mean the difference training relevant to the life sciences, funding research between life and death in a medical including Centres for Doctoral Training, in engineering and emergency. It is the first device of its type to providing industry-relevant PhD training in the physical sciences, be trialled in the UK. areas such as biopharmaceuticals, medical EPSRC has a unique World-leading science devices, imaging and regenerative medicine. understanding of the research landscape, and a Advances in research are helping to radically Many of the PhD students we sponsor have finely-tuned awareness of improve our understanding of disease and gone on to receive further support from how each link in our portfolio are enabling the design of treatments better EPSRC, including standard research grants, fits together – mathematicians tailored to individual patients. programme grants and our Fellowships. An working with social scientists, An example of this kind of work, involving EPSRC Fellowship provides established and chemists with physicians, cutting-edge research and world-class future research leaders with the time and artificial intelligence experts clinicians, is the world’s first synthetic resources they need to develop their ideas working with manufacturers of organ transplant, which Swedish surgeons and build a team around their research – prosthetic limbs. successfully carried out using a windpipe and then take that research to the next level, ‘grown’ from the patient’s stem cells, focusing on long-lasting impact. (Continued on next page) designed and developed by EPSRC- sponsored scientists at UCL. Science and engineering research takes time, energy, patience and inspiration. Take Every year, we train around 9,000 doctoral DNA. In 1953 Watson and Crick’s brilliance and persistence unlocked the secrets of students, many of whom will be engaged in DNA, but it took decades of hard work and inspired thinking before we succeeded research connected to the life sciences. in mapping the human genome, in 2000.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 17 (Continued from previous page) Engineering for Health initiative we are providers, social workers and many more Over the years we have built collaborations co-investing £30 million with the Wellcome are working alongside university researchers, with over 650 non-university partners, Trust to find biomedical engineering charities, global companies, UK-grown including the medical profession, the NHS, solutions to major healthcare problems. SMEs and other Research Councils. other Research Councils, the life sciences We shall soon see the publication of a Together we are part of a largely unsung industry, charities, and co-funders such as review commissioned by EPSRC into the UK success story that is integral to the the Technology Strategy Board. contribution of engineering and the physical development of technologies and treatments for 21st century healthcare – from creating As Pioneer went to press, we announced sciences to health and the life sciences. synthetic blood to regenerating the human a new joint investment with Cancer I’m pleased to say the review, chaired by retina, helping the blind to see. Research UK, through which we are co- Professor Patrick Maxwell, Regius Professor investing a total of £35 million in university- of Physic and Head of the School of Clinical These advances will lead to more based centres to develop cutting-edge Medicine at the University of Cambridge, sustainable healthcare and a better quality imaging technologies for basic and clinical reflects our thinking on the need for greater of life for all of us. But they also create new cancer research. multidisciplinary integration across research jobs and economic growth, and give UK disciplines, with industry and beyond. This new tranche of funding builds on an companies the opportunity to compete in a initial joint investment in 2008 of £45 million, The review also highlights the need for huge global market estimated to be worth and will bring together many of the UK’s greater joined-up thinking at the policy up to £170 billion per year. leading scientists, engineers and clinicians level between major funders, stakeholders, For decades, the UK has punched well to speed up advances in new technologies academia and the health and life sciences above its weight in medical science. It’s time and help ensure these are applied rapidly to sector. This is a valid point, and we will be for those less visible in this story to take a the benefit of patients. Our joint investment working closely with others to effectively bow: researchers from physics, chemistry, is now £80 million. target resources to keep the UK at the maths, computer science and engineering forefront of developments in medical and life We are also extending our Strategic who are conceiving new healthcare sciences. We are, however, starting from a Partnership with the Wellcome Trust, technologies and working with others to good place, as the report makes clear. which already includes a £45 million co- turn them into reality. This edition of Pioneer investment in four Centres of Excellence in Throughout the healthcare system, GPs, shows how EPSRC is supporting them in Medical Engineering. Under the Innovative surgeons, clinicians, nurses, ambulance doing this.

INTEGRATED INVESTMENT EPSRC is investing over £500 million in research and training directly relevant to health. EPSRC’s Healthcare Technologies theme has four main strategic priorities to help drive forward the life sciences sector and support the National Health Service. They are: • Design, manufacture and integration of healthcare technologies: from lab research to commercial reality. • Enhanced prediction and diagnosis: in real time and at the point of care: for example, sensor technologies to detect and measure a patient’s physical condition, both in the hospital and at home. • Novel therapeutic and treatment technologies: advancing research in areas such as regenerative medicine, drug delivery, artificial implants and mathematical modelling. • Technologies for a healthy life course: for example, to help the elderly retain their mobility and independence; and to enable people to self-manage their health, reducing the need for healthcare professionals to be involved.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 18 THE TREATMENT From major strategic partnerships to Centres for Innovative Manufacturing, EPSRC is investing over £500 million in research and training directly relevant to health.

MAJOR PARTNERSHIPS AND MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE INVESTMENTS EPSRC has invested in dedicated EPSRC has around 440 different collaborators healthcare-focused Centres for Innovative across its healthcare technologies portfolio, £32m Manufacturing in areas such as low- and currently invests £513 million. A further cost pharmaceutical products and £96 million is contributed by collaborators on into three Interdisciplinary regenerative medicines. grants, including world-leading life sciences Research Collaborations Working with a range of industrial partners, companies, SMEs and the charitable sector. the Centres accelerate application and They include: commercialisation of the technologies support from the National Institute • £45 million in joint funding with the they develop. for Health Research and the Medical Wellcome Trust to support four Centres Research Council, was complemented of Excellence in Medical Engineering. by a new joint EPSRC/CRUK investment Joint funding has also been agreed with of £35 million in October 2013. the Wellcome Trust under the Innovative • £32 million into three university-based Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations £513m (see pages 38-39). • £25 million with the Medical Research total EPSRC Council, the Biotechnology and investment in health-relevant £98m Biological Sciences Research Council, invested through cash and the Science and Technology Facilities research Council and the Technology Strategy in-kind contributions from Board in a national Regenerative collaborative partners Medicine Platform. PHD TRAINING • £16.2 million with Research Councils EPSRC invests extensively in doctoral-level UK and the Technology Strategy Board training, including: Nanoscience Programme in nano- • Centres for Doctoral Training providing Engineering for Health initiative, enabled transformative diagnostics. industry-relevant PhD training in areas through which £30 million has been • £12.2 million for 15 medical engineering such as medical devices, imaging and committed to research to find biomedical research projects, focusing on: Medical regenerative medicine. engineering solutions to challenging imaging with onus on neuroimaging; • Industrial CASE. In 2012-2014 EPSRC healthcare problems. Acute treatment technology; Assistive will support 117 placements for PhD • £80 million in joint funding to support a technology & rehabilitation and therapies. students in life sciences companies. network of EPSRC-Cancer Research • £10 million initiative to encourage • A training partnership with AstraZeneca; UK cancer imaging centres. An initial engagement with small charities and establishing a centre of excellence in investment of £45 million in 2008, with SMEs. In 2013 this work is continuing targeted therapeutics at the University through Healthcare Impact Partnerships. of Nottingham. • £24 million in biopharmaceuticals design and manufacturing research, jointly with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and 20 £80m partner companies. £45m co-funded by EPSRC and • Strategic Partnerships with Pfizer AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and with the Wellcome Trust in Cancer Research UK in Novartis. These have already led to over Centres of Excellence in cancer imaging centres £14 million of joint investments in drug discovery-related collaborative research Medical Engineering and PhD training.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 19 Fitter, healthier, happier From medical imaging technologies to tissue regeneration; better hospital design to new medical devices; cloud computing to prosthetics; smarter drug delivery to infection control, EPSRC is investing in a host of projects to support health and the life sciences, particularly through research into new healthcare technologies. Here’s a snapshot of some of them.

