Skip to main content

Tag: ITM News

Birmingham-China collaboration will combat cancer and medical implant failure

Written by ITM_admin on . Posted in News. No Comments on Birmingham-China collaboration will combat cancer and medical implant failure

The University of Birmingham has announced two projects with Southeast University in China that could help to fight cancer and aid regeneration of the human body.

Supported by a total of ¥2 million funding from Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (JITRI), researchers are combining multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, pathology and artificial intelligence (AI) to help diagnose brain tumours more quickly.

Meanwhile, biomedical engineering experts are exploring the potential of a new class of bone cement capable of degrading and simultaneously stimulating the body to gradually replace it with natural bone. This could reduce the risk of long-term implant failure and reduce the need for human bone grafts.

The projects were announced today by University of Birmingham Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir David Eastwood and Southeast University President Professor Zhang Guangjun in a special ceremony at Southeast University.

Professor Sir David Eastwood commented: “The University of Birmingham is a world leader in biosciences and our partnership with experts at Southeast University and JITRI is making promising progress in the fight against diseases such as cancer and the regeneration of the human body.

“We are a global university with a civic outlook and I am delighted that we are continuing to build our excellent relationship with Southeast University. Our new venture could help to improve health outcomes for millions of people in China and beyond.”

The announcement follows the universities’ agreement signed in May 2018 to establish a Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Biomedical Engineering – allowing the partners to work on applied research projects that will use the University of Birmingham’s expertise to strengthen innovation in the Jiangsu Province across a range of biomedical technologies.

Professor Sir David Eastwood and Professor Zhang Guangjun today signed a further agreement to develop a joint research centre for data science in biomedical research – building on the strengths of the partnership between the two universities.

Professor Wang Baoping, Executive Vice President of Southeast University commented: “Both SEU and Birmingham are world-renowned universities with solid foundation and growing research strengths in the field of biomedical and life science. The Joint Research Center for Data Science and Biomedical Research signed today, will give full play to the research advantages of two universities and to build an international high-level platform dedicated to research and education on biological big data, aiming to jointly address the global challenges and achieve win-win cooperation.”

Birmingham’s contribution to the partnership is led by the University’s Healthcare Technologies Institute (HTI), working with the Southeast University (SEU) Institute of Biomedical Devices (IBMD).

The partners are using their expertise to develop programmes leading to products that can help improve health outcomes for patients in China with biomedical themes covering:

      • Ocular drug/cell delivery and protection
      • Osteoinductive materials
      • Switchable biological surfaces and molecular diagnostic technologies
      • Brain image analysis

Professor Yu Sun, from Southeast University and director of UoB-SEU international laboratory for Children’s Medical Imaging Research, commented: “Combining enhanced health data collection, advanced MR imaging, and artificial intelligence means we can greatly reduce the risk of complications due to invasive surgery, cut diagnostic time and increase the accuracy of early diagnosis of brain tumours – improving patient survival.

“We want to enable a range of powerful diagnostic tools to be transferred to routine clinical practice through this system, enabling clinicians to use these technologies quickly and easily, benefiting more patients, hospitals, medical companies and research institutions.”

Professor Liam Grover, from the University of Birmingham and Dr Richard Williams, Co-Deputy Director, University of Birmingham and Southeast University Joint Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering, are both based at the ITM and will lead the project to develop more effective alternatives to ceramic bone cements. These cements remain in the body for a long time, but are generally brittle meaning that implants pose a long-term risk of failure.

“Conventional cements are usually formed from calcium orthophosphates with a similar composition to bone,” commented Professor Grover. “Adding another kind of phosphate triggers deposition of new bone around the implant and resorption of the cement into the body – avoiding the major issues associated with ceramic bone replacements.

“Previously, components were not available in a form pure enough to allow use as a medical device, but we’re working with our Chinese partners to reformulate the material with pure components and demonstrate that the material retains its unique biological properties.”

SEU allocated space within its IBMD facility at Suzhou Hi-tech Park to create a state-of-the-art medical technologies development laboratory to host JRC projects. The partnership also strengthens links between Jiangsu Province and the City of Birmingham in medical research and development.

Both the University of Birmingham and SEU have strong links with their respective national healthcare technology regulatory bodies. This will help to ease co-developing, translating and commercialising novel healthcare products into UK, EU and Chinese markets.

