Great British Medical Technology Design Innovations – Part 1

It’s probably of no surprise to many that health and medical technology design innovation in Victorian times (19th century) is nothing like it is today.

With no sewage system available and lack of knowledge on the risk of infection in hospitals, diseases and infections were rife. Thanks to many great improvements by those in the medical field over the last 200 years, health and medicine have progressed significantly.

In this first of two short articles, we look at some of the most important advances in medicine and medical procedures, and the role British design has played in the development of medical equipment and technologies.

Antiseptic Surgery

To kick off our review, we look at a truly revolutionary innovation in the shape of antiseptic surgery.

For this we can thank Joseph Lister, a British surgeon and medical scientist, who carried medical technology design forward by improving both antiseptic and aseptic surgery. For so long, surgery had been a hugely risky undertaking for the patient, well-intentioned though it was saving life or limb as the goal.

With even the smallest incision being life-threatening due to the chance of infection from sepsis, gangrene and others, surgery without antiseptic in often filthy conditions often caused more problems than it solved.

By applying Louis Pasteur’s untested germ theory, Lister was able to prevent germs from entering the body by applying a chemical barrier (carbolic acid) between the wound and its surroundings. This paved the way to reducing the risk of infection during all surgical procedures.

Alexander Fleming and the Birth of Antibiotics

With no known way of treating common infections such as pneumonia, rheumatic fever and gonorrhoea, there was very little that hospitals could do when patients contracted infections, even when from something as seemingly insignificant as a simple scratch.

This was until Alexander Fleming, a Scottish physician and microbiologist, discovered penicillin. 

He grew a mould in one of his Petri dishes that destroyed bacteria around it, and so a rare strain of penicillin was founded. After testing the mould fluid on other bacteria, the breakthrough was realised.  

However, it was exceedingly difficult to isolate the pure penicillin from the rest of the mould, making it unfit for use on patients.

While Fleming published his findings in 1929, it wasn’t until 1941 that scientists Florey and Chain of Oxford University were able to purify and turn penicillin into the antibiotic drug that we all know today. 

Rosalind Franklin’s DNA Research

Credit for the discovery of the structure of DNA is most often given to Cambridge University biologists James Watson and Francis Crick who published their findings in 1953.

While Watson and Crick are acknowledged to have discovered the molecular structure of the DNA double helix, it should be noted that their work was based on that of Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, both working at the time at King’s College, London, who used X-ray diffraction to study DNA.

Franklin, an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer, was the first person to identify that DNA is structured in the helical form. Her work was also to the understanding of the molecular structures of RNA, viruses, coal and graphite.

Nonetheless, the double helix structure discovered by Crick and Watson served to explain how hereditary information is coded in DNA, and prepared the way for developments in molecular biology and practical applications such as forensics that followed.

Stem Cell Findings by Martin Evans

In 1981, Martin Evans, an English biologist, was the first to discover embryonic stem cells (ES cells) in mice. He discovered that these cells helped with transmitting altered genetic material and changing the genome.

By using mutated ES cells to create mice that showed specific disorders, scientists were then able to figure out and provide treatments for these disorders. 

New Vaccines by AstraZeneca to Combat Covid

With more than two billion AstraZeneca vaccines being made and sent to over 170 countries, the Covid 19 vaccine can be seen as a great UK success story.

Thanks to previous research on MERS, the vaccine development had the perfect springboard and trials began straight away in January 2020, with testing first on mice, followed by human trials.

Modern Medical Technology Design Innovation

In Part 2 of our series on Great British Medical Technology Design Innovations we will look at spinal implants for pain management, cold caps to prevent hair loss, the technologies involved in same-day surgery and innovations in drug delivery systems.

For help in realising your new medical technology or product designs, contact Jon Plumb at Cambridge Design Technology on 01223 662300 or email info@cambridge-dt.com