Scientists in Birmingham have designed revolutionary headgear for surgeons to help save thousands of lives.

Medics at Birmingham City University, are trialling the prototype at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Students at the university have helped test the tool which is designed for surgeons to wear in theatre and is 70 per cent lighter than similar equipment already used.

BCU graduate Daniel Harbin, supervised by tutor David Jones, interviewed several surgeons before coming up with the idea. Mr Harbin said: “It became obvious that the surgeons would benefit greatly from a combination of reduced weight and better fit, with fixing which didn’t constrict the head muscles and tissues through clamping. The headgear features magnifying lenses, camera and lights which are aligned in seconds to the surgeon’s head by using a 3D scan.”

Discussions with manufacturers are taking place, while clinical trials are due tsoon and four more headsets are being made for surgeons at the hospital.

John Kirk, the University’s head of business partnership and knowledge transfer, said: “This shows what we can achieve when we apply first-class design, technologies and materials to a longstanding problem.”