Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Midlands manufacturer finds technological solution to high cost of exporting to US

Midlands manufacturer finds technological solution to high cost of exporting to US 
 
The low value of the Dollar is causing real problems to companies wanting to export to the US but instead on giving up on that market one Midlands manufacturer has worked with researchers at the University of Warwick to produce a technological  solution to their problem  Metrasens in Malvern have developed a technological solution to a problem faced by hospitals operating  MRI scanners.
 
MRIs need to be kept separate from iron or other ferromagnetic objects as they can be pulled into the MRI magnet’s core at very high speed, causing serious injury and damage. Serious incidents involving this “projectile effect” have been reported by numerous medical institutions. Many incidents have been documented involving such objects as gas cylinders, chairs, and smaller objects.  
 
Metrasens CEO Simon Goodyear said: “A study in the US has suggested that on average an incident occurs in every 100 to 1000 scans, equivalent to each MRI facility having 17 incidents per year. The same paper reports that 52% of the 46 medical institutions involved in the study have reported serious incidents of this nature. More recent studies suggest that 90% of incidents or near misses in the US go unreported”.
 
A metal detector is too indiscriminate – what MRI operators need is a detector that specifically detects metals that react to magnetism. Metrasens have thus devised a passive, ferrous metal detector system that detects the presence of such metals by observing changes in the Earth’s own magnetic field. There are hundred’s of MRI machines in the UK but a market of many thousands in the US, however the high level of the pound and subsequent low value presented a significant barrier to Metrasens’s wish to exploit that market.
 
 Rather than simply giving up on the US market the company approached the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) which put them in touch with the Innovation team at the University of Warwick’s Warwick Manufacturing Group to see if they had any expertise that Metrasens could draw on to solve this problem.   Together with the University of Warwick technology researchers they have been able to devise a new method of constructing their devices which gives similar capabilities for significantly reduced construction costs opening up serious prospects for selling the product into the US Market.
 
Metrasens now hopes to produce the first of its new devices within the next few months and has opened up a US office in anticipation. Metrasens recently launched the product into the US market at the Radiological Society of North America’s annual conference and exhibition which has over 60,000 attendees. The product was greeted with great excitement at the show and has led to a significant amount of interest from hospitals all over North America.   
 
Metrasens web site:

For further information please contact:  

Metrasens - Simon Goodyear, 01684585285
 Brian Miles, Innovation Direct, Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick
Telephone 024 7657 3169
email Brian.miles@warwick.ac.uk
 

Peter Dunn, Press and Media Relations Manager, University of Warwick,
024 76 523708  or 07767 655860 p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk  
 
PR114 PJD  19th December 2007