UK healthcare manufacturer Mediplus has been awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, the UK’s most prestigious business accolade, for its pioneering catheter insertion kit dubbed ‘a GPS for the bladder’.
Background
The Queens awards are presented each year by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on her birthday, 21 April, on the advice of the Prime Minister, assisted by an Advisory Committee comprising representatives of Government, industry, commerce and the trade unions. The High Wycombe, UK, healthcare manufacturer was presented with the award, under the Innovation category for its S-Cath™ System; a breakthrough technology that it says prevents injuries from occurring. This is the second time Mediplus has been awarded a Queens Award for Enterprise. In 2013 the company was successful in the International Trade category. Traditionally a suprapubic catheterisation is performed in operating conditions under general anaesthetic with clinicians using a ‘blind’ percutaneous trocar puncture to gain entry into the bladder. In use in the UK for six years, the S-Cath™ System has been the subject of guidelines from the UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and The British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS), both of which have encouraged the adoption of S-Cath™ System into routine care. In contrast to traditional technique, Mediplus’s innovative device offers a more controlled, accurate and precise placement into the bladder. The S-Cath™ System uses the Seldinger technique to facilitate a one tract entry into the bladder allowing clinicians to perform a safer introduction of a suprapubic catheter. The system locates the bladder with a patented safety guide wire, improving placement and guarantees insertion of the trocar along the anesthetised channel. This technique offers a wide range of patient benefits such as minimal trauma and tissue damage as less pressure is needed to insert the dilator. It is also more comfortable and less stressful for the clinician to perform, as it provides a higher degree of control and placement accuracy. For patients, it means they only need to attend a 30-minute appointment slot in clinic, reducing treatment time from 2.3 days to 22 minutes. It also decreases the risks associated with standard ‘blind’ entry methods which have a reported 19% risk of complications and 1.9% risk of mortality in the UK alone. A U.S. launch of the S-Cath™ System is underway and the company continues to seek additional European distributors.
Company comments
Emma Gray, Managing Director of Mediplus, said; “We are delighted to win such a prestigious award for our contribution to urology. The S Cath™ System is a breakthrough solution that reduces the risk of harm to patients, whilst simultaneously raising the standard of patient care and safety.” “Many clinicians say it offers them greater confidence in inserting the trocar into the bladder describing it as a GPS for the bladder. It also offers UK hospitals huge savings in terms of money, time and resources.” Source: Mediplus Ltd.
published: April 21, 2017 in: Company News, News, Urology