The UCLH BRC's Healthcare Engineering and Imaging theme aims to improve treatment by developing pioneering technologies to fulfil currently unmet needs.
We are pleased to announce Professor Daniel Alexander's appointment as the lead of the UCLH BRC's Healthcare Engineering and Imaging theme. Danny is one of our IHE Management Board members, and we will be working with him closely to open up the routes for translation of engineering innovation at UCL into the clinic.
The theme has two long-term strategies:
Imaging for patient benefit
Pioneering imaging methods give us new insights into the body and how it functions. These techniques also allow us to diagnose, treat and monitor patients more effectively and with increased accuracy. As a result, patients can receive quicker treatment and an improved prognosis.
Developing novel instruments and sensors for improved surgery outcomes
Image-guidance tools can reduce the risks of laparoscopic surgery by providing an increased scope of vision for surgeons. By increasing the safety of minimally-invasive surgery, more patients may have access to this type of treatment. Smart, responsive sensors provide us with a deeper level of data within the body and allow surgeons to make more informed decisions.
The theme also has the potential to support other initiatives in healthcare engineering aiming to translate emerging ideas to first-in-man.
Professor Daniel Alexander said,
It makes me very proud that the BRC associated with our institution is one of the few that recognises the potential of engineering innovation in medicine via a dedicated theme. I am excited to take a leading position in facilitating that innovation and very much look forward to linking UCL’s world-leading engineering and imaging sciences with the huge breadth of clinical activity in our local hospitals and clinics. We are uniquely positioned to address major contemporary challenges in medicine through translational engineering research.