Meds in their sheds !

 Anaesthetists by day, inventors by night  .......

David Williams and John Dingley are consultant anaesthetists at Morriston Hospital in Swansea. Their moment of genius came in their garages while tinkering with glue-guns and car-body filler.  Having worked in remote settings, Dr Williams was aware of how crucial equipment that does not require a constant power source could be. In Zambia he had noticed entire operating theatres remaining unused because of a lack of replacement light bulbs or a reliable mains power supply.

So the doctors set themselves the challenge of inventing essential kit for the doctor's bag on a budget.And after a week spent attacking conventional medical equipment with power tools, they had the first prototype of a device which has the potential to save lives.

The ShakerScope is a light source which can be quickly adapted to look in people's eyes, ears and throats. But unlike regular devices it does not need batteries.

Dr Patrick Finlay, of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said: "This type of invention is very important. With these scopes you would normally need three different instruments for each examination, each one requiring batteries. For low income countries this is a joke. "

Click here to view full article