Kevin R. Haylett PhD

kevin@medeng.net

Welcome to my site, it details some of my background and interests including Writing, Horology and Medical Engineering

Writing

My hobby is cycling. When I'm riding my mind often wanders. Recently I put some of these thoughts and ideas into to a book of short stories. Why not have a read? I genuinely think you may enjoy them. The book would make a great gift for any cyclist and be a good read for everyone.

The Cyclist's Tale and Other Short Cycling Stories

Horology – Latest work

My latest patent application for an all mechanical Tuning Fork Escapement can be found herGB2533960 - An escapement comprising a magnetically braked escape wheel and a tuned mechanical resonator for time keeping in clocks, watches, chronometers and other timepieces.e:

I'll be writing a summary describing the invention and its advantages over the coming weeks. For those that read and understand the patent application they will soon realize the beauty and elemental simplicity of the design. And, importantly, how easy it would be to implement the escapement as an addition control element to standard mechanical timepieces. For example, to improve the accuracy of mechanical watches that have escapements that use balance wheels. This would enable high precision time keeping without the need for complex complications like a tourbillon.

Background

Over the last couple of years I've been working on developing a range watch and clock escapements. I am specially interested in using a tuning fork to make an all mechanical tuning fork watch. Previously mechanical tuning forks have been combined with a simple electromechanical drive to make watches and clocks.

For examples of tuning fork watches see here.

For those interested I have created a simple report of my early ideas. I apologise for the crude prototypes, but they did serve to provide proof of function.

Early prototypes

Interestingly a recent patent awarded to Ilan Vardi, was quite similar to my early design idea. As a result I abandoned my patent application due to the closeness of the design although there were a few practical but minor differences. Again for those interested here are the copies of my abandoned patent application and you will soon see the similarities to that of Ilan Vardi.

First patent application (Zipped file)

Latest developments - My early work and Ilan Vardi's patent inspired me to develop a very much improved and simpler idea using some different principles. Again I now have working prototypes and again made an initial patent application. The initial search has not revealed any similar ideas, so this idea may be patentable. However, I am considering just openly publishing the idea as a patent is of little use to me as an individual.

Partners sort - Developing a mechanical tuning fork escapement was an academic challenge and I'm just a one man team. As a result I'm looking for any support and welcome any interested parties that may wish to help me develop my latest ideas. I would emphasize that I have working versions of my latest escapement uses a mechanical tuning fork in an optimised and efficient manner compared with previous approaches!

Medical Engineering

I have also have considerable experience in Medical Engineering having worked for over 20 years in the NHS. This is detailed below where you can also download some of my work.

Research

My interests include developing and carrying out research in Medical Engineering and Clinical Physiology. I try to keep actively involved in a number of research areas, these include:

	The use of neural networks in the analysis of complex data.
	Pattern detection and classification in complex data such as medical time series and images
	Statistical analysis
	The process of clinical decision making.
	Ergonomics and human factors in surgical theatre and equipment design.
	The analysis of GI measurements with a particular focus on understanding and improving measurements of oesophageal function. The modelling of physiological systems.

This work includes both independent and collaborative research on a range of subjects ranging from analysis of complex time series data to ergonomic assessment of new medical devices. A list of recent presentations and publications can be found on my CV and examples of my work can be downloaded from the Downloads page. My other interests include the active mentorship of a wide range of clinical staff.

Medical Engineering

As part of my managerial roles I am also interested in all aspects of Medical Equipment Management. My main roles relating to medical engineering include:

	The development and management of the Departments Medical Equipment Information management system. This is the IT system which is used to manage all aspects of equipment maintenance in the Trust. This is an Access based system which I have developed over many years.
	The administration and management of the maintenance contracts which fund the department.