When the patient visits the clinic, a nurse the sensitivity of an average hospital scanner Needle point plugs the watch into a computer and within by 200,000 times. Margaret Lucas, Professor of Ultrasonics minutes the data is analysed into readable The York research project is supported by at the University of Glasgow’s School of reports for the patient and the doctor. EPSRC, the Wellcome Trust, the Wolfson Engineering, together with researchers at Foundation, Bruker Biospin and the the universities of Dundee and Edinburgh, University of York. is developing a new form of surgical needle Sweet success which vibrates at ultrasonic frequencies. University of Strathclyde researchers, led by The technology, which is being developed Professor Duncan Graham and supported Ambulance award with project partners Ethicon Endo-Surgery by EPSRC, are developing an easy-to-use and Weidlinger Associates Inc, would allow The Emergency Ambulance project, a joint nano sensor that detects molecules of doctors to penetrate bone with needles with initiative between EPSRC, the Helen Hamlyn glucose. The team hope it could become much less force than is currently required, Centre for Design and the Royal Academy of a major weapon in the battle against the improving the effectiveness of biopsies and Art, has won the Industrial Designers global diabetes epidemic. allowing a more effective delivery of drugs to Society of America Silver Award for parts of the body obscured by bone. A potential application for the technology Research at the 2012 International would be as part of a sensor placed under Ultrasonic needles could also make it easier Design Excellence Awards. the skin, which could be transformational in for doctors to penetrate areas of hard tissue The project, to create a new ambulance the lives of patients who need to draw blood without affecting the surrounding soft tissue. interior fit for 21st century healthcare, was several times a day to test their sugar levels. Potential applications for the technology developed by bringing together frontline include neurosurgery, orthopaedics, bone The technology could also have applications paramedics, clinicians, patients, academic biopsy, oncology and rheumatology. as an early warning system for impending researchers, engineers and designers in a diabetes, with the potential for the sensor to co-design process. help control the condition by releasing tiny A full-size mobile demonstrator of the new amounts of insulin. ambulance interior was formally launched The project is in collaboration with King’s in 2011. Watching brief College NHS Foundation Trust in London. The redesign focuses on improving clinical EPSRC-supported researchers at the efficiency and enhancing patient safety. Newcastle University Research Councils UK Modular equipment packs containing Digital Economy SiDE hub have developed Alzheimer’s alert specific treatment consumables have been sensors for use in digital wristwatch devices incorporated to aid clinical performance, to help people suffering from cardiovascular Ground-breaking research taking place infection control and stock control. disease, obesity and diabetes. at the University of York could lead to Designed to make use of cloud computing Alzheimer’s disease being diagnosed in technology, the sensors measure a patient’s minutes using a simple brain scan. activity, bringing in a vast amount of data The research team, co-led by Professor Battling the bugs that can be analysed to help understand Simon Duckett, are working on new their behaviour. In this way, personalised technology that could revolutionise the way EPSRC-funded researchers at the University treatments can be designed to enable in which Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Leeds are investigating the impact of patients to modify the amount and type of (MRI) scans are used to view the molecular building design, human behaviour and exercise they are getting to alleviate their events behind diseases like Alzheimer’s, indoor air flows on airborne pathogens in medical problems. without invasive procedure, by increasing hospital wards.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 20 The team are using analytical modelling The team treated E. coli bacteria with techniques, lab-scale experiments and different combinations of antibiotics in Star Trek tech on-site data to evaluate risk across different laboratory experiments. Unexpectedly A University of Glasgow-led research ward designs. they found that the rate of evolution of project is aiming to develop a handheld As part of their research, the team found antibiotic resistance speeds up when Star Trek-style ‘multicorder’ capable of that hospital superbugs can float on air potent treatments are given because quickly providing medical staff with accurate currents and contaminate surfaces far resistant bacterial cells flourish most information about their patients’ condition. during the more aggressive therapies. from infected patients’ beds. This may The EPSRC-supported project includes explain why, despite strict cleaning regimes engineers, chemists and biochemists and hygiene controls, some hospitals still from the universities of Glasgow and struggle to prevent bacteria moving from Newcastle, and involves a number of patient to patient. 3D heart monitoring industrial partners. It is already recognised that hospital A team of EPSRC-supported University of The multicorder will house a selection of superbugs, such as MRSA and C-difficile, Sheffield scientists and researchers from the custom-engineered sensors to provide can be spread through contact, resulting Northern General Hospital and St Thomas’s a snapshot of an individual’s current in a greater emphasis in hospitals on Hospital London are trialling state-of-the- condition by measuring samples of blood keeping hands and surfaces clean. But art computer modelling systems that could or saliva. The resulting picture will provide the Sheffield research team showed that provide a breakthrough in the treatment instant feedback on their condition similar coughing, sneezing or simply shaking the of patients with heart failure, which affects to diagnoses made by doctors using the bedclothes can send superbugs into flight, 900,000 people in the UK every year. famous tricorder device in the Star Trek films allowing them to contaminate recently- The multi-centre trial uses the latest 3D and TV series. cleaned surfaces. images of the heart to predict a patient’s Principal investigator, Professor David The research is co-supported by an EPSRC response to a common treatment for the Cumming, of the University of Glasgow’s Challenging Engineering grant held by condition, specifically through the use of School of Engineering, says: “We hope project leader Dr Cath Noakes. a pacemaker. to be able to replicate the capabilities of At present, clinicians have to use traditional a whole lab in a single handheld device, tests such as an echocardiogram to making it much easier for doctors, assess whether a patient is suitable for a paramedics and other medical professionals FluPhone app pacemaker. With the new personalised to make effective diagnoses. models, they will be able to measure a wider “For countries in the developing world A mobile phone app that tracks how people range of important factors to create more where access to laboratory tests can behave during an epidemic could be used personalised models of the heart. be limited, multicorder technology could to limit the spread of disease. Patient John Brewitt, 61, of High Green, mean the difference between life and death The app, which has been developed by who joined the trial, said: “I think this study for patients.” EPSRC-supported researchers at the is a really good progression for patients. (Continued on next page) University of Cambridge, monitors influenza- Having the computer images done is easy like symptoms by prompting questions for and quick for everyone involved, the mobile phone owner. and so I can really see The app also captures physical proximity how this can lead to information between individuals by improvements.” recording other devices nearby via Bluetooth communication. Project leader, Professor Jon Crowcroft, says: “There are more cell phones than people. And, in most urban areas, network coverage is close to 100 per cent, hence we can get very accurate measurement and sampling of the population.”

Evolution overdrive Research from the University of Exeter and Kiel University in Germany, led by Professor Robert Beardmore, who holds an EPSRC Leadership Fellowship, shows that bacteria can evolve resistance more quickly when stronger antibiotics are used.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 21 (Continued from previous page) The dye fluoresces under ultraviolet (UV) any infectious or genetic disease by using light, indicating that the wound is infected. HyBeacons on the DNA sequence of Bone disease diagnosis The nanocapsules mimic skin cells in that bacteria, viruses or people.” EPSRC-supported academics at Cranfield they only break open when toxic bacteria The research is supported by EPSRC and University are developing a new approach to are present, not responding to the harmless the Technology Strategy Board. medical diagnosis for bone diseases such bacteria that normally live on healthy skin. as osteoporosis. Dr Toby Jenkins is leading the project. Professor Keith Rogers and Dr Peter He says: “Around 5,000 children a year Steely determination Zioupos are using expertise in bone in England and Wales are hospitalised or mineral chemistry and X-ray diffraction treated in hospital with serious burns, mostly Materials scientists at the University of to develop a technique called ‘focal scalds caused by tea and coffee. Birmingham, led by Professor Hanshan construct technology’. Professor Rogers “The big problem for clinicians is the fast Dong, have devised a way of making says: “The current screening approach, diagnosis of infection. Current methods take stainless steel surfaces resistant to bacteria. known as a Dexa scan, tells a clinician about between 24 and 48 hours to get an answer By introducing silver or copper into the a patient’s bone density, but this is only part as to whether the wound is infected. steel surface (rather than coating it onto the of the story. What’s missing is information “However our burns dressing gives a surface), the researchers have developed a on the quality of the bone, and our new simple colour change under UV light if a technique that not only kills bacteria but is technique will indicate this. pathogenic, disease-causing bacteria is also very hard and resistant to wear and tear “In the future, by combining the two present in the burn, meaning clinicians can during cleaning. screening techniques, there’s the potential be alerted quickly to a potential infection.” Bacteria resistant surfaces could be used in for a single result which will offer a much hospitals to prevent the spread of superbug better prediction model to assist clinicians in infections on stainless steel surfaces, as diagnosis and treatment.” Faster DNA testing well as in medical equipment, for example, instruments and implants. Researchers from the University of The technology could also be adapted for Fighting burn infection Southampton are developing an innovative use in the food industry and home kitchens. technique for super-fast DNA testing for EPSRC-funded scientists at the University medical conditions that is paving the way of Bath, working with clinicians at North to point-of-care tests for medical conditions Bristol NHS Trust, are developing a medical and faster crime scene analysis. Smart sensor success dressing that could potentially save the lives In partnership with international analytical Scientists have developed a way of of children with serious burns. science company, LGC, the team have testing for HIV and early-stage diseases with Alongside clinicians at the South West developed a new way of fluorescently a colour-changing sensor 10 times more Paediatric Burns Centre at Frenchay labelling DNA with special probes, known as sensitive than current similar technology. Hospital in Bristol, the team have developed HyBeacons. Project leader, Professor Tom The team, from Imperial College London, led a prototype dressing that releases dye Brown, says: “HyBeacons are like little balls by Professor Molly Stevens, have developed from nanocapsules triggered by the of loosely screwed-up string that uncoil a prototype ultra-sensitive sensor that could presence of disease- easily and find their targets.” enable doctors to detect the early stages of causing The HyBeacons light up diseases and viruses with the naked eye. pathogenic when they attach to a The researchers say their sensor would bacteria. specific target sequence benefit countries where sophisticated of DNA. Their advantage detection equipment is scarce, enabling over existing systems is cheaper and simpler detection and their very simple structure, treatments for patients. which makes them more predictable: they bind Professor Stevens says: “It is vital that faster to their targets and patients get periodically tested in order to always work. assess the success of retroviral therapies and check for new cases of infection. Professor Brown says: “In theory you “Unfortunately, the existing gold standard could diagnose detection methods can be too expensive to be implemented in parts of the world where resources are scarce. Our approach affords for improved sensitivity, does not require sophisticated instrumentation and is 10 times cheaper, which could allow more tests to be performed for better screening of many diseases.”

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 22 a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge, led by Senior Research Sonic pill First sighting Associate Dr Neal Lathia. A University of Dundee-led project aims to EPSRC-supported scientists at the The app’s designers hope it will accumulate develop a capsule carrying tiny ultrasound University of Aberdeen, led by Professor a very precise record of what drives people’s technology that can be easily swallowed David Lurie, have developed a radically emotional peaks, showing, for example, and passed through the gastrointestinal new type of MRI scanning technique which when they are likely to be at their most tract, relaying images which clinicians can may ‘see’ disease at an earlier stage than stressed, or when they feel most relaxed. use to diagnose any problems. standard MRI – and in greater detail. The This could prove particularly valuable Project leader, Professor Sandy Cochran, scanning method is thought to be the first of for helping people who need specialist says: “So-called pillcams are a developing its type in the world. psychological support. area of medical technology which It is hoped the team’s method may also have already benefitted more than one reveal ‘biomarkers’ – detectable indicators million patients. of disease state or progression – which Life saver “We aim to develop that technology might eventually help pharmaceutical further to include ultrasound, for the first companies to develop new drugs for Surgeons in Sweden have carried out the time seeing beyond the surface of the neurodegenerative diseases such as world’s first synthetic organ transplant using gastrointestinal tract into the tissue itself. Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as a windpipe ‘grown’ from the patient’s stem This will bring significant diagnostic benefits other diseases like cancer. cells. The replica organ was designed and for patients. We also want to explore developed by EPSRC-sponsored scientists. treatment with such pills.” The surgeons successfully implanted The project includes collaborators at In the blood a synthetic windpipe ‘scaffold’ into the Heriot-Watt University and the University of throat of a cancer patient. Without the new Glasgow, and is linked with the NHS and Dr Rob Thomas, from Loughborough windpipe, the patient, whose own windpipe with industry partners. University, who holds an EPSRC Early had been blocked by an inoperable tumour Career Fellowship, is developing tools to the size of a golf ball, would have died. manufacture large quantities of medically The artificial organ was designed and valuable cells from umbilical cord blood. developed by a multidisciplinary team led Tumour sensors The project aims to provide manufacturing by Professor Alex Seifalian at University Tiny sensors to monitor tumours in tools for clinicians to develop new College London. unprecedented levels of detail are being treatments for serious diseases, and The team used 3D computerised developed in a five-year project at the produce stocks of manufactured blood or tomography scans of the patient to craft a University of Edinburgh, led by Professor platelets for transfusions while supporting an perfect copy of his trachea using a glass Alan Murray. important new economic activity in the UK. mould, from which they developed a replica The devices, about the size of an eyelash, Dr Thomas says: “Umbilical cord blood ‘scaffold’ using a biocompatible polymer. would be implanted into patients’ tumours, contains immature cells with powerful where they could ‘spy’ on a cancerous properties to repair the human body growth’s activity. and is increasingly used instead of bone The team believe the development would marrow to treat childhood blood cancers Cell mate allow doctors to administer radiotherapy such as leukaemia as there are fewer A Lancaster University team are developing and, in time, chemotherapy where and rejection problems. It could also help in the a routine diagnostic tool called an when it is most needed, ultimately improving treatment of other serious conditions such ‘endotheliometer’ which measures activity recovery rates. as organ failure and diabetes. within the endothelium, a layer of cells that “Cord blood cells could also potentially coats the inside of every blood vessel in generate large numbers of high value red the body. blood cells or platelets for transfusion, or Professor Aneta Stefanovska says: immune system cells for immunotherapies.” “Endothelial function declines with age, Dr Thomas’ work has evolved from and diseases such as heart failure have projects in the EPSRC Centre for associated endothelial dysfunction. Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative “We can use the tool to check that the Medicine; a national collaboration led from state of ageing is within healthy limits and Loughborough University. can try to prevent possible complications leading to serious impairment and Mood swings cardiovascular disease.” The project is funded by EPSRC, the An Android app which monitors users’ Wellcome Trust and now the Economic and mood swings and works out what might Social Research Council, under its New be causing them has been developed by Dynamics of Ageing programme.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 23 Face value Cancer patients and trauma victims who suffer facial disfigurement can wait weeks before they are well enough to have a soft tissue prosthesis made and fitted. Now, research and development inspired by a 2002 EPSRC-supported research project has shown how waiting times for a new prosthesis can be dramatically reduced while improving the quality of life of the patient at the earliest stage.