The announcement follows a recent biomedical engineering workshop – jointly hosted in Birmingham – that gave British businesses the opportunity to meet key players in the UK-China biomedical engineering sector. The event focused on developing and commercialising new healthcare products by linking innovators, wider industry and professional service support.

Widely-available drug could reduce deaths from head injury

Written by ITM_admin on . Posted in News. No Comments on Widely-available drug could reduce deaths from head injury

A low cost and widely available drug could reduce deaths in traumatic brain injury patients by as much as 20 per cent depending on the severity of injury, according to a major study carried out at the ITM in collaboration with the University of Birmingham.

The research, published in The Lancet, showed that tranexamic acid (TXA), a drug that prevents bleeding into the brain by inhibiting blood clot breakdown, has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives.

The global randomised trial included more than 12,000 head injury patients who were given either intravenous tranexamic acid or a placebo.

It found that administration of TXA within three hours of injury reduced the number of deaths. This effect was greatest in patients with mild and moderate traumatic brain injury (20% reduction in deaths), while no clear benefit was seen in the most severely injured patients.

The trial found no evidence of adverse effects and there was no increase in disability in survivors when the drug was used. The trial was jointly funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), the Medical Research Council (MRC), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), (through the Department of Health and Social Care), and Wellcome. The early phase of the trial was funded was funded by The JP Moulton Charitable Foundation.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide with an estimated 69 million new cases each year. The CRASH-3 (Clinical Randomisation of an Antifibrinolytic in Significant Head Injury) trial is one of the largest clinical trials ever conducted into head injury. Patients were recruited from 175 hospitals across 29 countries.

Bleeding in or around the brain due to tearing of blood vessels is a common complication of TBI and can lead to brain compression and death. Although patients with very severe head injuries are unlikely to benefit from tranexamic acid treatment because they often have extensive brain bleeding prior to hospital admission and treatment, the study found a substantial benefit in patients with less severe injuries who comprise the majority (over 90%) of TBI cases.

Co-investigator for trial Professor Tony Belli, of the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, said: “This is a landmark study. After decades of research and many unsuccessful attempts, this is the first ever clinical trial to show that a drug can reduce mortality after traumatic brain injury.

“Not only do we think this could save hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide, but it will no doubt renew the enthusiasm for drug discovery research for this devastating condition.”

Ian Roberts, Professor of Clinical Trials at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who co-led the study, added: “We already know that rapid administration of tranexamic acid can save lives in patients with life threatening bleeding in the chest or abdomen such as we often see in victims of traffic crashes, shootings or stabbings.

“This hugely exciting new result shows that early treatment with TXA also cuts deaths from head injury. It’s an important breakthrough and the first neuroprotective drug for patients with head injury.

“Traumatic brain injury can happen to anyone at any time, whether it’s through an incident like a car crash or simply falling down the stairs.

“We believe that if our findings are widely implemented they will boost the chances of people surviving head injuries in both high income and low income countries around the world.”

Because TXA prevents bleeds from getting worse, but cannot undo damage already done, early treatment is critical. The trial data showed a 10% reduction in treatment effectiveness for every 20-minute delay, suggesting that patients should be treated with TXA as soon as possible after head injury.

Dr Ben Bloom, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust, the UK’s largest recruiter into the trial with more than 500 patients enrolled, said: “Treating traumatic brain injury is extremely challenging with very few treatment options available for patients. Thanks to these latest results, which are applicable to patients with head injuries of any cause and of all demographics, clinicians now have a potentially powerful new treatment available to them.”

The most common causes of TBI worldwide are road traffic crashes, which predominantly affect young adults, or falls, which are a major problem in older adults, and the incidence is increasing. In both cases, patients can experience permanent disability or death. Representatives from the charity that supports roach crash victims in the UK, Roadpeace, were involved in the design of the trial.

Amy Aeron-Thomas, Justice and Advocacy Manager from Roadpeace and co-author on the paper said: “It’s always better to prevent road crashes in the first place, but these results show that if a crash can’t be prevented, death can still be avoided.

“Given the time to treatment implications, it’s more important than ever that the post-crash response is as efficient as possible.”

CRASH-3 follows successful previous research involving 20,000 trauma patients, which showed that TXA reduced deaths due to bleeding outside of the skull by almost a third if given within three hours. Based on those trial results, tranexamic acid was included in guidelines for the pre-hospital care of trauma patients. However, patients with isolated traumatic brain injury were specifically excluded.

