The Tru-Grip Locking Screwdriver: A surgical innovation from Harvard Healthcare Ltd

螺丝刀通常用于骨科手术，用于修复骨折部位或重建受损关节和组织周围的脚手架。高达6%的创伤患者有骨折；在这些患者中，约50%需要使用固定进行修复。骨折修复正在增加，市场驱动因素包括人口老龄化(骨质疏松性骨折)、退行性关节疾病的日益流行以及导致关节磨损的活跃生活方式。现有螺丝刀存在许多常见问题；它们经常无法固定螺丝钉，螺丝钉可能会掉进患者体内或掉到地板上。如果螺丝钉掉进病人体内，需要时间才能恢复；掉到地板上的螺丝钉不能再用了。在现有螺丝的拆卸过程中，如果螺丝刀不能正确接合，则有剥离和折断螺丝头的风险，这使得拆卸有问题，并给患者带来困难。一项针对外科医生的调查显示，60%的医生在固定螺丝刀末端的螺丝时遇到了问题。剥离的螺钉和糟糕的螺丝技术延长了手术时间，增加了二次最大侵入性手术的风险，以及螺丝头破坏时金属屑残留的存在。哈佛医疗有限公司有机会开发一种新型骨科螺丝刀--Tru-Glip锁定螺丝刀(TGS)。TGS是一种六角头驱动器，旨在保持紧固件，防止螺丝钉掉到地板上无法使用，或进入患者体内，可能会导致组织损伤和昂贵的延长手术室时间。保守的估计表明，NHS使用TGS每年可以在掉下的螺丝钉中节省至少GB 34K-GB 62K，不包括额外节省的手术室时间(GB 15/分钟)。全球五年累计销售数据显示，HH的毛利润超过1280万GB，预计哈佛医疗保健公司第一年的投资回报，以及英国公司第二年的投资回报。

Screwdrivers are commonly used in orthopaedic surgery to repair a fracture site or rebuildscaffolding around damaged joints & tissue. Up to 6% of traumatic injury patients havefractures; of these patients, ~50% require repair using fixation. Fracture repairs are rising,with market drivers including the aging population (osteoporotic fractures), increasingprevalence of degenerative joint diseases and active lifestyles causing joint wear and tear.There are a number of common problems with existing screwdrivers; they often fail to retainthe screw, & screws can fall into the patient or onto the floor. If the screw falls into the patientit can take time to retrieve; those that fall on to the floor are no longer usable. During theremoval of existing screws there is a risk of stripping & breaking the screw head if thescrewdriver fails to engage properly, making removal problematic and causing the patientdifficulties. A survey of surgeons determined that >60% encountered problems retainingscrews at the end of the screwdriver. Stripped screws & poor screwing technique lengthenoperative time, increase the risk of secondary maximally invasive surgery & the presence ofmetallic shavings residues in cases of screw head destruction.The opportunity exists for Harvard Healthcare Ltd to develop the ‘Tru-Grip LockingScrewdriver’ (TGS), a new orthopaedic screwdriver. The TGS is a hex-tipped driver designedto retain the fastener and prevent screws dropping onto the floor and becoming unusable, orinto the patient, potentially causing tissue damage and costly extension to theatre time.Conservative estimates suggest a minimum of £34K - £62K could be saved by the NHSannually in dropped screws using the TGS, excluding the costs of extra theatre time saved(£15/minute). Cumulative worldwide 5 year sales figures suggest gross profit for HH of over£12.8m, with return on investment expected for Harvard Heathcare in Y1, and for UK Plc inY2.