Words: John Yates

Professor Ric van Noort, of the University of Technologies in Surgery project. Professor entrepreneur at an international conference Sheffield’s School of Clinical Dentistry, has van Noort says: “David had secured EPSRC on additive manufacturing. His name was seen at first hand the effects that cancer funding to look at how a new industrial Tom Fripp, an industrial design graduate and trauma can have on patients with technology called additive manufacturing from Sheffield Hallam University and an facial disfigurement in both the developed – better known as 3D printing – could be expert in rapid manufacturing processes. and the developing world, and has long applied to the medical field. “Professor van Noort presented us with a believed there must be a quicker and less “We worked with him on the dental real challenge, but we knew there had to intrusive way of helping rebuild their faces side where we explored the use of 3D be an industrial design solution,” says Tom and their lives. printing to produce customised jaw Fripp, Managing Director at Fripp Design He says: “For patients requiring the fitting joints. That experience convinced me this and Research. of a soft tissue prosthesis, such as an ear was a technology that could transform Having produced some early prototypes, the or nose, the process of making and fitting patient care.” company worked closely with the University prostheses is archaic at best. In dentistry, the fitting of implants is already of Sheffield and was able to secure £8,950 “It requires taking an impression from the becoming a digital process. “The days of the in funding support from the university’s patient, then making a mould, then hand- technician sitting by the side of the patient Knowledge Transfer Opportunities Fund and painting the prosthesis, and then custom waxing-up a mould will soon disappear. a White Rose Health Innovation Partnership modification during fitting to the patient. Instead they will be sitting at a computer, grant of £35,500 to develop the technology. “The whole process is time-consuming and designing crowns and bridges which will The success of this work led to a joint the quality of the prosthesis, once made, ultimately be made directly by using 3D approach to the Wellcome Trust in January can be highly variable. We knew there had printing technology,” says Professor 2009 which secured a Translation Award of to be a better, more modern way of making van Noort. £510,000 to develop a commercially soft tissue prostheses but weren’t sure how But could a technology which makes dental viable solution. it could be done.” implants with hard materials such as cobalt Four years on, the collaboration is close to A potential solution emerged back in 2002 chrome be adapted to produce soft tissue realising its goal, with funding for clinical when Professor van Noort joined forces implants such as an ear or a nose? All the trials being secured by one of their early with De Montfort University’s Professor evidence seemed to suggest that this was collaborators, Professor Julian Yates, who is David Wimpenny on the EPSRC-funded impossible. Until, that is, Professor van now at the University of Manchester. Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Noort bumped into a young innovator and (Continued on next page)

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 24

26 (Continued from previous page) However, given that patients in Europe UK. “There is a long time interval between Professor van Noort says: “Getting to this and America already have access to highly surgery and the fitting of a prosthesis in stage has been challenging. There were skilled maxillofacial technologists, the team Britain,” says Fripp. “This is a difficult time so many technical as well as regulatory believe that demand for the new technology for the patient. Since our method requires hurdles to overcome, not least of which is much more likely to come from health no physical contact and can be made within was ensuring that the colour and texture systems in the developing world. Professor 48 hours, our prostheses could fill this gap. of the prosthesis matched perfectly the van Noort says: “What we have created is It would certainly be good enough to act as patient’s skin, and that the materials we a method that can produce a reasonably an interim measure, and the prosthesis can used triggered no adverse lifelike soft tissue prosthesis really cheaply be replaced on a weekly or fortnightly basis reactions.” as necessary while the All the hard work paid scar tissue settles down off, however, when they and when the fit becomes produced a prototype What we have created is a method compromised.” replacement nose for a For Ric van Noort it is the nasal cancer patient. Tom that can produce a reasonably lifelike combination of Fripp’s Fripp says: “She was industrial design expertise delighted. In the past she and the university’s had had to undergo an soft tissue prosthesis really cheaply knowledge of materials invasive process in order and colour mapping that to produce an impression and quickly. will “improve the quality of from which a model could life for thousands of soft be cast that would then tissue prosthesis wearers”. be used to construct the Tom Fripp says: “This prosthesis. This could take all morning. project demonstrates what can be achieved and quickly, and which is also cheap Our process, which involved using 3D when a university works closely with an and easy to replace when it wears out. photogrammetry, took minutes and requires SME to deliver better solutions to their Thus, these prostheses will fill a need for no contact with the patient’s skin. patients’ needs.” many patients around the world not as “Because the materials we use are lighter, fortunate as those who have a maxillofacial You can read more about this story in the patient noticed immediately how technologist on their doorstep.” comfortable the new nose felt and how the Discover, a magazine devoted to research more feathered edge made it easier to blend Nevertheless the technology does have and much more at the University of to her face.” a role to play in patient care here in the Sheffield. [email protected]

Printers’ process

The system developed by Tom Fripp (pictured opposite) and Professor Ric van Noort (pictured below right) captures facial texture and colour in 2D images which are then mapped onto the scanned 3D image. A 3D copy is then manufactured on a ZCorp 3D colour printer using 100 per cent biocompatible materials. These core materials consist of a form of starch that is later injected with inert silicone that gives the material its flexible, flesh-like texture. Above: A prototype replacement nose. The team’s method requires Tom Fripp says: “The colour data can no physical contact, and the be captured with any good digital prosthesis can be made within 48 camera. As 3D scanning technology hours, using reasonably lifelike soft becomes ever more available, and tissue, both cheaply and quickly. The prosthesis can also be replaced affordable, so the cost of capturing on a weekly or fortnightly basis the patient data becomes more viable as necessary, while the scar tissue across the globe. All we need here in settles down. the UK is that data to manufacture the prostheses.”

PI0NEER 11 Winter 2013 27 Bursting cancer’s bubble Innovative drug delivery techniques based on ultrasound are set to transform the effectiveness of chemotherapy cancer treatment.

Words: Chris Buratta

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 28 Vehicle design conjures an image of drag The science, of course, is far more complex. Over the past five years, Professor and downforce. But a team of engineers But the implications are game changing. Coussios has been working on a type of in Oxford are developing very different These new delivery systems will dramatically capsule known as a liposome, which is kinds of vehicle that could revolutionise increase the ability to target chemotherapy just a few hundred nanometres in size. cancer therapy. drugs, increase their impact and reduce One nanometre is equal to one thousand Hundreds of thousands of people treated for side effects. millionth of a metre. cancer each year undergo chemotherapy, “Typically, when the drug is injected into The drug is encapsulated within the an established drug treatment that works the patient, less than half of one per cent of liposome – a layer of lipid and cholesterol through repeated doses of a toxin to attack that drug dose will actually make it to the that is naturally present in all cells in the and kill cancer cells. target tumour,” says Constantin Coussios, body. When heated, the capsule ‘melts’, However, once injected the drug affects Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the releasing the drug within. By only heating many healthy cells and organs, causing IBME. “Using the thermal and mechanical the tumour area, the drug is only released significant and unpleasant side effects such effects of ultrasound to deliver the drug, in that area, helping protect healthy organs as hair loss, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. we can increase that to as much as and tissue from exposure to the drug. Ultimately, this limits the amount of drug that 25 per cent.” The project involves clinicians at Oxford can be safely delivered. Professor Constantin Coussios and Dr University Hospitals NHS Trust, and patient The concept developed by the team at the Eleanor Stride have both been supported trials are set to take place at the Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) by EPSRC Challenging Engineering awards. Cancer Centre in 2014. The trial will utilise at the University of Oxford, is a simple one; Since 2005, the Challenging Engineering the centre’s £1.5 million High Intensity put the chemotherapy drug in a capsule or programme has invested £35 million to Focused Ultrasound facility (HIFU), one of bubble and then burst that bubble using develop future leaders and keep the UK at very few in the country. ultrasound when it reaches the tumour area. the cutting edge of research. (Continued on next page)

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 29 Photography: Mark MallettPhotography:

Bubble act: Professor Constantin Coussios and Dr Eleanor Stride setting up a therapeutic ultrasound transducer for a targeted drug delivery experiment.

