Spin-out to revolutionise surgical procedures

Professorial Research Fellow Jim Hewit and business incubator company Soft Centre Perth have pooled their scientific and commercial expertise to form a new company, Lumenus Ltd. Lumenus has created groundbreaking technology that could revolutionise surgical procedures and result in a quantum leap for open and keyhole surgery.

Created to commercially exploit the research and development emanating from Jim's lab in the Division of Mechanical Engineering & Mechatronics, Lumenus will now work to advance the invention and roll it out into the market place on a commercial basis.

Jim, the lead inventor, explained the value of the innovative surgical device, "A team of four inventors has created a surgical instrument which can provide vital assistance to a surgeon operating in the restricted sensory constraints of keyhole procedures. By illuminating organ tissue we can substitute the normal touch guidance of open surgery for the surgeon by visual guidance in keyhole procedures, thereby providing maximum information in restricted access operations."

He added, "The prototype system is currently being designed and built in Dunfermline and should be ready to go on trial at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee later this year. These surgical trials will assess the system's practicality and value and determine its potential level of use. We're very confident it will prove a winner."