The authors noted some limitations of the trial, including wide confidence intervals despite the large trial size, and the fact that more patients with un-survivable head injuries were included in the trial than anticipated, which diluted the treatment effect.

Repairing the body with 3D printed biomaterials

Written by ITM_admin on . Posted in News. No Comments on Repairing the body with 3D printed biomaterials

A new technique for 3D printing soft materials – such as gels and collagens – offers a major step forward in the manufacture of artificial medical implants.

Developed by Birmingham Health Partners researchers at the Institute of Translational Medicine, the method could be used to print soft biomaterials that could be used to repair defects in the body.

Printing soft materials using additive manufacturing has been a big challenge for scientists because if they are not supported, they sag and lose their shape. The new technique, called Suspended Layer Additive Manufacturing (SLAM), uses a polymer-based hydrogel in which the particles have been manipulated to create a self-healing gel. Liquids or gels can be injected directly into this medium and built up in layers to create a 3D shape.

The method offers an alternative to existing techniques which use gels that have been minced to form a slurry bath into which the printed material is injected. Called Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels (FRESH), these offer many advantages, but frictions within the gel medium can distort the printing.

In a study published in Advanced Functional Materials, a team led by Professor Liam Grover, in the School of Chemical Engineering, show how particles in the gel they have developed can be sheared, or twisted so they separate, but still retain some connection between them. This interaction creates the self-healing effect, enabling the gel to support the printed material so objects can be built with precise detail, without leaking or sagging.

“The hydrogel we have designed has some really intriguing properties that allow us to print soft materials in really fine detail,” explains Professor Grover. “It has huge potential for making replacement biomaterials such as heart valves or blood vessels, or for producing biocompatible plugs, that can be used to treat bone and cartilage damage.”

SLAM can also be used to create objects made from two or more different materials so could be used to make even more complex soft tissue types, or drug delivery devices, where different rates of release are required.

Health minister visits Birmingham Health Partners at the ITM

Written by ITM_admin on . Posted in News. No Comments on Health minister visits Birmingham Health Partners at the ITM

Thursday 26 September saw Baroness Blackwood, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Innovation at the Department of Health and Social Care, visit Birmingham Health Partners at the ITM for a broad introduction to our work. On the agenda were our new Health Data Research Hubs, expertise in patient-reported outcomes research and the critical global challenge of women’s and children’s health.

The Minister also had chance to discuss the University of Birmingham’s ambitious plans to develop a £300m Birmingham Life Sciences Park. Once completed, the park is forecast to generate over £180 million GVA (gross value added) and 3,600 jobs over 10 years, with the potential to catalyse a further 10,000 jobs and £400 million GVA across the West Midlands.

During her visit, Baroness Blackwood held discussions with Dr John Williams, Managing Director of Birmingham Health Partners, and clinical experts including:

  • Dr Elizabeth Sapey, Director of PIONEER – The Health Data Research Hub for Acute Care
  • Professor Alastair Denniston, Director of INSIGHT – The Health Data Research Hub for Eye Health
  • Professor Melanie Calvert, Director of the Centre for Patient Reported Outcomes Research at the University of Birmingham
  • Tim Jones, Executive Director for Innovation at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
  • Dr Kate Morris, Reader in Maternal Fetal Medicine at the University of Birmingham
  • Professor Pam Kearns, Director of the Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Birmingham

Birmingham Life Sciences Park will encourage closer collaboration between industry, clinicians and academics. Patients will benefit from early access to healthcare innovations, which will also generate commercial opportunities for UK businesses.

New collaboration will tackle Birmingham’s biggest health challenges

Written by ITM_admin on . Posted in News. No Comments on New collaboration will tackle Birmingham’s biggest health challenges

A new collaboration to tackle the biggest health challenges faced by the West Midlands’ six million residents will use real-time clinical trials and health data to speed up research and improve cancer care, maternity services, child health, obesity, and dementia.

Birmingham Health Partners has teamed up with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and its members to make Birmingham a world leader in the development of precision medicines tailored to patients based on genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors.

The collaboration, founded on a Memorandum of Understanding, will create the Birmingham Health Partners & Industry Steering Group (BHPISG). The MoU was signed today at the Institute of Translational Medicine.