I have amassed a wealth of experience, with over 22 years in the UK's NHS, much of which has been as a senior member of staff with a large Medical Engineering Department in one of the Uk's foremostteaching hospital Trusts. The challenges are always changing and varied as both the techniques and NHS are continuously developing

Professional activities

I am a Chartered Engineer and member of the Institute of Engineering Technology (IET). I have a wide knowledge of medical equipment, computers in medicine and their role in data modelling and analysis. Continuing to develop my skills and knowledge is a constant challenge. I have played an active role with the Association of GI Physiologists and my experience has been rich and rewarding and I am looking forward to continue to develop my career in medical research. My management interests have also included the proposal to state register staff who carry out maintenance, repair and servicing as 'Clinical Technologists'. If you are interested in 'Clinical Technologist' registration you the following reports made for the IET and IEE (follow IET and IEE links ) and for the latest open meeting with the NHS Chief Scientific Officer regarding this subject (follow this Link).

Publications

Papers

Haylett, K.R.,Functional analysis of oesophageal clearance from 24 hour ambulatory pH recordings comparing patients with Barrett’s oesophagus and healthy controls. www.medeng.net 2011

Walker R., Ravi R., Haylett K.R., The effect of Cricoid Force on the airway calibre in children: a bronchoscopic assessment, British Journal of Anaesthesia, 2010.104(1):71-4

Hamade A.M., Issa M.E., Haylett K.R., and Ammori B.J. Fixity of ports to the abdominal wall during laparoscopic surgery: a randomized comparison of cutting versus blunt trocars. Surg Endosc. 2007 Feb:

Haylett, K.R., Chan, A., Globe,J., Smythe, A.,Vales, P., and R F McCloy, Using kohonen self organising feature maps for the analysis of ambulatory oesophageal manometry,3rd International Seminar on Medical Applications of Signal Processing, IEE, 3-4th November, 2005.

Haylett, K.R.†, Vales, P., and McCloy, R.F., The classification of oesophageal 24-hour pH measurements using a Kohonen self-organising feature map. Physiological Measurements, 2004. 2004. 25: 709-719.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., Lee, S.H., and McCloy, R.F., A pH-mucosa area unit of measure to consider morphology of the oesophagus when evaluating oesophagitis. Physiological Measurements, 2003. 24:879-890.

Ballester, P., Haylett, K.R., McCloy, R.F., Comparison of task performance of the camera-holder robots EndoAssist and Aesop. Surgical Laparoscopy and Percutaneous Techniques, 2003. 13(5): 334-338.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., and McCloy, R.F., An investigation into the spatial relationship between complexity and motility within the oesophagus. Physiological Measurements, 1998. 19: 463-479.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., McCloy, R.F., and Lee, S.H., Technical report: The introduction of a new synchronised oesophageal manometry and digital video fluoroscopy (fluoromanometry) system into the radiology suite. Clinical Radiology, 1998. 53: 596-598.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., Lee, S.H., and McCloy, R.F., Synchronous review of oesophageal manometry and video fluoroscopy using a portable manometry recorder and PC with integrated digital video acquisition. Physiological Measurements, 1997. 18: 1-14.

Conference Presentations

Haylett, K.R., A., Globe, J., Smythe, A.,and Vales, P., A new approach to analysing ambulatory oesophageal manometry using Kohonen clustering and 3-dimensional visualisation techniques. 3rd GI Physiology Measurement Meeting, IPEM & AGIP York, 4 December 2007.

Udani, S.,Udani, R.,Vales, P.,McCloy, R.F., and Haylett K.R., Quantifying Acid Clearance and Reflux in
Gastrooesophageal Reflux Disease, The 21st International Symposium on Neurogastroenterology and Motility September 2~5, 2007 Jeju Island, Korea (PS058).

Chan,. A,, Vales, P. and Haylett, K. R., A national survey of ambulatory oesophageal manometry practice in the United kingdom. United European Gastroenterology Week,Paris, France,October 27-31, 2007.

Lee S. H., Vales P., Haylett K.R., and McCloy R.F., The relationship between age, oesophagitis and oesophageal luminal diameter . European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology, ESGAR 2007, 18th Annual Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal June 12-15,2007.

Hamade A.M., Issa M.E., Haylett K.R., Ammori, B.J., Fixity of ports to the abdominal wall during laparoscopic surgery: A randomised comparison of cutting versus blunt ports. 13th International Conference of the EAES (European Association for Endoscopy Surgery), Venice 1-4 June, A183, 2005.

