Multi-modal Manufacturing of Medical Devices (4MD)

医疗器械技术对于检测和治疗大量疾病和医疗保健问题至关重要。越来越多的微型设备正在被开发用于微创测量和治疗，例如在癌症检测和药物输送方面。为使此类设备能够得到广泛应用，提供低成本和可靠的制造解决方案至关重要。Heriot-Watt的团队在为广泛的应用开发制造解决方案方面拥有丰富的经验，近年来尤其专注于医疗设备，例如用于癌症检测和治疗的设备。具体的挑战包括：实现微创应用的微型化；光学、化学和电子技术的低成本集成；以及用于防止不必要的液体进入的密封，同时允许适当的交互作用，例如细胞硬度的测量、pH的测量、癌症组织的激光消融/治疗。我们的制造专长(包括激光烧蚀、烧结、粘合和刻蚀技术；以及基于机械、化学、蒸发和微波技术的加法和减法微加工工艺)，加上我们高度支持和不断扩大的临床和工业合作伙伴基础，意味着我们处于理想的位置，可以提供适当的制造解决方案，并实现严格的测试和商业化和最终应用的途径。平台将使我们能够留住关键员工，并以标准方案无法实现的方式部署他们。特别是，我们将能够通过开展关键的概念验证研究，基于我们在集团内部和与外部合作伙伴的现有合作，加快我们抓住眼前机遇的能力。受聘的PDRA将从该平台下加强的职业发展中受益匪浅。我们将通过研究交流扩大他们的经验；让他们参与争取新资金的建议；支持他们申请个人奖学金；为他们自己的短期概念验证项目提供专门资金(预算的10%分配给PDRA领导的“种子”项目)；利用我们咨询委员会的工业界和学术界成员提供指导计划；并让他们参与平台的管理。我们将举办促进工作坊，将更广泛的学者和医务人员聚集在一起，并寻找新的合作活动和应用领域。我们还将利用有针对性的传播活动，向现有和潜在的工业和临床合作伙伴通报我们的医疗器械制造研究活动的全方位。

Medical device technologies are vital for the detection and treatment of a great number of diseases and healthcare problems. Increasingly, micro-devices are being developed for minimally-invasive measurement and therapy, for example in cancer detection and drug delivery. To enable broad-based takeup of such devices it is vital to provide low-cost and reliable manufacturing solutions.The group at Heriot-Watt has significant experience in developing manufacturing solutions for a wide range of applications, with a particular focus in recent years on medical devices e.g. for cancer detection and treatment. Particular challenges include: miniaturisation to enable minimally invasive application; the low-cost integration of optical, chemical and electronic technologies; and hermetic sealing to prevent unwanted ingress of fluids, whilst allowing appropriate interaction e.g. measurement of cell stiffness, measurement of pH, laser ablation/treatment of cancerous tissue. Our manufacturing expertise (spanning laser techniques such as ablation, sintering, bonding and inscription; also additive and subtractive microfabrication processes based on mechanical, chemical, evaporative and microwave techniques), coupled with our highly supportive and growing base of clinical and industrial partners means that we are ideally placed to provide appropriate manufacturing solutions, and to enable rigorous testing and a route to commercialisation and ultimate application.The Platform will allow us to retain key staff, and to deploy them in ways that are not possible with standard proposals. In particular, we will be able to accelerate our ability to grasp immediate opportunities based on our existing collaborations, both within the group and with external partners, by carrying out critical proof-of-concept studies. The PDRAs employed will benefit greatly from the enhanced career development under the Platform. We will broaden their experience through research exchanges; engage them in proposals to win new funding; support them in applications for personal fellowships; provide them with dedicated funds for their own short proof-of-concept projects (10% of budget allocated to PDRA-led 'seedcorn' projects); provide a mentoring programme using industrial and academic members of our Advisory Board; and involve them in management of the Platform.We will organise facilitated workshops to bring together a broader group of academics and medics and to identify new collaborative activity and application areas. We will also employ targeted dissemination activity to inform current and potential industrial and clinical partners of the full range of our medical device manufacturing research activity.