The West Midlands is already building an internationally competitive health and care infrastructure, with BHP at the heart of a collaborative and innovative ecosystem bringing together multidisciplinary clinical-academic teams to deliver on key elements of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy and West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy.

This new collaboration will play to Birmingham’s strengths in health care data, digitalisation of health care services, genomic medicine, diagnostics and clinical trials and will help address the biggest challenges facing the city and region

The aim is to accelerate the development and adoption of new data-enabled innovations into clinical practice to benefit patients.

The new arrangement will work on four key regional health challenges – chosen because they have national or international relevance and can be scaled up if successful. It will build on the region’s strengths and expertise and the potential for significant economic impact. These are:

  • Improving cancer outcomes
  • Addressing maternal and paediatric health
  • Tackling multimorbidity in an ageing population
  • Improving NHS care by matching patient results with ongoing research.

Read the full story on the BHP website.

Birmingham research could improve care of patients living with artificial heart pump

Written by ITM_admin on . Posted in News. No Comments on Birmingham research could improve care of patients living with artificial heart pump

New research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) aims to inform and improve clinical care for those living with an artificial heart pump.

A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a battery-operated, mechanical pump surgically implanted into patients who have end-stage heart failure. It is sometimes given to people who are on the waiting list for a heart transplant, and it helps the failing heart by restoring normal blood flow.

There are around 300 people currently living with an LVAD in the UK. While the device is both life-saving and symptom-relieving, recipients must undergo open heart surgery, and then have to carry the portable LVAD equipment with them at all times. These factors, as well as the need to sleep attached to a monitor, can have a detrimental impact on patients’ quality of life.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) – often in the form of short questionnaires – can help clinicians to assess quality of life through identifying what is going well and what might need addressing in a patient’s care.

However, people living with an LVAD believe that current PROMs are not fit for purpose, and that those used to measure quality of life do not address the wide range of problems that living with an LVAD presents. This includes psychological issues, such as anxieties over the equipment and impact on body image.

Now, thanks to £240,000 funding from the BHF, Birmingham Health Partners researchers will work with 150 LVAD patients from across the UK to produce a new PROM that will better measure their quality of life.

The research will be led by Dr Anita Slade, of the Centre for Patient Reported Outcomes Research (CPROR) at the University of Birmingham, who is based within the ITM. The CPROR is supported by the NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre – also within the ITM.

“Although an LVAD can extend the life of those living with severe heart failure and improve their symptoms, it does bring its own issues and requires substantial environmental and lifestyle changes for recipients and their families.

“Through discussions with a small group of people who have experience of life with an LVAD we have found that current patient related outcome measures (PROMs) do not address their specific needs and therefore are not able to accurately monitor changes in their quality of life. Understanding this is crucial when developing and evaluating new interventions to improve their health and well-being.

“Developing a new PROM with input from patients will ensure their voices are central to their care, and allow us to better understand how to improve their quality of life now and in the future.”

– Dr Anita Slade

It is hoped this research will inform and improve the clinical care of those living with an LVAD and even advise future research, policies and design proposals for the device.

Dr Lucie Duluc, Research Advisor at the BHF, added: “Implanting an LVAD can be life- saving and also buys more time for those awaiting a heart transplant. Some patients who were too unwell to walk around can see massive improvements to their life once receiving an LVAD, with many able to return to normal activities.

“However, recipients have to adapt to the many changes this makes to their life, and this can have an adverse impact on their health. Patients say that current PROMs do not address this, so this research will be pivotal to better reflect the real experience of people living with an LVAD. By putting patients at the core of this research, this could ultimately help shape the care they receive.

“We can only fund research like this thanks to the generous support of the public, in driving forward our mission to beat heartbreak forever.”

James’ story

James Maund, aged 48 and from Gloucester has been living with an LVAD since 2016 and will participate in this project.

The father-of-four said: “I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and was told that my heart had enlarged and was functioning at 16%. Doctors told me I would need a heart transplant, but would need an LVAD first to get well enough to be eligible.

“After a high-risk operation, I began living my life with an LVAD. For the first three months, there was a lot of concern, including how I was going to support my family. Psychologically, I struggled with how this would affect my body image.

“I have come to terms with living with an LVAD, as without it, I wouldn’t be alive. I’m pleased that the views of people like me will be reflected in the development of the PROM.”