(Continued from previous page) the tumour itself by utilising the so-called the Research Building at Oxford University’s HIFU will be used to heat the tumour area Enhanced Permeability and Retention Old Road campus. Three floors above him to a temperature of around 42 degrees (EPR) effect. This takes advantage of is the clinical pharmacology department Celsius, not high enough to kill healthy cells, increased fenestration, essentially larger making the drugs. but warm enough to ‘melt’ the capsule gaps in the blood vessel walls close to Five hundred yards away is the £109 million and release the drug. a tumour. By developing capsules small Oxford Cancer Centre, run by Oxford enough to pass through these larger gaps, “This is the very first time these drug University Hospitals NHS Trust, where but too big to pass through the blood delivery strategies are being trialled on clinical teams have played a key role in vessel wall in healthy tissue, it allows higher humans,” says Professor Coussios. “We are developing the technology and where it is concentrations of the drug to accumulate in very excited. If we see some of the benefits likely to be trialled using HIFU technology the tumour area. that we have seen in pre-clinical models, early in the New Year. These partnerships particularly the much higher concentrations This higher accumulation of drug in the are essential for maximising impact from of drug accumulating in the tumour and the tumour area combined with the ability the research. to trigger its release on demand is, as ability to achieve drug delivery on demand, The project is also supported by the National Professor Coussios suggests, “game then this will change the face of oncology for Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford changing” for cancer treatment. decades to come.” Biomedical Research Centre, a collaboration The concept is clever in more ways than But unlike the drugs, the team are not in between Oxford University Hospitals NHS one. Fabricating the capsules to a certain a bubble. Professor Coussios’s office and Trust and Oxford University to translate size can increase the concentration in laboratories are on the lower ground floor of basic science into patient benefit.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 30 But, like all good engineers, the team have “What we want is something that is not There are still barriers to overcome as Dr already identified areas for improvement and only thermally sensitive but mechanically Stride explains: “Getting the drug into a are working on the solutions. sensitive, something we can actually bubble so it really stays there until we are Professor Coussios says: “If a similar ‘pop’ open. ready to release it is not trivial in terms of the treatment could be applied using a low “This gives us far more control and the complex chemistry involved. power ultrasound machine – similar to those process of breaking the bubble open has “What we’d really like to be able to do is used by maternity services up and down advantages in delivering the drug into the combine the advantages of the liposome the country, which are smaller, lighter and target cells. technique for tumour penetration with the safer for patients – it would be more readily “When we focus the ultrasound the gas targeting and low energy requirements of available to hospital units around the world.” gets compressed and expanded just like the microbubble method. That’s what we’re Dr Eleanor Stride, who moved to Oxford squeezing a balloon. It is that motion that working together on doing now. to join the IBME in 2011, is working on an allows the bubble to get into the cells and “But this is an engineering problem, a alternative method that can be used with eventually breaks down the material to vehicle design problem. You do what any low power ultrasound. release the drug.” engineer would do. You identify the problem Instead of using a liposome, Dr Stride To achieve even better targeting, Dr Stride you are trying to solve, you break that down encapsulates drugs within a microbubble includes magnetic nanoparticles in the and come up with ways to solve it.” made from similar materials but which, bubble formulation which allows the bubbles It is a simple approach to a simple concept, crucially, contains gas, making it highly and hence the drug to be localised in a delivered by world-class engineers, that responsive to ultrasound. She says: target area using a magnetic field. could burst cancer’s bubble.

Ultrasound in healthcare

Ultrasound is the safest and fastest method of scanning the body to provide medical diagnosis. Images are made by directing ultrasonic waves into the body, where they bounce off internal organs and other objects and are reflected back to a detector.

Researcher Dr Apurva Shah manufactures drug carrying liposomes. Above: Dr Eleanor Stride fine tunes the gas pressure in the microbubble fabrication process.

EPSRC Challenging Engineering Awards Below: PhD student Rachel Myers examines a new Challenging Engineering Awards, which communications technologies and formulation of stimuli responsive nanoparticles. are now part of EPSRC’s Fellowship process, environment & sustainability. scheme, are made to the most promising Award-holders are provided with the early career researchers who have resources and flexibility they need to the potential to become engineering approach traditional challenges in new research leaders. and exciting ways. Since 2005, £35 million in Challenging With a five-year lifespan, the awards Engineering Awards has been invested enable holders to build multidisciplinary in nearly 40 researchers in areas teams around them to realise their such as materials, mechanical and research vision and push the boundaries medical engineering, information & of conventional thinking.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 31 Regeneration man From trainee aerospace engineer to successful biomedical inventor, to membership of EPSRC’s governing body, Professor John Fisher CBE, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, has enjoyed a career bristling with variety and garlanded with achievements. He tells Pioneer about a life less ordinary – and a yearning for more hours in the day.

I have had a very diverse career Research, and now as the university’s first area, which include simulation, modelling, path. It has made me what I am today. Deputy Vice-Chancellor. design, manufacture, testing and evaluation. After graduating from the University of It has given me great professional You must also be prepared to create new Birmingham in 1976, I spent 12 years in satisfaction to see the university’s ranking solutions to problems and challenges that industry – initially as a trainee automotive move up from 25th to 13th as defined by are important to society and industry. and aerospace engineer. A postgraduate the 2008 national Research Assessment Your work should not simply be about course in design and manufacture en route Exercise. This was a major advance for generating new knowledge. I would like to to becoming a chartered engineer led me the institution, and something I worked think we have successfully incorporated this to work in the National Health Service as a hard to achieve as Pro-Vice-Chancellor approach and philosophy at Leeds. biomedical engineer. for Research. I am proud to have worked with My PhD, which involved industry, In my role as an educator, I have presided Professor Eileen Ingham for many years. clinicians and academia, gave me over the training and graduation of over In the 1990s we developed the Institute great personal satisfaction, and was 100 PhD students, many of whom are of Medical and Biological Engineering transformational in my career. The working in industry and in healthcare (iMBE) at Leeds into one of the leading knowledge I gained from it enabled me to systems across the world, making their multidisciplinary medical and biological successfully design and bring to market own impact and contribution to improving engineering centres in Europe. The centre is a new kind of porcine bioprosthetic heart the quality of life. I would like to think the recognised as a world leader in simulation valve, in 1990. The valve is still manufactured multidisciplinary training and approaches systems for improved and longer-lasting today by Vaskutec and has led to a wide and values they experienced en route to joint replacements, in collaboration with portfolio of related products. Experiences achieving their doctorates have contributed industry partners across the globe. such as these helped me understand the to their achievements. Contrary to thinking at the time, we felt it importance of multidisciplinary R&D at the My early industry experience in was possible to implant biological scaffolds academic/industry interface. The benefits for mainstream traditional engineering has derived from animal tissue without rejection, both academia and industry are mutual – in been very influential. Engineering in its as a regenerative scaffold, provided we were each case two plus two can be made to broadest form is simply the application of able to remove the cells and immunological equal 10. science with a defined purpose. I believe molecules. This has been an important My experience in academia, industry and that to make progress and move beyond strand of our strategy over the last 10 years the National Health Service helped me to the basic science, beyond the test tube and led to the creation of spin out company hone the leadership style I have used for the or the laboratory bench, you need to think Tissue Regenix plc. last 25 years at the University of Leeds, as like an engineer, and adopt professional faculty Pro Dean, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for engineering approaches within the research (Continued on next page)

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 42 PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 43 biological Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research scaffolds for tissue Unit, in collaboration with Leeds Teaching regeneration (led Hospital Trust; and the EPSRC-supported by Professor Innovation and Knowledge Centre in Eileen Ingham); Regenerative Therapies and Devices. and enhanced I have been involved with EPSRC for quality and many years – sitting on panels, on advisory reliability of the groups and, since 2010, as a member of its things we make Council, the senior decision-making body and use, such responsible for determining policy, priorities as implants, and strategy, and for the stewardship of biomaterials and its budget. regenerative The strategic and policy role of Council interventions. is critical if the UK is to compete in an We are addressing increasingly challenging global environment. Team dynamic: Professor John Fisher with his colleague and co- these challenges Emerging countries such as India and China founder of Tissue Regenix plc, Professor Eileen Ingham. through seven are investing substantially in the physical major centres sciences, technology and engineering – and (Continued from previous page) and programme grants, including the are achieving accelerated research growth Broadly speaking, everything we do at EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre in and impact as a result. In the UK we have to the iMBE relates to the 50 Active Years after Tissue Engineering and Regenerative recognise we are a small provider in terms of 50® healthcare technologies initiative. Driven Medicine; the EPSRC/Wellcome Trust- global research and innovation (less than five by patient need, we have three main goals: supported WELMEC Centre of Excellence per cent) so we simply have to be the best longer-lasting joint replacements; acellular in Medical Engineering; the NIHR Leeds in terms of quality, benefits and impact. Pictures courtesy Institute of Biomedical Engineering,Pictures Institute courtesy University of Leeds EPSRC CENTRE FOR INNOVATIVE MANUFACTURING IN MEDICAL DEVICES

The EPSRC Centre for Innovative The Centre is based at the University Manufacturing in Medical Devices, of Leeds’ Institute of Medical and launched in February 2013, focuses Biological Engineering (iMBE), one of the on transforming the way replacement UK’s leading bioengineering research joints and other medical implants are institutions. The iMBE, led by Professor made – helping to improve the quality John Fisher, has pioneered work on of patients’ lives. longer-lasting joint replacements, The £5.7 million EPSRC Centre brings revolutionary spinal interventions and together academics, industrialists and biological scaffolds for tissue repair that clinicians, and aims to address the grow with the body. The Centre works major day-to-day challenges faced with the EPSRC-supported Innovation by manufacturers. and Knowledge Centre in Regenerative Instead of doctors ordering, Therapies and Devices at Leeds, also unpacking and fitting implants, the led by Professor Fisher, which largely aim is to personalise devices to meet focuses on research translation and the individuals’ needs, made in or near the development of new technologies to An immunology bioreactor heart valve used by clinical setting. prepare for private sector investment. Professor Fisher and his team.

