About this briefing

About this briefing

Medtech innovation briefings summarise the published evidence and information available for individual medical technologies. The briefings provide information to aid local decision‑making by clinicians, managers and procurement professionals.

Medtech innovation briefings aim to present information and critically review the strengths and weaknesses of the relevant evidence, but contain no recommendations and are not formal NICE guidance.

Development of this briefing

This briefing was developed for NICE by Newcastle & York External Assessment Centre. The interim process and methods statement sets out the process NICE uses to select topics, and how the briefings are developed, quality‑assured and approved for publication.

Project team

  • Newcastle & York External Assessment Centre

  • Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme, NICE

Peer reviewers and contributors

  • William Green, Research Consultant, York Health Economics Consortium

  • Jacoby Patterson, Associate, York Health Economics Consortium

  • Samuel Urwin, Trainee Clinical Scientist, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist commentators

The following specialist commentators provided comments on a draft of this briefing:

  • Mr Roger Strachan, Consultant Neurosurgeon, South Tees NHS Foundation Trust

  • Mrs Elaine Buchanan, Consultant Physiotherapist, Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust

  • Mr Ashley Cole, Consultant Spinal Surgeon, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Declarations of interest

Mr Ashley Cole has received a fellowship sponsored by DePuy Synthes, which produce devices used in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion procedures and also a prosthesis that can be used for cervical disc replacement.

Copyright

© National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2016. All rights reserved. NICE copyright material can be downloaded for private research and study, and may be reproduced for educational and not‑for‑profit purposes. No reproduction by or for commercial organisations, or for commercial purposes, is allowed without the written permission of NICE.

ISBN: 978-1-4731-1953-6