Clinical measurement (sometimes called physiological measurement) is part of the medical physics department and is the application of physics and engineering to assess and measure the physiological function of your body. Most of this work is performed by healthcare professionals known as clinical scientists.
Clinical scientists oversee specialist tests for diagnosing and managing disease. They advise other healthcare professionals on what results from tests mean, and carry out research to help develop new techniques to measure the physiological function of the body.
Our clinical scientists are supported by clinical technologists, another type of staff that help to provide engineering solutions to clinical problems. Some of this work happens in our dedicated engineering workshop, using machinery to create devices that are not available to buy. Clinical technologists also perform safety testing on equipment in the hospital.
There are also assistant staff who are vital to supporting the work of clinical measurement.
What we do
- Spinal cord monitoring – monitoring the signals passing through the spinal cord and nervous system during surgery which involved the spine or brain. This allows us to detect any issues during surgery so surgeons can take corrective action.
- Brain pressure monitoring – Monitoring the pressure inside the skull.
- Sleep testing – Providing equipment to patients and reporting results for assessing sleep disordered breathing (Patient information leaflet)
- Scientific safety – We provide safety testing of medical devices and non-ionising radiation such as ultraviolet radiation that is used in phototherapy.
- Innovation – We work closely with other staff in the hospital to develop solutions to clinical problems, using our scientific and engineering skills.
- Cariopulmonary exercise testing – testing the level of fitness of the body, heart and lungs prior to major surgery.
Meet the team
Clinical scientists
- Sarah Whitbourn BSc MSc PhD – Head of section
- Alistair Levett-Renton BSc MSc
- Andrew Simpson BSc MSc CEng
Support staff
- Tony Alton – Clinical technologist (engineering)
- Muhammad Kausar – Assistant clinical technologist (software and engineering)
- Jade Keetley – Healthcare science assistant (higher level)