Chan A., Haylett K.R., Globe J., Smythe A., Vales P., McCloy R.F., Automatic clustering and classification of ambulatory oesophageal manometry waveforms, Gut, 2005:54 (suppl. 11): A77.

Udani,S.D., Haylett,K.R., Vales, P., Lee,S.H., and McCloy,R.F., Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, lumen diameter and age Gut, 2004:52 (suppl. 111): A30.

Udani,S.D., Haylett,K.R., Vales, P., Lee, S.H., and McCloy, R.F., Estimated oesophageal clearance ,lumen diameter, and GORD. Gut, 2004:52 (suppl. 111): A111.

Lee S. H., Vales P., Haylett K.R., and McCloy R.F., What is a 'normal' barium swallow. European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology, ESGAR 2003, 14th Annual Meeting, Budapest, Hungary June 17-21,2003.

Lee S. H., Vales P., Haylett K.R., and McCloy R.F., The value of combined synchronous fluoromanometry in the assessment of oesophageal swallowing disorders. European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology, ESGAR 2003, 14th Annual Meeting, Budapest, Hungary June 17-21,2003.

Lee S .H., Haylett K.R., Vales P., and McCloy R.F., Fluoromanometry, SIGGAR,6-7th February, 2003 York, Special interest group in abdominal radiology.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., and McCloy R.F., Reflux exposure units - A new way of evaluating oesophageal pH measurements, Gut, 2003.52 (suppl. 1): A23.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., and McCloy R.F., Is there a relationship between pH measurements and symptoms? A probability based analysis using neural networks, Gut, 2003.52 (suppl. 1): A48.

Vales, P., Haylett, K.R., Lee, S., H., and McCloy, R.F., Fluoromanometry: Clinical Experience at the MRI GI Investigation Unit. 2nd GI Physiology Measurement Meeting, IPEM & AGIP York, 30 April 2002.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., and McCloy, R.F., Is there a relationship between pH measurements and symptoms? A probability based analysis using neural networks. 2nd GI Physiology Measurement Meeting, IPEM & AGIP York, 30 April 2002.

Ballester P., Jain, Y., Haylett, K.R., and McCloy R.F., Comparison of task performance of robotic camera holders EndoAssist and Aesop. Proc. 15th International Congress and exhibition Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, Berlin, July 2001(Excerpta Medica International Congress Series 1230, Elsevier Science) 1071-1074.

Woodcock S.A.A., Haylett, K.R., Helm, D., Vales, P., and McCloy, R.F., The interpretation of 24-hour oesophageal pH data using neural networks. Z. Gastroenterol 2000;38:5.

Haylett, K.R., Kidger, D., J., Vales, P., McCloy, R.F., Simulating the excitation mechanism of muscle within the oesophagus using cellular automata and finite element analysis. GIPEM & BSG, GI Measurements York, 24th Nov 1999.

Brown, I., Lee, S., Vales, P., Haylett, K., Stott, S., Pearson, R., MacLennan, I., Hill, J., Ambulatory Manometry of the Right Colon in Slow Transit Constipation and Effect of Antegrade Lavage.Washington, DC. May 1-6, 1999 The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons 100th Anniversary and Tripartite Meeting. http://www.fascrs.org/meeting/1999/posters99.html.

McCloy, R.F., Haylett, K.R., Kidger, D.J., Vales, P., Simulating the excitation mechanism of muscle within the oesophagus using cellular automata. Z. Gastroenterol 1998:36:1086.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., and McCloy, R.F., Complexity In Upper Gastro Intestinal Motility. Z Gastroenterol. 1997.35:1101-1109.

Haylett, K.R., Vales P., and McCloy R.F., Nonlinear analysis of oesophageal manometry. Gut, 1997.47(suppl. 3): A152.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., and McCloy, R.F., Time series analyses in gastro-oesophageal measurements. Z. Gastroenterol.1996.34:836.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., McCloy, R.F., and Lee S.H., Synchronous recording of oesophageal manometry and video-fluoroscopic barium swallow examination. In Röntgen Centenary Congress. 1995. Birmingham, U.K.: The British Institute of Radiology.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., and McCloy, R.F., Synchronous combined recording and computerised display of manometry and gastrointestinal imaging. Hepato-Gastroenterol. 1995.42:1072

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., Lee, S.H.., and McCloy, R.F., 1995, Computerised recording and display of oesophageal manometry with video barium swallow. Gut, 1995.37(suppl. 2): A50.

