Knight Sheffield Bed
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were approached by an orthopaedic surgeon from private practise with a working example of a bed attachment to append on to the operating table for patients undergoing spinal surgery. Using minimal invasive surgery techniques can reduce the operating time, improve the recovery time and is less stressful for patients. This particular technique requires the patient to kneel on to the attachment and arch their spine over to separate the vertebrae and facilitate easier access. The clinical engineering team at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust analysed the requirements, developed a number of prototypes which were internally evaluated with orthopaedic department and other relevant clinical experts such as infection control and theatre operating staff. The final version was reviewed by the customer and after a few modifications it is now in use in the clinic. Because the sales of the attachment are not likely to be high it was agreed that the trust will manufacture and CE mark the device. A commercial agreement has also been entered in to on future sales of the Knight Sheffield Bed attachment that reflects the relative contribution of each partner.