Our Speakers
Ninian Peckitt
Engineering Assisted Surgery
Mr Ninian Peckitt, Consultant Cosmetic Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Clinical Director at the National Centre for Aesthetic Facial and Oral Surgery, aims to use the very latest engineering advances to benefit patients in need of reconstructive facial surgery. In fact, he coined the phrase ‘Engineering Assisted Surgery’ which captures his vision.
Mr Peckitt has pioneered radical new technologies to treat patients with head injuries and advanced cancers of the mouth and throat. Such conditions often require the removal of large pieces of bone, which are then replaced by implants.
Using computerised CT and MRI scanners to build 3D models of patients’ heads and then transferring data to rapid prototyping devices, such as stereolithography machines, enables him to accurately create full -sized models. Using the models operations can be planned and, crucially, bespoke titanium implants can be CNC machined to exactly fit the patients’ facial parameters.
He believes medicine in general, and surgery in particular, still has much to learn from manufacturing. “In the 1960s major manufacturers revolutionised their processes using automation techniques and implementing a range of IT solutions, which have continues to develop.
“By contrast, the NHS still has a long way to go in rationalising its procedures and using the latest and most appropriate technologies”
Both reconstructive surgery and toolmaking deal with very complex and precise 3D shapes. Recent advances in engineering technology have proved their worth in manufacturing and there is no reason why they should not also benefit patients.
As well as trauma treatment, the advanced engineering techniques can be applied to surgical replacement or augmentation of worn bones and organs – a need that can only increase as life expectancies extend.
Not only are the latest engineering techniques used to generate the model data and subsequently machine the implant, they are also the foundation of the accurate measurements required at each key stage.
Dr Jon Petzing
Dr Jon Petzing is the Senior Lecturer in Metrology at Loughborough within the Wolfson School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering. His applied research and consultancy is concerned with contact and non-contact dimensional metrology, surface metrology, optical metrology, acoustic metrology, pressure metrology and metrology standards. His work is concerned with measurement instrument development and design, industrial integration, development of measurement confidence, and involvement in standards and metrology guides, resulting in over 100 articles and publications
Jon is responsible for the development of the Loughborough University dedicated UKAS standard 150m2 WS Dimensional Metrology Laboratory which houses ~£1m of coordinate and surface topography metrology equipment. He was a Scientific Advisory Board member for the UK Centre of Excellence in Metrology for Micro and Nano Technologies (CEMMNT, www.cemmnt.co.uk) (2007 – 2009), and has developed and maintained research collaborations with the Australian (CSIRO), Malaysian (SIRIM) and UK (NPL) National Measurement Institutes. Jon is routinely engaged with companies across many different industrial sectors, advising on metrology principles and techniques.
Modern Metrology – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Measurement and Metrology have been with us for thousands of years, providing the backdrop to trade and barter in known amounts such as length, mass and time. The modern era has a very similar need for metrology but across a much broader spectrum of measurement types. For many industries it is about allowing the successful assembly of components sometimes sourced from disparate parts of the world, into functional products that satisfy specification. The ever growing industrial demand is for better accuracy, precision, repeatability and resolution, but ideally at no extra cost and a reduction of time.
Modern metrology is synonymous with the computer and the laser. Companies worldwide are inventing and developing new measurement solutions that produce better and/or faster definitions of existing measurements, or provide new types of measurements and volumes of data that had previously been unobtainable or unthinkable. However, the perceived and real benefits of modern metrology need to be balanced against the inherent complexity, cost and resource management that modern metrology often entails.
Gary McMahon
Measuring and improving the burn
Gary McMahon, CEO of EH Tech (Enhanced Hydrocarbon Technologies), will be speaking about his company’s development of enhanced combustion in large diesel engines.
As he explains: “Enhanced combustion occurs by combining of two or more fuels simultaneously within the combustion chamber, with the secondary fuel being a lighter gaseous fuel. This secondary fuel reacts with a catalytic effect that causes the diesel fuel to burn more efficiently. We are not simply substituting one fuel for another but actually altering the chemistry of the burn.”
Enhanced combustion is achieved by the introduction of a small, measured and controlled amount of a secondary gaseous fuel, injected into a diesel engine via the air inlet ports. This acts as a reagent within the combustion chamber and alters the chemistry of the combustion process. The catalytic effect alters the burn, by speeding up the flame front of the combustion within the chamber and by creating a more homogeneous air/fuel mix within the chamber.
Any secondary gaseous fuel can be used as the reagent, including but not limited to; Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and Methane.
EH Tech’s retrofitted gaseous injection system is applicable to all diesel engines and the real world test results are impressive and far-reaching. With an improvement in the combustion efficiency of the engine directly improving the thermodynamic efficiency of the vehicle a fuel saving of at least 25 per cent is achieved. As a result of, a greater energy release within the combustion chamber from the same volume of diesel. Tests have also proven a dramatic reduction in particulate matter (diesel smoke), and a reduction in NOx as more oxygen is consumed in conjunction with the improved burn within the combustion chamber. There is also less wear and tear on the engine due to the absence of soot within the engine and oil system.
The system works by measuring the diesel fuel being used by the engine. The secondary fuel is then introduced using the minimum amount necessary to create the maximum improvement in thermodynamic efficiency. This improvement in performance is registered by the engines’ Electronic Control Unit (ECU) which reads the torque sensors built into the driveshaft of the engine, and then reduces the diesel supply so that the performance drops back to its normal parameters. This means that the engines’ ECU stays in total control and continues to operate the vehicle within its normal performance limits, while benefitting from increased MPG and lower emissions.
“The accurate measurements of the fuel flow along with baseline vehicle variable parameters were prerequisites for the gathering of the test data. It proves enhanced combustion produces results in the real world,” Gary McMahon states. “Our test vehicle went from 600 miles per tank full to over 1,000 across all driving conditions.”
A number of road haulage companies are keen to test the enhanced combustion technology which offers a ROI of less than 12 months. Further developments will also be directed at allowing the technology to improve diesel engines in the power generation, rail and marine sectors.