Dr James Evans, a healthcare researcher at SMTL, has had a  paper published in Applied Health Economics and Health Policy  (Dale, M., Evans, J., Carter, K., O’Connell, S., Morgan, H., Carolan-Rees, G., 2019. iFuse Implant System for Treating Chronic Sacroiliac Joint Pain: A NICE Medical Technology Guidance. Appl Health Econ Health Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-019-00539-7).

James carried out the work whilst working at Cedar. The paper presents the process undertaken for the development of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Medical Technology Guidance on iFuse, an implant for the treatment of chronic sacroiliac joint pain.

Clinical results suggested that iFuse led to improved pain, improved Oswestry disability index (ODI) and improved quality of life when compared to non-surgical treatment. The economic analysis indicated that iFuse becomes cost saving at 8 years (approximately £129 per patient) compared to non-surgical treatments and that these cost savings continue to increase after 8 years. NICE published guidance in October 2018 recommending that the case for adoption of the iFuse system in the UK National Health Service (NHS) was supported by the evidence