Advisory service for designing studies in surgery or therapeutic devices

Are you evaluating a new surgical technique or therapeutic device? We are delighted to offer help to researchers and innovators seeking guidance on planning an IDEAL Stage study.

The service is free of charge to clinicians and scientists doing this work as part of a grant-funded research project, or as an unfunded service improvement. Contact ben.hornsby@nds.ox.ac.uk

A separate Consultancy arrangement is available for commercial companies, through our associated non-profit company, IDEAL Innovation CIC.  To access this, please send initial enquiries to  idealinnovationukcic@gmail.com

What do you need to do?

We ask you to contact us in the first instance to check your work fits within the type of complex health intervention areas applicable to the use of the IDEAL Framework and guidance.

Before submitting a form (found at the bottom of this page), get in touch – ben.hornsby@nds.ox.ac.uk 

If we think your research area is suitable, we will ask you to complete a submission form with more details about your proposed study (Link to Submission Form PDF). It is important that you try to identify the IDEAL stage and key purpose/question of your study using our key IDEAL papers and Flowchart.

• The original IDEAL Framework 2009: McCulloch P, Altman DG, Campbell WB, et al. for the Balliol Collaboration.  No surgical innovation without evaluation: the IDEAL recommendations.  Lancet 2009; Sep 26; 374 (9695): 1105-12.
• The updated 2019 paper: Hirst A, Philippou Y, Blazeby J, Campbell B, Campbell M, Feinberg J, et al. No Surgical Innovation Without Evaluation: Evolution and Further Development of the IDEAL Framework and Recommendations. Ann Surg.2019 Feb;269(2):211-220.
• The IDEAL Stage Flowchart: (Link to Flowchart PDF)
• The IDEAL Reporting Guidelines 2021: Bilbro N,  Hirst A, Paez A, Vasey B, Pufulete M, Sedrakyan A, et al. On behalf of the IDEAL Collaboration Reporting Guidelines Working Group The IDEAL Reporting Guidelines, Ann Surg. Jan 2021 – Volume 273 – Issue 1 – p 82-85 doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004180

Once we have confirmed the relevant IDEAL Stage with you, we will allocate you an expert IDEAL Advisor to help you develop your protocol using stage-specific guidance.

The purpose of the service is for you to produce a clear written protocol for your study which you might consider publishing with your advisor as co-author.

What types of studies have we helped so far?

It is the early stages of the service but currently, we have been helping with studies from IDEAL Stage 1 to Stage 3 (first-in-human device development to randomised controlled trials of a new technique). Our projects cover a variety of clinical specialities and include;

• A new device for haemostatic control in liver trauma.
• A new surgical robot in spine surgery.
• Using a new imaging combination to guide surgical resection of a type of brain tumour.
• Examining the effect of deep brain stimulation during sleep in degenerative neurological disorders.
• Development and feasibility of a randomised controlled trial of laser treatment of vulval lichen sclerosus.
• A randomised controlled trial to evaluate the value of surgical staging in endometrial cancer,
• Evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of temporary auxiliary liver transplantation for liver cancer

Evaluation of the service and feedback to help evolve the IDEAL Recommendations

We will evaluate the usefulness of our tools and service to:

1. a) Improve our service
2. b) Learn from real case studies where the IDEAL Framework and Recommendations can be amended/updated.

We ask that you agree to a short interview with us a few months after initial contact to review your experience of using IDEAL.

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