Seeing is believing: Roger Tyler outlines Blink Medical's latest innovations

Roger Tyler, Blink Medical outlines the company’s latest innovations helping to improve health and well being as well as increasing the accuracy for surgeons.

MPN: Who are you and what do you do?

RT: Since I began Blink Medical, ten years ago, I have always wanted to manufacture our products here in the UK, however due to their complex nature this has always proved a challenge. I set up Blink to produce high quality single use surgical instrumentation which is used during cataract surgery, cosmetic surgery, ear nose and throat, plastic and dental surgery.

MPN: What products / developments have you been focussed on recently?

RT: I had seen an opportunity back in early 2000 where the majority of cataract procedures were performed using throw away packs which contained the necessary items for the surgeon to perform the surgery. At the end of the procedure the pack and its contents would be disposed of in the surgical waste bin. This was common practice and helped to reduce cost, waste and most importantly cross infection which, in the most severe of cases could lead to loss of sight in one or both eyes.

All items were now single use except for the surgical instruments which were still being cleaned and reseterilised between patients. Amongst these instruments were very fine scissors, forceps and needle holders which, over prolonged reuse, would develop a build up of tissue, blood and other matter in the hinges. At the time there were many reports in the press of instances of cross infection, vCJD and HIV were hot topics and the labour government as a result decided to outlaw the use of little microwave oven style sterilizers which had previously been very popular throughout Europe. 

MPN: Describe your latest innovations

RT: Blink was established in 2004 and we have been manufacturing single-use instruments out of Pakistan and China ever since. All the instruments we sell have very fine tips and complex hinges which cannot be made by a machine, hence the reason why they are handmade and for cost reasons we use Pakistani and Chinese labour to manufacture them. Recently I have been given the chance to begin manufacturing here in Birmingham. We needed to develop a small marking device which is used during Lucentis and Avastin injections for patients with wet age related macular degeneration which is the biggest cause of blindness in the western world. To place in the injection in the correct area of the eye, the surgeon needs to mark the sclera, (the white part of the eye), to enter at the correct angle and avoid hitting other structures. We previously made a marking device in Pakistan out of metal however, we were concerned that the level of accuracy was not sufficient to meet the needs of the doctor, so recently we have teamed up with a plastic injection moulding company in Birmingham called Andel Plastics to begin injection moulding the devices ourselves. This has had a number of benefits. Firstly the accuracy and quality of the devices has dramatically improved. Secondly, the cost has come down, and thirdly the volume of units we can produce has massively increased. Currently we produce over 250,000 units per year and we have plans to introduce more innovative products moving forward.

MPN: What does it mean for the medical sector?

RT: We now have many surgeons coming to us with new ideas however, my main goal is still to find a way to produce standard single use instruments in an automated way here in the UK rather than being dependant upon manufacturing goods in countries which are not always the most stable. Every year new technologies like micro injection moulding and 3D printing for prototyping allows us to explore new opportunities in manufacturing exciting devices. There is no doubt that the need and hunger for single use medical devices is there, as manufacturers we must look to develop methods which enables us to feed that hunger.

MPN: Plans for the future?

RT: This year I am planning to launch a UK-made, innovative new device which will help us to reduce the cost of anesthesia during ophthalmic procedures. Saving money for the NHS is a prime motivating factor for me and in these austere times finding low-cost manufacturing techniques to enable us to offer those savings is in my mind, where it all begins.