EPSRC COUNCIL Professor John Fisher is a member of There are currently 19 members of universities which are the major recipients EPSRC Council, the senior decision- Council, which is accountable to of EPSRC sponsorship, and key strategic making body responsible for determining Parliament, and membership includes partners in business. policy, priorities and strategy. It is also senior academics and industrialists. The Secretary of State for Business, accountable for the stewardship of Council consults regularly with Innovation and Skills appoints Council EPSRC’s budget and the extent to which EPSRC’s strategic advisory bodies, members. Appointments are made on performance objectives are met. other advocates, key partners in those merit and with independent assessment.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 34 Being a member of EPSRC Council is a These challenges do not respect traditional BIOGRAPHY major societal responsibility. It is not just academic disciplines. EPSRC has played a John Fisher CBE; FREng; FIMechE; FIPEM; about helping to formulate strategies and leadership role in developing multidisciplinary Professor of Mechanical Engineering. policies that support and sustain the UK approaches and challenge-led research Responsibilities: Deputy Vice-Chancellor, research base. It is also about delivering within Research Councils UK, and I hope University of Leeds. future benefits to the UK – to industry, I have contributed to this in a small way. Professor Fisher also provides leadership to government, public bodies, universities, I think I have the best job in the world. over 200 academic researchers in medical students and the UK taxpayer. I feel privileged to be an academic in engineering. We encourage innovation and its translation the UK. It is a career full of opportunities into new technologies, products and and choices. Positions at Leeds include: Director of the Institute of Medical & Biological Engineering processes, and foster joint investment from Away from my work, I try to keep healthy (iMBE); Director EPSRC Doctoral funders and sponsors as well as universities and fit; go to the gym; walk in the Yorkshire Training Centre in Tissue Engineering and industry. Dales. We also have season tickets at Old and Regenerative Medicine; Director of This work goes hand-in-hand with ensuring Trafford – my wife is a lifelong Manchester the Centre for Innovative Manufacturing EPSRC is at the forefront of training and United supporter. I have a large garden in Medical Devices; Co-Director Leeds development of the next generation of which is an ongoing project – supporting Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit; scientists and technical leaders, whose the visiting wildlife while keeping moderate Director N8 Regenerative Medicine Centre. achievements we must strive to ensure rank order, and a degree of tidiness – but I am with the very best in the world. not always in control of the balance. Most Research activities: Joint replacement and substitution; tissue engineering; and When I look around the research importantly, it gets me out of the house on pre-clinical simulation. landscape there are many important a weekend. and challenging areas to address: If I were to be granted one wish, it would Director: Tissue Regenix plc. energy, sustainability, water, transport, be to have more time. There is always much manufacturing, information technology. more to do. icture courtesy courtesy P icture Tissue plc Regenix HELPING HUMANS REPAIR THEMSELVES

Tissue Regenix, a university spin out banks in the UK and South America, include company specialising in human tissue knee damage repair, heart valves and regeneration products, is developing advanced wound care for leg ulcers. cutting-edge technology that could Today, the Tissue Regenix Group revolutionise medicine – in a global has a market capitalisation of over industry worth an estimated $7 billion. £60 million. The basic research that Founded in 2006 by Professors led to the company’s formation was John Fisher and Eileen Ingham to funded by EPSRC in 2000, and commercialise their EPSRC-funded Tissue Regenix continues to receive research at the University of Leeds, EPSRC support. Tissue Regenix’s first product – a Professor Eileen Ingham, vascular patch derived from pig tissue co-founder, says: which repairs damaged human veins – “The support from gained its CE mark in 2010 and is now EPSRC and other sold globally outside the USA. funders, including The company’s proprietary dCELL® the Technology technology platform works by removing Strategy Board, all cells from the animal tissue, allowing over many years it to be used to replace worn out or has been crucial diseased body parts – without the need in enabling us to for anti-rejection drugs. Because a pursue the basic patient’s own cells can populate the new technology and biological scaffolds, they are accepted then drive forward by the immune system and can be its potential. We repaired like normal tissue. The dCELL® were able to use process can be used to make 20-30 the grants flexibly, different products. enabling continuity Potential applications for the technology, of employment for which has been licensed for use in tissue key researchers.”

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 35 Prescription for success From sensors in patients’ clothing that monitor their condition to smartphones that can diagnose and track the spread of infectious disease, EPSRC is investing £32 million in three major Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations (IRCs) that could help revolutionise healthcare.

The investment spans 10 universities collaborate on the three multidisciplinary The five-year IRC initiative benefits from and 18 industry and academic partners, projects, which will be typically led by additional funding of £9 million from the and brings together researchers from one institution. project partners. areas such as pathology, information & The research will focus on developing new The projects are led by Dr Rachel communications technology (ICT), and applications and technologies to tackle McKendry, from University College electrical engineering. increasingly pressing problems, such London; Professor Mark Bradley, from the Scientists and engineers will work with as an ageing population and severely University of Edinburgh; and Professor Ian clinicians, industry and policymakers to overstretched hospitals. Craddock, from the University of Bristol.

36 Early-warning sensing systems Multiplexed ‘touch and tell’ SPHERE: Sensor Platform for for infectious diseases optical molecular sensing Healthcare in a Residential University College London, with and imaging Environment Newcastle University, Imperial College University of Edinburgh, with Heriot-Watt University of Bristol, with the universities London and the London School of University and the University of Bath. of Southampton and Reading. Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Potentially fatal lung complications are a Britain’s obese and ageing population is Infectious diseases are one of the greatest common problem for patients on ventilators at risk of isolation, depression, strokes threats to human health. Early diagnosis in intensive care units (ICUs). Doctors caring and fractures caused by falls in the home. plays a vital role in treatment, care and for these patients often need to make snap SPHERE will develop a 24/7 digital home prevention. However, worldwide, many decisions without the information necessary sensor system to monitor the health and infections remain undiagnosed and to properly inform their choices. wellbeing of people with different health untreated or are diagnosed at the late stage The IRC’s Director, Professor Mark challenges living at home. due to poor diagnostic tools. The result is Bradley, says: “This programme is all about An example of SPHERE’s home sensor ongoing transmission of serious infections multidisciplinary collaboration. It brings system could be to detect an overnight and delays in the identification of emerging together world-class physicists, chemists, stroke or mini-stroke on waking, by threats such as pandemic influenza. engineers, computer experts and clinicians detecting small changes in behaviour, The IRC’s Director, Dr Rachel McKendry, to design, make and test a cutting-edge expression and gait. It could also says: “The revolution in mobile bedside technology platform to help ICU monitor a patient’s compliance with their communication, nanotechnology, genomics, doctors make rapid and accurate diagnoses prescribed drugs. and big data analysis offers tremendous that inform therapy and ensure patients get Professor Ian Craddock, Director of the opportunities to actively manage outbreaks the right treatment, quickly.” IRC, says: “Families, carers, health and and ultimately to prevent infectious diseases. The platform will use advanced fibre-optic social services professionals involved in all “To harness this technology we are technology, microelectronics and new stages of care will benefit from the system. developing a new generation of diagnostic sensor arrays to create a small fibre-based SPHERE will address real-world challenges test and tracking systems that could probe that can readily be passed into the by developing a practical technology to help save millions of people from deadly patient’s lung, blood vessels or other parts target health concerns such as obesity, diseases such as new strains of influenza, of the body such as the digestive tract. depression, stroke, falls, cardiovascular and HIV and MRSA.” The technology will monitor a patient’s musculoskeletal diseases.” The key to the system will be its flexibility, condition in real time, without the The system will be general-purpose, low- enabling it to be used almost anywhere, need for cumbersome equipment or cost and accessible. Sensors will be entirely including GP surgeries, elderly care homes ionising radiation. passive, requiring no action by the user or even at home. Results will be sent Initially the research will focus on intensive and suitable for all patients including the securely to healthcare systems, alerting care unit patients and critically ill babies. most vulnerable. doctors of potentially serious outbreaks Severely unwell babies often need to have SPHERE will work hand-in-hand with the with geographically-linked information. It is blood samples taken to test for oxygen and local community. It will develop practical, hoped the technology could also be used acid levels. By inserting a probe into their user-friendly technologies and pilot systems in developing countries with challenging circulation it will be possible to continuously in a large number of homes over extended healthcare infrastructure. monitor these levels without the need to periods of time. The technology will also be able to track take blood. Leading clinicians in heart surgery, reported illness and symptoms across Specially developed optical fibres will allow orthopaedics, stroke and Parkinson’s populations by searching millions of online clinicians to view inside the lung; other disease, and recognised authorities sources including internet searches and fibre-based devices will incorporate sensors on depression and obesity, will also social media posts to identify outbreaks to measure important parameters such as be involved. even before people attend clinics. oxygen concentration. The fibre will also Project partners include: IBM United The project brings together expertise be used to detect specific bacteria, viruses Kingdom Limited, Toshiba Research in areas such as biomarker diversity, and other damaging processes. The aim is Europe Limited, Bristol City Council, nanosensing systems, microfluids, for the technology to be applicable to many NIHR BRU Nutrition, Diet & Lifestyle, Bristol wireless networks, data mining and health healthcare situations. Health Partners and Knowle West Media economics; and will cultivate links with Project partners include: ST Microelectronics Centre (KWMC). partners in more than 100 countries in Limited, Carestream Health, Edinburgh Africa, Asia and South America. Biosciences Limited, UK Astronomy Project partners include: Microsoft Technology Centre. Research, OJ-Bio Ltd, Mologic Ltd, Cambridge Life Sciences Ltd, Zurich Instruments, O2 Health, UCL Partners, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

37 PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 40 Seeing’s believing A multidisciplinary team at Newcastle University are at the forefront of research with Biblical echoes – helping the blind to see.

