EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Engineering for Personalised Surgery & Intervention

Our EPSRC CDT in Advanced Engineering for Personalised Surgery & Intervention will train a new generation of researchers for diverse engineering careers that deliver patient and economic impact through innovation in surgery & intervention. We will achieve this through cohort training that implements the strategy of the EPSRC by working across sectors (academia, industry, and NHS) to stimulate innovations by generating and exchanging knowledge.
Surgery is recognised as an "indivisible, indispensable part of health care" but the NHS struggles to meet its rising demand. More than 10m UK patients underwent a surgical procedure in 2021, with a further 5m patients still requiring treatment due to the COVID-19 backlog. This level of activity, encompassing procedures such as tumour resection, reconstructive surgery, orthopaedics, assisted fertilisation, thrombectomy, and cardiovascular interventions, accounts for a staggering 10% of the healthcare budget, yet it is not always curative. Unfortunately, one third of all country-wide deaths occur within 90 days of surgery. The Department of Health and Social Care urges for "innovation and new technology", echoing the NHS Long Term Plan on digital transformation and personalised care.

Our proposed CDT will contribute to this mission and deliver mission-inspired training in the EPSRC's Research Priority "Transforming Health and Healthcare". In addition to patient impact, engineering innovation in surgery and intervention has substantial economic potential. The UK is a leader in the development of such technology and the 3rd biggest contributor to Europe's c.150bn euros MedTech market (2021). The market's growth rate is substantial, e.g., an 11.4% (2021 - 2026) compound annual growth rate is predicted just for the submarket of interventional robotics.
The engineering scientists required to enhance the UK's societal, scientific, and economic capacity must be expert researchers with the skills to create innovative solutions to surgical challenges, by carrying out research, for example, on micro-surgical robots for tumour resection, AI-assisted surgical training, novel materials and theranostic agents for "surgery without the knife", and predictive computational models to develop patient-specific surgical procedures. Crucially, they should be comfortable and effective in crossing disciplines while being deeply engaged with surgical teams to co-create technology solutions. They should understand the pathway from bench-to-bedside and possess an entrepreneurial mindset to bring their innovations to the market. Such researchers are currently scarce, making their training a key contributor to the success of the UK Government's "Build Back Better - our plan for growth" and UKRI's "five-year strategy".

The cross-discipline collaboration of King's School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences (BMEIS, host), Department of Engineering, and King's Health Partners (KHP), our Academic Health Science Centre, will create an engineering focused CDT that embeds students within three acute NHS Trusts. Our CDT brings together 50+ world-class supervisors whose grant portfolio (c.£150m) underpins the full spectrum of the CDT's activity, i.e., Smart Instruments & Active Implants, Surgical Data Science, and Patient-specific Modelling & Simulation.

We will offer MRes/PhD training pathway (1+3), and direct PhD training pathway (0+4). All students, regardless of pathway, will benefit from continuous education modules which cover aspects of clinical translation and entrepreneurship (with King's Entrepreneurship Institute), as well as core value modules to foster a positive research culture.

Our graduates will acquire an entrepreneurial mindset with skills in data science, fundamental AI, computational modelling, and surgical instrumentation and implants. Career paths will range from creating next generation medical innovators within academia and/or industry to MedTech start-up entrepreneurs.