Adelaide, Nov 24, 2006 (ABN Newswire) - Premier Bionics (ASX: PBI)(AIM: PBI), the Australian-based company that was formed to invest in medical devices and diagnostics, today announces through its solely owned subsidiary company, Medic Vision Pty Ltd, the signing of a contract between the University of Liverpool, Royal Liverpool University, Broadgreen Hospitals NHS Trust, Imperial College London, University of Wales (Bangor), University of Hull, University of Leeds, Central Manchester & Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust and Medic Vision to develop a visceral needle puncture simulator for commercial deployment.

The project is partly funded through the Department of Health's Health Technology Devices programme to produce and validate a virtual reality (VR) simulator for training visceral (internal organs) interventional radiology needle puncture procedures. These are performed by radiologists using medical imaging and touch to guide needles. The VR simulators could transform training methods as the skills currently required are presently learnt through an apprenticeship on patients, which is both time consuming and inevitably associated with discomfort and the risk of complications.

Image guidance of needles in IR is a specific skill taught to all radiology trainees (in excess of 721 in the UK, 7224 in the US). The time to acquire these skills varies, depending on aptitude, the number of cases performed and case mix. Moreover, pressures to improve throughput in the NHS, and the European Working time directive, reducing junior doctors' hours, are increasing the difficulty of acquiring clinical skills in a time efficient manner. At the same time, there is a national shortage of Consultant Radiologists in the UK that is severely compromising delivery of the NHS services.

The type of needle puncture simulator proposed in this project is also adaptable to many other needle based procedures in medical specialties performing guided procedures, for example: biopsy by surgeons, arterial puncture for blood gases, lung and renal biopsy for physicians and radiologists, biliary stenting by radiologists and nerve block for pain control by anesthetists and radiologists. VR will play a pivotal role in the future training of clinical skills, including medical undergraduates, nurses and paramedics.?"Trainees carrying out procedures in the operating theatre require 50-70% more time than by consultants, limiting case throughput with an annual cost of additional theatre time to meet UK training requirements (270 days per year) of approximately Pounds1.3m. We are very excited that this simulator will have a significant benefit to the health system in saving costs but more importantly, reducing the risk of errors and providing better patient outcome." Stated Dr Derek Gould, Consultant Interventional Radiologist and Honorary Reader at the Royal University of Liverpool.

Ross Horley, Managing Director, Medic Vision commenting today said, "Strategically this project is very important to further Medic Visions' penetration into the UK market and to produce a global product. It is also testament to our credibility that these leading medical universities requested that Medic Vision be involved."