Words: Roland Pease

Of the 40 million the cells’ genetic code to produce a type The Newcastle team’s headset can image blind people of light-sensitive protein first discovered in the visual scene, perform retinal image around the world, swamp algae in 2003. processing, and then transmit the image to one million have In a Europe-wide consortium, OptoNeuro, the newly re-sensitised retina. a condition which Dr Degenaar’s collaborators have shown in With the help of partially sighted volunteers, critically afflicts a key experimental mice that this process, known the team is optimising the digital processing part of the eye – the as genetic transfection, does transform cells to ensure the projected images are sharp light-sensing layer to allow a degree of light sensitivity. The and simple enough to be useful in daily life. in the retina. The effect, however, is far weaker than it would The next big leap will be to transfect the condition, Retinitis Pigmentosa, leaves the be if applied to a healthy retina. sight-giving genes into real patients’ eyes. rest of the retina largely healthy. This is where biomedical engineer, Patrick So far, the procedure, involving the injection The dream is that patients with this condition Degenaar, comes into the picture. He has of genetically altered viruses, has not been might see again, with the help of the developed a miniature electronic projector tested on people. Dr Degenaar is confident remaining healthy cells. EPSRC-supported to assist the cells. “Without intensifying the the European collaboration will be ready to research at Newcastle University is bringing image, the patient would remain completely move to human tests in two or three years. that dream closer. in the dark,” he says. “Although science has But transforming the retina is only the The approach, led by Dr Patrick Degenaar succeeded in repurposing the nerve cells, beginning for Patrick Degenaar. Along with (pictured), is a marriage between advanced which is a fantastic achievement itself, they a team of neuroscientists at Newcastle opto-electronics and gene therapy. are extremely inefficient compared to healthy University, he hopes to take the procedure The genetic part is to induce a degree of cells – you need extraordinarily intense light directly into the brain. to activate them.” light-sensitivity in the healthy cells at the By virally altering neurons in the brain, they back of the eye; the electronic element is Microscopic brilliance plan to make it possible to beam digital a prosthetic image intensifier to help the With EPSRC support, Degenaar and his signals right into our information-processing genetically-recharged retina see. collaborators have developed tiny arrays of centres: digital cameras could transfer How it works high-intensity micro-LEDs that can beam an images straight into the visual cortex of In the healthy eye, the process of seeing intensified version of the visual field directly patients with traumatic forms of blindness; starts when light is captured by specialised into the patient’s eye. and neural pacemaker signals might calm proteins in the rods and cones at the back Though only 20 micrometres (0.02 mm) the pathological electrical activity that of the eye, releasing a cascade of electrical across, each LED produces light that is 500 underlies epilepsy. signals that travel down nerves into the brain. times brighter than the surface of the Sahara Patrick Degenaar says: “Optogenetics In Retinitis Pigmentosa, the most common desert at midday. The system can also marks a dramatic shift in the way we’re of the degenerative diseases of the eye, generate images at up to a thousand frames able to communicate with the human the rods and cones themselves deteriorate, per second, so that smoothly changing video nervous system. leading to blindness. Although those light- is possible. “The capabilities that it gives us make it detecting cells are irretrievably damaged, The team are combining these advanced one of the most exciting times to work as molecular biologists have discovered a way arrays into a headset akin to that used by a biomedical engineer. We have only just to make the surrounding healthy nerve cells Google’s much-vaunted headset-based begun to think of the types of therapy for light-sensitive. They do this by re-engineering ‘wearable computer’ system, Google Glass. which it can be used.”

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 39 Glowing evidence

British soldiers injured in battle and elderly people suffering from chronic ulcers are just some of the patients who will benefit from new wound-healing technology being developed at the University of Sheffield in partnership with a global medical technology company.

Words: John Yates

When Professors Stephen Rimmer, Sheila It transpired that the MoD decided not to MacNeil and Ian Douglas presented the further invest in the project, but neither results of their research into branched Professor RImmer nor his team were about polymers to military scientists at Porton to mothball the research. Down they were hopeful they would win That crucial first phase of the joint MoD/ approval to take their project to the next EPSRC-funded project had convinced stage – developing a fast, accurate and them they were embarked on a ground- possibly life-saving technique for detecting breaking journey that would take them infections in wounds. from fundamental science in the realms of “They were really interested in our findings,” polymer physics to the ultimate goal of a says Professor Rimmer, who heads an medical technology that would immediately interdisciplinary team of polymer scientists, detect the presence of bacteria in a wound microbiologists and tissue engineers at the and then help identify the best form of University of Sheffield. treatment for the patient. “Unfortunately, our timing could not have (Continued on next page) been worse. No sooner had we arrived back in Sheffield than the Government announced a freeze on all Ministry of Defence spending. With aircraft carriers being mothballed, we wondered if our project could survive the cuts.”

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 Bonding experience: The polymers developed by the team incorporate a fluorescent dye and are engineered to recognise and attach to bacteria. The polymers grab the bacteria, shown here as pink fluorescent spots, clumping them together, and then glow blue.

41 (Continued from previous page) had been well funded to that point; that with up to 60 per cent of these being infected. By finding a way of detecting Kick-start it was innovative, of the highest quality, and of global significance for the treatment and treating these cases earlier, and more Professor Rimmer says: “The work we of wounds. effectively, the team are confident their did with the Ministry of Defence, jointly “While we would not normally get involved research will improve patient care and funded by EPSRC, was critical to our reduce the cost burden on the National investigations and really influenced the at the applied research stage, because of the EPSRC funding and the possibility Health Service. But this can only happen direction we were to take, which was to through collaboration. look at making medical devices based on of Technology Strategy Board financial Dr Richardson says: “The team at Sheffield the polymer research. It gave us the basic support, we could see the benefits of have the in-depth knowledge of the research understanding – which we have collaborating with the Sheffield research fundamentals that we don’t have, while our recently proved. team in trying to bring their findings to the next stage by building their technologies chemists have the skills to translate this “The polymers we have developed into some of our existing products.” research into something that can be turned incorporate a fluorescent dye and are Successful bid into a practical medical treatment. It is a engineered to recognise and attach to powerful formula.” bacteria, collapsing around them as The result was a successful bid for Professor Rimmer agrees. He says: “Smith they do so. more than £600,000 in funding from the & Nephew are taking our technology and “The level of fluorescence detected will alert Technology Strategy Board, a Government- supported agency focused on helping making it work in a wound dressing, that’s clinicians to the nature and the severity why both sides are putting a real effort of infection. We were the first people to accelerate the UK’s economic growth through business-led innovation. into making this happen. It will have an propose this theory. To see the whole enormous impact on patient care. We process happening was fabulous.” The joint University of Sheffield and Smith & would hope the new technology will be For Professor Douglas, another clever Nephew teams are using the new funding available within the next five years. aspect of the team’s work is that it makes to develop a technology that will provide enhanced care for patients suffering from “Who knows, the Ministry of Defence for a much more efficient use of antibiotics. may one day be using our wound He says: “When the polymer collapses it chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers. dressings to help save the lives of traps the bacteria around it, allowing us to soldiers in the battlefield.” pull the whole thing out without releasing Dr Richardson says: “Chronic wounds such any antibiotics into the wound. This means as these are major health and economic the bacteria do not develop any antibiotic burdens in most developed countries and resistance – which is crucial for elderly are primarily wounds of the elderly. With patients suffering from chronic wounds who the rise in the levels of obesity/diabetes this The research team at the need long-term care.” problem can only get worse. University of Sheffield have Although excited by their findings, and “These are critical wounds. If they become despite the publication of papers describing infected they can be very problematic for the in-depth knowledge the research in prestigious journals, the the patient, in some cases leading to the funding stream needed to take their project amputation of digits or limbs. The early of the fundamentals that to the next stage seemed to have dried and accurate detection of infection is very up. It was not until Professor MacNeil was important, but at the moment we have we don’t have, while our invited to a national science conference in no point-of-care diagnosis for wounds. Bradford that the team’s work gained wider Clinicians can take swabs, but this can chemists have the skills public recognition. mean a delay of up to 48 hours to get to translate their research The four-slide factor a result, during which time the patient is potentially at risk.” Professor MacNeil says: “Each presenter into something that can was allowed just four slides to illustrate their Providing the clinician and the patient with work. It meant we really had to simplify a tool that alerts them early to a potential be turned into a practical what we were doing in order to show the infection – and which also reassures them medical treatment. It is a impact our research could have.” With the when there is no infection – could transform national media in attendance, the team the care of wounds and reduce the powerful formula. suddenly found themselves in the spotlight, unnecessary use of antibiotics. It could also with their research featuring on the BBC. help prevent wounds becoming colonised by an established layer of bacteria (called Dr Mark Richardson, Vice President of biofilms) which are more resistant to Dr Mark Richardson, Vice President of Research and Technology at Smith & normal antibiotic treatment, and can lead Research and Technology at Smith & Nephew Wound Management, had been to protracted care. following the team’s work, and took a keen Nephew Wound Management interest in the academic journals. He says: Rapid response “It was inevitable that at some time we In the UK alone there are over 200,000 would talk. We knew the team’s research patients suffering from chronic foot ulcers,

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 42 Each presenter was allowed just four slides to illustrate their work. It meant we really had to simplify what we were doing in order to show the impact our research could have.

Professor Sheila MacNeil, University of Sheffield

Healing wounds

The new technology being developed will look very like conventional wound dressings but will contain a hydrogel membrane, which is a thin, flexible sheet made of the same material as contact lenses and containing water. Another option being explored is to deliver the polymers as solutions. A handheld device is being developed which will be able to detect changes in the colour of the dressing, indicating the presence of bacteria and how best to treat it.

The work we did with the Ministry of Defence, which was jointly funded by EPSRC, was critical to our investigations and really influenced the direction we were to take. That piece of work kick-started the next step in terms of making medical devices based on the polymer research.

Professor Stephen Rimmer, University of Sheffield

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 43 Spin cycle

Sublimely soft yet staggeringly strong, silk is one of nature’s super- materials. Potential applications for it range from tissue regeneration and repairing damaged nerves to sustainable construction material. The trick, says Dr Chris Holland, is working out how to recreate it synthetically, on an industrial level.

