MED.L Regulatory News (MED)

27 October 2016

MedaPhor Group plc

("MedaPhor" or the "Group" or the "Company")

University of Derby opens new Ultrasound Simulation Suite with ScanTrainer

MedaPhor Group plc (AIM: MED), the global provider of advanced ultrasound skills training simulators for medical professionals, announces that the University of Derby has purchased an additional six ScanTrainer ultrasound simulators for its new Ultrasound Simulation Suite, which will act as a learning centre for students on the University's ultrasound master's degree courses.

The University had already purchased two ScanTrainer systems in 2014 in order to offer a flexible learning environment for ultrasound students looking to practise scanning both in and out of class time. Since then, the University's postgraduate course offering has expanded and now includes a direct entry master's programme designed specifically to fast-track students from non-clinical backgrounds into a sonography career and aid the healthcare industry's increasing skills shortage.

The new high-end learning facility, which opened on September 26, has been designed specifically to cater for the training needs of the University's exponentially growing ultrasound student base. It houses three transvaginal and three transabdominal systems with a further two ScanTrainer systems also being used by students at the University's Chesterfield campus.

Connected by ScanTrainer Cloud, the systems will also be able to offer students access to their results, tutor feedback and learning resources from home, as well as share cases across the campuses for a collaborative learning experience for all ultrasound students.

Heather Venables, Senior Lecturer in Medical Ultrasound at the University of Derby, said: "The ScanTrainer system continues to be a game changer in how we approach sonographer training. Simulation is now a fully integrated part of our strategy for curriculum delivery and plays a key role in student support, particularly for pre-clinical ultrasound skills development.

"The ScanTrainer system provides not only a platform for basic skills practise and assessment but also a wide range of learning packages that can be tailored to individual student needs. This has the potential to reduce pressure on clinical departments, expand placement capacity, reduce the impact of student training on patients and improve student experience. So far, feedback from both students and clinical colleagues has been hugely encouraging."

Iain Dunbar, Head of Sales at MedaPhor, added: "The ultrasound skills gap is an increasing challenge for hospitals and we are seeing a growing response by UK universities such as Derby, Teesside and Cumbria who are helping to bridge this gap. They are doing so by creating ultrasound programmes that are taking the clinical pressure off the hospitals to train and moving this back into the educational environment where they can acquire hard-to-learn ultrasound skills in a patient-safe simulated environment.

"ScanTrainer enables them to offer a high standard of simulated learning that their students require before entering the clinical environment."

For more information visit: http://www.derby.ac.uk/health/diagnostic-imaging/facilities/

Enquiries:

About MedaPhor - www.medaphor.com

MedaPhor (AIM: MED) is a global provider of advanced ultrasound skills training simulators for medical professionals. Founded in 2004, the Company is headquartered in Cardiff, UK and San Diego, USA, with customers in over 20 countries across the world.

Following its recent acquisition of Inventive Medical, the company now has three of the world's leading ultrasound training and examination simulators - ScanTrainer, ScanTrainer Examine and HeartWorks:

ScanTrainer is a world-leading ultrasound skills training simulator and CPD platform offering an immersive, 24/7 self-learning experience. Features include real feel haptic feedback, real full anatomy scans, real-time expert guidance, structured curriculum learning, metric-based assessment and an extensive cloud pathology library with the unique ability to add your own patient scans. ScanTrainer's flexible education platform empowers faster and better learning at any stage of a doctor or sonographer's medical career.

ScanTrainer Examine is MedaPhor's new ultrasound skills examination simulator for hospitals and examination bodies which offers examiners a library of pathologies and normal patient scans, combined with a realistic, virtual reality based scanning experience, with which to comprehensively test a clinician's ultrasound skills through examination.

HeartWorks, developed by leading cardiac anesthesiologists at University College London Hospitals, the HeartWorks simulators and online training materials are recognised as one of the most true-to-life and comprehensive educational tools for Transthoracic and Transoesophageal echocardiography.

Medical practitioners can learn the complete anatomy of the heart, practise acquiring ultrasound images though correct probe positioning on a simulator, interpret those images to determine correct diagnosis and treatment, and finally be tested to ensure that all required competencies have been achieved to the highest standard.

About the University of Derby - www.derby.ac.uk

The University of Derby achieved university status in 1992 and is home to a diverse community of more than 34,000 students from the UK and overseas. Professor Kathryn Mitchell is the Vice-Chancellor at the University.

Students have the choice of studying in seven Colleges: Arts; Business; Education; Engineering & Technology; Health & Social Care; Law, Humanities and Social Sciences; and Life & Natural Sciences. There is also the option of studying for a degree online through the University of Derby Online Learning (UDOL).

The University Quarter in Derby incorporates sites at Kedleston Road, Markeaton Street and Britannia Mill to the west of Derby city centre. Courses are also delivered at our Buxton Campus, which is based at the magnificent 18th Century Grade II* listed Devonshire Dome campus in the heart of the town.

Our Chesterfield Campus is currently home to our nationally recognised Adult Nursing degrees and Mentoring in Practice modules. The new Chesterfield Campus - set to open in autumn 2016 - will also offer world class university facilities for health and social care, business, engineering and IT students.

University of Derby Students' Union, research centres and academic schools - including the Derby Business School - are based at the Kedleston Road site. Facilities include the £1.5m Clinical Skills Suite, a forensic training facility (or 'crime scene house'), and a pioneering computer games development suite. A new £10.8m sports centre is also on-site, featuring a fitness centre, indoor climbing wall, and performance suites and squash courts. The University also owns Derby Theatre, a major live professional performing arts venue in the city.

A new £12.5m building dedicated to STEM subjects at the Markeaton Street site is due for completion in early 2017, and we recently opened One Friar Gate Square in the city centre, where our Derby Law School is based.

Media can browse the University's award-winning Guide to Expertise, bringing together all of its media friendly experts to provide comment on everything from zombies and daydreaming to law and politics. If the subject you are interested in is not covered in the Guide please do not hesitate to get in touch as we are adding new experts all the time. The Guide is also available to download as an App.

Buxton and Leek College is also part of the University of Derby group. It was formed in August 2012, following the merger of Leek College and the University of Derby, and provides a further education and training service to students of all ages and abilities from Leek, Buxton and the surrounding areas.