Haylett, K.R., and Kershaw, T., Improvements to WIMS Equipment Classification Codes. IPSM, Information systems for Medical Equipment Management. June 1990.

Others

Recast of the Medical Devices Directives: Submission: Medical Device Support Products: Dr K R Haylett June 2008: The European Commission services consultation on the revision of the legal framework for medical devices.

Tutored thesis: Ballester, P., The ergonomic evaluation and human-centred design approach to robotic systems in minimal invasive surgery, MD Thesis, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manchester, 2007, Research Tutor Haylett, K. R.,.

Udani, R.D., and Haylett, K.R. et al. Writing up your research, SBMJ, 2007.15(November):406-408.

Udani, S.D., and Haylett, K.R. et al. Peer review: it's not personal, SBMJ, 2007.15(March):96-97.

Chan, A., Haylett,K.R., Vales,P. and McCloy, R.F., A national survey of current practice in ambulatory
manometry in the United Kingdom, New Wave 2007,9:4,6-9.

Selvanathan, S.K., Haylett K.R. et al. The art of the bstract , SBMJ, 2006.14(February):70-71.

Haylett,K.R., Viewpoint: Health of the nation, what is a clinical technologist? Engineering and Technology Careers, IET, 2006:7.

Udani, S.D., and Haylett, K.R., The road to research, SBMJ, 2005.13(November):420-422 .

Haylett,K.R., Vales, P., Lee,S.H., and McCloy, R.F.,
The Benefit of Synchronised Barium Swallow and Manometry, New Wave 1999,1:4,2-3.

WEB Publications and pre-prints

Haylett K.R., Vales P. and McCloy, R.F., 2001, A simple model of oesophageal peristalsis using cellular automata, www.medeng.net/oesmodel.pdf .

Books

A study guide in GI Physiology, Ed Haylett, K.R. and Vales, P., Association of GI Physiologists, BSG , London. 2001.

Year	Location	Qualification
1996 - 2000	The University of Manchester Faculty of Medicine	Ph.D. The analysis of oesophageal motility using fluoromanometry and nonlinear dynamical systems methods.
1994-96	The University of Manchester Faculty of Medicine	M.Sc. by Research. Development of a clinical fluoromanometry system for Upper GI investigations.
1981-84	The University of Salford	B.Sc.(hons) Biomedical Electronics: Including: physiology, biochemistry, radiation and health physics, mathematics, medical instrumentation, electronics and computing.

Membership of professional organisations

Formerly a Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) and Chartered Engineer (to 2015)

Fellow of the Association of GI Physiologists, (AGIP) of the British Society of Gastroenterology

2000-2010 Honorary Research Fellow University of Manchester

2001-2010 Registered Clinical Scientist

Downloads

Papers and presentations

The following papers can be downloaded care of ( the Institute of Physics Publishing - www.iop.org and the IEE www.iee.org ):

Haylett,K.R., Globe, J., Smythe, A. ,Vales, P., Automatic analysis of ambulatory oesophageal manometry, 3rd joint IPEM/AGIP GI Physiological Measurement Meeting, York, December 2007.

Haylett, K.R., Chan, A., Globe,J., Smythe, A.,Vales, P., and R F McCloy, Using kohonen self organising feature maps for the analysis of ambulatory oesophageal manometry, 3rd International seminar on Medical Applications of Signal Processing, IEE, 3-4th November, 2005.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., and McCloy, R.F., The classification of oesophageal 24-hour pH measurements using a Kohonen self-organising feature map. Physiological Measurements, 2004. 2004. 25: 709-719.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., Lee, S.H., and McCloy, R.F., A pH-mucosa area unit of measure to consider morphology of the oesophagus when evaluating oesophagitis.Physiological Measurements, 2003. 24: 879-890.