Words: Matt Shinn

PIONEER 09 Winter 2013 All pictures courtesy of the OxfordAll courtesy pictures Silk Group/Dr Holland Chris

It’s amazing stuff, silk. The art of making waste product is water. Spider silk is able “but I’m still acutely aware of where they are it has been mastered by many different to stretch four times its original length in a room.” creatures, such as caterpillars and spiders. without breaking. With the help of an EPSRC Fellowship for The fact that these creatures have all come Now, researchers are looking at what we early career researchers, Chris has put up with a similar manufacturing process, can learn from this strangest of natural together a team, based at the University and a similar end-product, suggests they’re substances, as we design the materials of of Sheffield, which aims to show how really on to something. the future. understanding the natural process of silk Light and highly elastic, silk is also incredibly For someone who’s spent so much of production, in spiders as well as various tough – some kinds of spider silk are his career around spiders, it’s perhaps other creepy-crawlies, can be used to tougher than Kevlar. What’s more, silk is surprising that Dr Chris Holland started engineer high-quality but sustainable among the greenest materials around – it’s off his arachnid research a little nervous of materials, which could have mulitiple uses – biodegradable, and when it is made the only them. “I wasn’t afraid of spiders,” he says, from food to healthcare. (Continued on next page)

PIONEER 09 Winter 2013 (Continued from Given that the manufacture and processing previous page) of materials causes over 20 per cent of Chris’s interdisciplinary the world’s carbon emissions, with many collaborators include structural materials being sourced from theoretical modellers, non-sustainable supplies, and given that materials scientists, the production of man-made polymers engineers and physical alone accounts for five per cent of crude chemists, as well as oil use, understanding the process of biologists like Chris silk-spinning could bring huge benefits for himself, who “know which end of a silkworm the environment. you put the food in”. Chris says: “We need to reduce our reliance In the case of the mulberry-leaf-munching on fossil fuels: we can’t keep on digging silkworm, the know-how for producing silk up buried sunshine. But the materials EPSRC Fellowships goes back thousands of years, forming the we use in the future can be based on an basis of a hugely lucrative textile industry. understanding of the lessons of evolutionary Dr Chris Holland (pictured above When it comes to the silk threads produced history. In silk we can see 400 million years’ with a co-worker) is an early career by spiders, though, which are much tougher worth of R&D.” researcher supported by an EPSRC than those of silkworms, nobody has yet Fellowship. EPSRC supports three managed to produce them on an industrial career stages: Postdoctoral, Early scale, and artificial silks have fallen way Career and Established Career. short of what spider silk can do. In silk, we can see 400 Fellowships are central to EPSRC’s Before you get to thinking that all you commitment to developing the next need to mass-produce spider silk is to million years of research generation of world-leading scientists gather together millions of arachnids into and development. and engineers; and are a direct a silk factory, think again – herding spiders investment in Britain’s most talented together in this way has a serious flaw. They individuals to help them develop will eat each other. ground-breaking ideas across a Researchers such as Chris Holland range of fields. (pictured) are only just coming to understand Silk threads An EPSRC Fellowship provides the mysterious process by which a spider’s established and future research feedstock – the liquid gel inside its body, • Silk is the strongest natural fibre leaders with the time and resources a substance called an ‘aquamelt’ – gets known to man they need to develop their ideas turned into hard, solid fibre, through • The strongest silk is a nano-scale and build a team around their spinning. It’s this process of spinning that ribbon produced by the highly research – and then take that research makes silk a unique material – a protein fibre venomous Brown Recluse spider to the next level, focusing on long- that has evolved for use outside the body. • When exposed to water, some lasting impact. The really clever thing is that the spider, in spider silks will shrink up to 50 per Fellowships are particularly valuable producing silk, which is a kind of natural cent of their original length in helping talented people build polymer, does so using far less energy than • Typical spider silk is able to stretch reputations and strike out in we need to produce polymers from oil. four times its original length new directions to become new Chris Holland’s team use devices that mimic without breaking research leaders. the actions of natural silk glands, but that • The Darwin’s Bark spider produces Working with universities, EPSRC produce silk under a much wider variety silk that is considered to be 10 provides tailored support for individuals of conditions, for example, at different times more durable than Kevlar with leadership potential across all temperatures, than a spider has to deal career stages, in bespoke packages • A silk worm eats 40,000 times its with. The goal is to be able to produce that closely match their needs. own weight between birth and fibre with predictable properties, and in pupation large enough amounts, to allow for new industrial applications. • Silk from silkworms has an average width of 20 millionths of For Chris, though, the aim is not just to a metre produce fibres with some of the properties of spider silk, but to do so as energy- • A single silkworm cocoon is efficiently as spiders do. He says: “Energy made out of a single thread one efficiency is the currency of biology – it is the kilometre long thing that millions of years of evolution have • Silk has been used to make selected for. And it is by understanding the everything from parachutes to in-built efficiency of nature that we will be rugs, from medical sutures to able to act more sustainably.” prosthetic arteries

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 46 SILK UNRAVELLED: THE OXFORD SILK GROUP

Much of the underpinning research on The research is both influential and Advanced Metrology to measure the devices silk has been pioneered by Professor potentially lucrative. Several members of in order to characterise their surfaces. Fritz Vollrath at the University of Oxford’s the group have received academic career To be effective, the knee joint’s bearing must Department of Zoology, whose Oxford Silk advancement grants from EPSRC, and a be wear-resistant, with a surface texture Group (of which Chris Holland is a former number of PhD students have put their skills that is precisely fit for purpose. The team member) seeks to unravel the evolution, to unusual practical uses, working with the are employing atomic force microscopy ecology, physics and chemistry of this Williams Formula One team, as well as with and optical interferometry to measure the perplexing material. the European Space Agency. composite material at nanometre level, or In their Oxford labs, Fritz and his team use Even more practically, the Oxford Silk one billionth of a metre. Project leader, Dr state-of-the-art techniques to reveal the Group’s research has led to a number of Leigh Fleming, says: “The purpose of the secrets of the spinning process. They also spin out companies. Regenerative medicine measurement is to make sure the devices use ‘super-microscopes’ at facilities such as is a promising area where using silk can are smooth enough so that people can walk the ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source add value: many silks are bio-compatible, with free movement in their knees. at Oxford’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, making them excellent materials for use in “People think engineering is all about run by the Science and Technology Facilities the body. machines, but engineers play a big part in Research Council, which enables scientists With funding from the Technology Strategy the medical field, too, and you can see real to study materials at the atomic level. Board and the Medical Research Council, improvements in people’s quality of life as To collect the silk, it is slowly wound out of Oxford-based Orthox Ltd, which has its a result.” immobilised spiders taken from (and after roots in UK research council funding, Another spin out from the Oxford Silk a day’s work returned to) the Oxford Silk including from EPSRC, has developed a Group, Neurotex, uses fine silk filaments Group’s greenhouses. To keep the spiders new kind of implant to replace knee cartilage to join together damaged nerves. Severed in tip-top condition, they are fed on flies – in patients suffering from conditions such nerves grow along the silk like plants along themselves living on fine fruit donated by the as osteoarthritis. The implants are made a trellis, eventually joining back together and local market. from fibroin, an extract of silk fibres, which working again. Fritz Vollrath, who has held several EPSRC encourage the growth of replacement research grants in the past, says: “Silk tissue; over time they become a living part In the past, the Oxford Silk Group has also research is in some ways the flagship for the of the body. worked with the engineering company very idea of bio-inspired design; it’s one of Orthox has enlisted the expertise of a team Arup on new types of lightweight tensile the most clear-cut examples of how we can from the University of Huddersfield’s EPSRC structures, based on an understanding of do better by learning from nature.” Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in spiders’ webs and how they work.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 47 20-20 vision Medical science never stands still, and new breakthroughs are being announced all the time. But what would you wish for if you had the chance to gaze 20 years into the future? We asked eminent scientists and prominent public figures for their wish lists.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 Remote In the wound blood “The breakthrough care I would like to see “Technology is would address going to transform the unmet clinical wound care. need for improved Patients are monitoring and increasingly being sent out into the prediction of abnormal blood clotting community; therefore, more care is taking responses to therapy or disease. place in the home environment. Thromboembolic disease and associated We need to consider: can our products be blood clotting abnormalities cause used by non-healthcare professionals? And significant morbidity and mortality in is there a remote way of giving healthcare Western society, with stroke being the third professionals information about what’s leading cause of death in the UK. going on in the wound, which means they Correlation of standard clotting tests to may not need to visit the patient? clinical outcome has been unsatisfactory, “We can look at ways of sensing what’s with uncertain healthcare benefits. going on in the wound and then transmitting Improved techniques for the monitoring of that information remotely to a mobile abnormal clotting are urgently required. phone or a server – and so then, electronic My wish list would include the development sensor dressings become a potential of technologies which enable clinicians future technology.” to remotely monitor and diagnose Mark Richardson, Vice President, clotting abnormalities as they arise, Research and Technology at Smith and to couple this with a means of & Nephew intervening in the clotting process (perhaps through triggering the subcutaneous Saving the brain release of anticoagulants). “Ten years ago I met someone whose In addition to clinical advances, this could mother had been misdiagnosed with, and have marked benefits in terms of quality of wrongly treated for, Alzheimer’s Disease. The life for people who must presently attend correct diagnosis of Dementia with Lewy clinics, such as for INR testing.” Bodies was only discovered at autopsy. Professor Rhodri Williams Diagnosis is still a challenge for many forms Swansea University of neurodegenerative disease. It causes Professor Williams leads research in distress to patients and their families, complex fluids at Swansea University’s frustrates medical practitioners treating College of Engineering. their symptoms, and places constraints With colleagues at the College of on research to protect against, or cure, Medicine, the Centre for NanoHealth and these disorders. the NHS he is involved in projects which What if we could detect preliminary chemical exploit haemorheological techniques to changes in the brain at an early stage, when better understand, monitor and predict cells are threatened but not yet dying? abnormal blood clot formation. This work How much more quickly could research has received support from EPSRC, the into protection and cure advance if early National Institute for Social Care and Health diagnosis was improved? Research and the Royal Society. At the University of Warwick, we recently Professor Williams was awarded a Royal founded the Trace Metals in Medicine Academy of Engineering Enterprise Laboratory in the School of Engineering, Fellowship in 2012 to pursue the where we are working to identify patterns commercialisation of a new test for of chemical change in the brain that can clotting abnormalities. be detected with simple brain scans, and testing how specific these changes are to (Continued on next page) each disease.” Dr Joanna Collingwood, University of Warwick

