Medical Futures

Case Studies

Brian Thornes

Surgeon & Inventor

Winner of a Medical Futures Innovation Award

“I cannot understate the significance Medical Futures has had on my career path...I am grateful to have been one of the earlier recipients of the Awards”

Brian Thornes, a surgeon from Ireland developed a novel medical device used in Orthopaedic surgery to address a common problem in the operative treatment of broken ankles. He designed a suture that holds two ends of a bone together replacing a metal screw which normally had to be removed in a second operation or, if left in, frequently would break when the patient started walking again.

The device was licensed to a large medical device company and the first TightRope® device was implanted in Ireland in 2004. Over 100,000 units have been sold and used in more than 60,000 patients to date, grossing multiple millions of revenue and sprouting numerous line extensions of the technology.

The TightRope® has been used on several celebrity athletes including the likes of Welsh International, Gavin Hensen, and Chicago Bears quarterback, Rex Grossman.

“I cannot understate the significance Medical Futures has had on my career path.” Said Brian Thornes, “I am grateful to have been one of the earlier recipients of the Awards. The Judges recognising the potential for my Tightrope device, several years before its market success.”