Industry perceptions of barriers to commercialization of regenerative medicine products in the UK.

AIMS: Regenerative medicine is an emerging field with the potential to provide widespread improvement in healthcare and patient wellbeing via the delivery of therapies that can restore, regenerate or repair damaged tissue. As an industry, it could significantly contribute to economic growth if products are successfully commercialized. However, to date, relatively few products have reached the market owing to a variety of barriers, including a lack of funding and regulatory hurdles. The present study analyzes industry perceptions of the barriers to commercialization that currently impede the success of the regenerative medicine industry in the UK. MATERIALS & METHODS: The analysis is based on 20 interviews with leading industrialists in the field. RESULTS: The study revealed that scientific research in regenerative medicine is thriving in the UK. Unfortunately, lack of access to capital, regulatory hurdles, lack of clinical evidence leading to problems with reimbursement, as well as the culture of the NHS do not provide a good environment for the commercialization of regenerative medicine products. CONCLUSION: Policy interventions, including increased translational government funding, a change in NHS and NICE organization and policies, and regulatory clarity, would likely improve the general outcomes for the regenerative medicine industry in the UK.

Plastic limit solution for the response of plate anchors under combined translational and torsional undrained loading

Plate anchors are increasingly being used to moor large floating offshore structures in deep and ultradeep water. These facilities impart substantial vertical uplift loading to plate anchors. However, extreme operating conditions such as hurricane loading often result in partial system failures, with significant change in the orientation of the remaining intact mooring lines. The purpose of this study is to investigate the undrained pure translational (parallel to plate) and torsional bearing capacity of anchor plates idealized as square and rectangular shaped plates. Moreover, the interaction response of plate anchors under combined translational and torsional loading is studied using a modified plastic limit analysis (PLA) approach. The previous PLA formulation which did not account for shear-normal force interaction on the vertical end faces of the plate provides an exact solution to the idealized problem of an infinitely thin plate but only an approximate solution to the problem of a plate of finite thickness. This is also confirmed by the three-dimensional finite element (FE) results, since the PLA values exceed FE results as the thickness of the plate increases. By incorporating the shear-normal interaction relationship in the modified solution, the torsional bearing capacity factors, as well as the plate interaction responses are enhanced as they show satisfactory agreement with the FE results. The interaction relationship is then obtained for square and rectangular plates of different aspect ratios and thicknesses. The new interaction relationships could also be used as an associated plastic failure locus for combined shear and torsional loading to predict plastic displacements and rotations in translational and torsional loading modes as well. Copyright © 2011 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE).

The production of radionuclides for nuclear medicine from a compact, low-energy accelerator system.

The field of nuclear medicine is reliant on radionuclides for medical imaging procedures and radioimmunotherapy (RIT). The recent shut-downs of key radionuclide producers have highlighted the fragility of the current radionuclide supply network, however. To ensure that nuclear medicine can continue to grow, adding new diagnostic and therapy options to healthcare, novel and reliable production methods are required. Siemens are developing a low-energy, high-current - up to 10MeV and 1mA respectively - accelerator. The capability of this low-cost, compact system for radionuclide production, for use in nuclear medicine procedures, has been considered.