We are pleased to announced that we have been short-listed for a prestigious Collaborate to Innovate award hosted by industry magazine – The Engineer – having been recognised for our prototype of a new potentially life-saving breast screening technique.
The project – PIUCT (Phased Insensitive Ultrasound Computed Tomography) – is part of an Innovate UK funded collaboration with National Physical Laboratory (NPL), University Hospitals Bristol (UHB), North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), Precision Acoustics Ltd and Designworks.
Using ultrasound computed tomography (UCT), the team has developed a ground-breaking piece of equipment that may overcome the problems of diagnosing breast disease using conventional X-ray mammography and ultrasound scans. The new method will be safer and lower cost than currently used screening techniques and the results should also be easier for clinicians to interpret.
It was one of three projects shortlisted in the Health and Wellbeing Category of the new awards which celebrate “the best in UK collaborations and
innovations in engineering” across the manufacturing industry and academia. MD of Precision Engineering Gary said:
After two years of helping our partners develop and produce this prototype we are incredibly proud to have been shortlisted for this award. We look forward to meeting friends and colleagues at the conference later this year and in the meantime will continue to work on this exciting and potentially life-changing piece of technology for the medical field.”
One of the awards’ eleven judges, Professor Andy Wright, Director Strategic Technology at BAE Systems Programmes and Support said of the awards:
Engineering remains key to our current and future prosperity in the UK and collaboration is the bedrock upon which we base this. It’s been great to see the breadth and depth of the nominations and collaboration coming to the fore” Paul Stein, Director Research & Technology at Rolls Royce, another expert on the judging panel, added: “These awards encourage a flow of excellent ideas and examples, particularly showing how industry and academia are working together to create a profitable future for us all.”
The winners of each of the seven categories will be announced at a special event in London on 7thSeptember with the competition culminating on 17th November with a conference at the state of the art Lloyds Bank Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre in Coventry showcasing the winners and exploring key themes around collaboration and innovation.
