A group of local brainboxes have put their heads together to invent a device to make surgery safer.

Neurosurgeons at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust developed a state-of-the-art head-holding clamp, called the stereotactic frame position aid, which keeps a patient’s head fixed during brain operations.

It allows surgical instruments to be guided to a target area while keeping damage to surrounding tissues minimal.

Inventors, Mr Hu Liang Low and Mr Harith Akram, who work at Queen’s Hospital, in Rom Valley Way, Romford, came up with the brainwave as a result of problems they’ve experienced in trying to attach less-accurate frames to patients.

The new device will make working on brain cysts and tumour biopsies easier and it allows a single operator to work quickly and more accurately.

The Romford surgeons had their idea developed with help from Health Enterprise East (HEE), the NHS innovation Hub for the East of England and East Midlands.

Chris Armstrong HEE marketing manager said: “This is the first project HEE has commercialised with Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and we are delighted to have been able to provide the help needed to take it from concept through to market. We hope this is the first of many exciting innovations on which we will be able to collaborate.”

The positioning aid is being made by Innomed, based in Germany, which has more than 25 years experience in the medical equipment field.