49 “There are so many incredible innovations The team hope that one day their research Rebuilding me I would like to see in the world of medicine will make a difference to the lives of people but, obviously, genuine strides forward in who have survived trauma or disease or tissue regeneration have a particular interest have a congenital deformity. to me. When I was recuperating in hospital, I suffered 49 per cent burns when my having my dressings changed was a platoon was bombed by Argentine jets lengthy, painful and traumatic process. during the Falklands War, and had over Anything to alleviate the stress and pain 70 operations to reconstruct my face. this causes, especially in children, would By the year 2033 I would hope to see also be on my wish list.” major advances in tissue regeneration and Simon Weston OBE wound healing, building on work that’s Simon Weston’s story has been well already happening. publicised and he has been the subject of For example, researchers at the Healing five major BBC television documentaries. Foundation Centre for Tissue Regeneration Along with his work with a number at the University of Manchester are learning of charities he is also a professional how some animals, such as frogs, are able motivational speaker. Simon is lead to repair wounds without scars or, in some ambassador for The Healing Foundation. cases, regenerate amputated limbs. www.thehealingfoundation.org.uk Photography: Deborah Titherington

cancer early and treat it in a more care is required. For example, antibiotics do Beating cancer targeted way. not work against viral infections but they are “Our understanding of the biology of We will need expertise in a range of often prescribed because we cannot tell if an cancers has accelerated hugely over the technology areas, including sensors, infection is due to a virus or bacteria. past decade, thanks to first-class UK imaging, robotics, data analytics and A simple test that, within minutes, can biological and clinical research and new computational modelling, chemical biology effectively identify the cause of an infection technologies that have allowed us to dissect and nano-engineering. before the patient leaves the consulting the pathways involved in the disease in an Cancer Research UK looks forward to room would be a great step forward to ever more precise way. collaborating with EPSRC to enable the ensure antibiotics are not prescribed for But to save more lives, we also need to very best scientists – from all disciplines viral infections.” detect more cancers earlier, so we need – to explore new ways of beating Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer to open up new avenues of research in cancer sooner.” for England early detection and understanding early Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive, disease, which will involve a broader range Cancer Research UK of scientific disciplines. Personalised healthcare We will need the skills and creative “Over the next decade the opportunity ideas of physicists, bio- Nipping infection to configure wireless communications, engineers, chemists in the bud data processing and multiplex clinical and mathematicians diagnostics onto a single lab-on-a- to develop new “With the rapid spread of multi chip based sensor will pave the way ways to drug resistant bacteria and a for autonomous personalised heath detect lack of new antibiotics, management capabilities. we are close to Such technology will not only be capable reaching a point of monitoring trends and changes in an where common individual’s bio-physiological profile, it will infections and also be able to advise or even administer diseases are untreatable. customised treatment of both short- and Urgent action is needed and long-term therapies. I believe that science can help Data acquired from such technology will us avoid a return to the pre- also be invaluable in developing a better antibiotic era where everyday infections clinical understanding of the complexity were fatal. of disease pathology at an individual level The need for R&D to develop new drugs within diverse communities.” is accepted, but greater recognition Professor Steve Haswell of the importance of improving rapid University of York diagnostic testing to optimise patient 50 In my opinion, sensitive imaging, such Early as MRI, including Dynamic Contrast diagnosis Enhanced MRI, which is widely used in the diagnosis and monitoring of “The high costs patients, allows for fast, repeatable of new treatments and reliable diagnosis. and the benefits of Imaging would play a crucial role as timely intervention a physican’s aid in understanding have facilitated patient condition as well the need for early as communicating it to diagnosis. But we need further research the patient.” into better assessment methods for precise quantification of disease progression and Dr Olga Kubassova patient response. CEO Image Analysis MRI and its variants are widely used in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients. Olga Kubassova The sensitive imaging it enables allows founded Image Analysis for objective and effective assessment of in 2007 to commercialise her how a patient is responding to therapy; it EPSRC-funded PhD research at also ensures that the costly treatments are the University of Leeds. Among justified by patients’ benefits. other things, the company’s software automates the process of reviewing However, in daily clinical routine and clinical MRI scans to avoid the lengthy manual research, information visualised by MRI is review by medical staff. It is now used often assessed visually using a reader’s in hospitals and clinical departments judgement, which gives subjective and across Europe. inconsistent results.

much higher. This has a huge social and Making an financial cost. industry I am part of an EPSRC-funded multidisciplinary team at University College “In 20 years the London who are trying to do something application of stem about this. cells and similar We are developing wearable assistive technologies will materials designed to support the walking be revolutionising function without the need for bulky medicine. motors or visible splints so that people Some of us have the job of working out how can enjoy a normal life without having to to move the promising biological science use a wheelchair. currently in the laboratory into the healthcare Ultimately our goal is to develop an system so that these new therapies can be exoskeleton technology which can be worn used by clinicians to give benefit to patients. underneath clothes and will allow everyone Our focus is making these therapies in the Walking the the freedom and mobility of being able to right place at the right time in an affordable walk, that currently so many are denied.” way. This bridging of biology, medicine and walk Professor Mark Miodownik engineering is one of the most exciting areas “I look forward to living in a society where University College London of multidisciplinary science – and will deliver wheelchairs don’t exist. Not because a new manufacturing industry.” Professor Miodownik is an engineer, I don’t want the elderly and injured to get materials scientist, writer and broadcaster. Professor David Williams around, but because I hope exoskeleton Loughborough University technology will be practical reality for all in Professor Williams is Director of the EPSRC 20 years’ time. Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in There are an estimated 1.2 million Regenerative Medicine, a collaboration wheelchair users in the United Kingdom. between Loughborough, Keele and The numbers of those who need assistance Nottingham universities. to walk, either through injury or old age, is

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 51 Numbers game Dr Ellen Brooks-Pollock, an EPSRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship holder at the University of Cambridge Veterinary School, describes how a love of maths changed the course of her career from aspiring doctor to epidemic modeller. Her current research, predicting the spread of TB in cattle, couldn’t be more timely as the debate on UK badger culling takes centre stage.

Ellen (pictured) and drugs, meant that I switched to a maths This means that a population with a high says: “I always degree. I went on to successfully complete a proportion of elderly people is very different, enjoyed maths PhD in mathematical epidemiology. in terms of TB, from a younger population. at school, but Now, armed with an EPSRC Postdoctoral My work is developing a methodology to thought that Research Fellowship, I have the freedom understand the effect of demographics medicine was the to develop my own models for chronic on TB transmission and control. As well best way to use infectious diseases like tuberculosis (TB), as explaining the differences between TB science to work which includes collaborating with scientists in ageing populations in South-East Asia with people and and clinicians around the world. and growing populations affected by HIV benefit society. It might sound amazing, but epidemics in Africa, the ideas I’m developing can be As a medical are surprisingly predictable. A simple set applied to other mammals affected by TB. student, I came across a brilliant book, of equations can do a pretty good job at I have just finished some work quantifying Essential Public Health Medicine by capturing the course of an epidemic – not the age-varying risks of bovine TB infection Donaldson & Donaldson (little did I know exactly who will get infected but the number in cattle and the resulting differences that the co-author was Liam Donaldson, the of people that will, how quickly the disease between TB in dairy and beef herds. future Chief Medical Officer for England). will spread and the kind of measures At a time when bovine tuberculosis The book quotes a statistic that, in the UK, required to control it. and the badger cull are rarely out of the children in low income groups are 10 times TB is an ancient disease that has infected news, I am working, together with other more likely to die in a fire than children in humans and other mammals for at least mathematicians, vets and policymakers at high income groups. From then onwards, 10,000 years and still kills two million the Department for Environment, Food and I wanted to understand these statistics and people a year. Despite many advances Rural Affairs (Defra), on predicting the impact how public health medicine differs from in epidemic prediction, we still don’t fully of controlling infection in badgers. individual patient medicine. understand how TB spreads and survives in If our predictions prove to be correct, we This desire to see the bigger picture and a population. may be able to show where badger culling a passion for rigour, combined with my TB disease can develop years after infection, could be effective, and where it may not inability to remember mnemonics for bones with a probability highly dependent on age. be necessary.”

PIONEER 10 Summer 2013 20 53 Rule of thumb

An international research team have created a new keyboard that enables faster thumb-typing on touchscreen devices.

The KALQ keyboard enables people to mobile devices. We believe KALQ provides behavioural model we could use to optimise thumb-type 34 per cent faster on tablets a large enough performance improvement the keyboard.” than when using a QWERTY keyboard. to incentivise users to switch to and benefit KALQ minimises thumb travel distance and from faster and more comfortable typing.” Two-thumb typing using a touchscreen maximises alternation between thumbs. device is ergonomically very different from Dr Kristensson worked with scientists from After a training programme in how to make typing on a physical keyboard. Most users the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in the most out of the new keyboard, users are limited to typing at a relatively slow rate Germany and Montana Tech in the USA. reached a rate of 37 words per minute (with of around 20 words per minute on a regular Dr Antti Oulasvirta, from the Max Planck a five per cent error rate). This is the highest- split QWERTY tablet keyboard. Institute, says: “The key to optimising a ever reported entry rate for two-thumb Dr Per Ola Kristensson, from the University keyboard for two thumbs is to minimise typing on touchscreen devices. of St Andrews, is part of the team behind long typing sequences that only involve a A better understanding of how to increase KALQ, and has been investigating how to single thumb. It is also important to place the efficiency of everyday user interfaces use techniques from artificial intelligence to frequently used letter keys centrally close could inform new designs that reduce create a more fluid and efficient way to input to each other. ergonomic strain and improve the user text on mobile devices. “Experienced typists move their thumbs experience for users with disabilities. Dr Kristensson, who holds an EPSRC simultaneously: while one thumb is Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, says: selecting a particular key, the other thumb KALQ is available as a free app for Android- “The legacy of QWERTY has trapped users is approaching its next target. From these based smartphones, and the keyboard is with suboptimal text entry interfaces on insights we were able to derive a predictive available for free on Google Play.

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 54 The search is on...

To mark its 20th anniversary in 2014, EPSRC is inviting universities and other partners to nominate the inspirational individuals they believe have contributed to the very best in UK science and engineering.

The Recognising Inspirational Scientists beacons of science and engineering. In turn, these personal exchanges will be shared on and Engineers (RISE) Awards will celebrate each of the top 10 will nominate someone EPSRC’s web site and in other media. the incredible innovation that has taken they see as a future world-class talent, Science is the key to creating a more place over recent decades by honouring with the skills and vision to undertake and prosperous society for us all; fuelling growth the exceptional individuals who made these lead internationally excellent research. The and innovation, and providing solutions to achievements possible. nominees will be honoured at a gala event in some of the biggest problems we face. It The RISE Awards will honour both summer 2014. is time for the exceptional people behind established leaders and future leaders in Sharing and learning this work to be recognised for their vision, the making. Universities, industrial partners, An EPSRC team will follow these dedication and achievements. professional bodies and learned institutes inspirational scientists and engineers will be invited to submit up to three throughout 2014, pairing them with nominations for scientists and engineers individuals less familiar with the world of Get involved and keep up to date: who deserve recognition for their work. research so that they can learn about the An independent judging panel will select the work they do, and champion this research www.epsrc.ac.uk/rise top 10 nominees who can be held up as and the impact it might have. Insights from #inspirescieng

PIONEER 11 Winter 2013 EngineeringEngineering andand PhysicalPhysical SciencesSciences ResearchResearch CouncilCouncil 10 UK infrastructure the next 50 years

Smartphones in space The lensless microscope Peer review – why it works Science minister on engineering the future

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