Fusion IP invests in new medical spin-out

UNIVERSITY intellectual property commercialisation company Fusion IP today revealed it has backed a new start-up medical company.

Asalus is a new spin-out company from Sheffield-based Fusion’s partnership with Cardiff University.

The firm, which is founded on the inventions of Neil Warren, manager of the Wales Institute of Minimal Access Therapy (WIMAT), is developing three innovative devices that will improve the safety and efficiency of laparoscopic surgery.

Patents have already been filed on all three devices.

Laparoscopic surgery is a modern surgical technique where operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions.

There are several benefits to conducting laparoscopic surgery and the numbers of procedures conducted using the technique have grown rapidly with more than two million performed per year in the US alone.

Established in 1994, WIMAT was one of the first and best equipped laparoscopic training centres in the UK and it is now the busiest multi-disciplinary training centre in the country.

Neil Warren, chief technology officer at Asalus said: “The work at WIMAT is at the forefront of minimally invasive surgery training and it was this hands-on experience that enabled me to come up with the concepts for the Asalus range of laparoscopic devices.

“Fusion’s support, both commercially and financially has been invaluable and we look forward to bringing our novel product range to market in the near future.”