Haylett, K.R., Vales, P., and McCloy, R.F., An investigation into the spatial relationship between complexity and motility within the oesophagus. Physiological Measurements, 1998. 19: 463-479.

Others

Ballester, P., The ergonomic evaluation and human-centred design approach to robotic systems in minimal invasive surgery, MD Thesis, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manchester, 2007, Research Tutor Haylett, K. R.,

Udani, R.D., and Haylett, K.R. et al. Writing up your research, SBMJ, 2007.15(November):406-408

Udani, S.D., and Haylett, K.R., et al. Peer review: it's not personal, SBMJ, 2007.15(March):96-97

Selvanathan, S.K., Haylett K.R., et al. The art of the abstract , SBMJ, 2006.14(February):70-71

Udani, S.D., and Haylett, K.R., The road to research, SBMJ, 2005.13(November):420-422

Haylett,K.R., Viewpoint: Health of the nation, what is a clinical technologist? Engineering and Technology Careers, IET, 2006:7

Udani, S.D., Correlation between oesophageal diameter, patient age,
oesophagitis and pH measurements, Sundip, July 2003,Research Tutor Haylett, K. R.,

WEB Publications

Haylett K.R., Vales P. and McCloy, R.F., 2001, A simple model of oesophageal peristalsis using cellular automata, www.medeng.net/oesmodel.pdf .

Professional reports

If you are interested in 'Clinical Technologist' registration you may be interested in the reports I have made for the IET and IEE (follow IET and IEE links ) and for the latest open meeting with the NHS Chief Scientific Officer regarding this subject (follow this Link).

Also if you are interested in issues related to supporting medical devices the following document may be of interest:

Recast of the Medical Devices Directives: Submission: Medical Device Support Products: Dr K R Haylett June 2008: The European Commission services consultationon the revision of the legal framework for medical devices.

PhD and MSc - Readers Guide

The files can be downloaded from this site using the links below.

	The files are in the adobe format. A reader can be downloaded from www.adobe.com.
	All figures and tables are cross referenced in the text with hyper-links
	The Adobe table of contents allows the document to be easily negotiated
	This work is fully copyrighted and details of the copyright are included within each thesis
	The files will allow you to view and print them but not to select, or copy. Should you require further information, or wish to use the images contained within the document. please contact me.

Overview

This research started with the development of a system combining manometry and video fluoroscopy to enable a more detailed analysis of oesophageal manometry data. The first stages of the work were submitted as an MSc in 1996. Although fluoromanometry has been previously carried out using perfusion based manometry systems the goal was to develop a system that could be used in every day clinical practice using miniature strain gauge based manometry system and digital video recording.

This was followed by further developments of the system and a clinical study of fluoromanometry data from 25 patients, this formed the core of the research presented as a PhD thesis in 2000. This work included looking at mechanisms of modelling the system of excitation of the oesophagus and examining the complexity of the signals and information gained from the study. It also includes some simple modelling examining the parameters that need to be measured to quantify acid clearance, levels and swallowing efficiency. The thesis finishes with an examination of some new techniques that may be useful in future oesophageal and GI studies

Notes to readers

I would be grateful for any comments regarding the results and work presented here. It is of note that there is little evidence of medical engineers and physical scientists being involved in GI studies with most research coming from a clinical perspective. The work presented here, although involving a collaboration with clinicians, has followed a more medical engineering based direction of study. It is hoped that this will be of interest to both clinicians and medical engineers and they will be able to follow the arguments and details presented.

Ph.D. - Oesophageal motility: A study of the transport mechanism of the oesophagus using fluoromanometry,nonlinear analysis and oesophageal modeling

M.Sc. Combined oesophageal manometry and video fluoroscopy

Last Medical Engineering research -

Functional analysis of oesophageal clearance from 24 hour ambulatory pH recordings comparing patients with Barrett’s oesophagus and healthy controls

This work takes a new look at pH signals and extracts functional information regarding swallowing performance. First clearance curves are extracted from 24 hour pH recordings these are then fitted to a formal model of clearance. These are then compared between between two groups. A web publication (Copyright Haylett, 2011) can be downloaded here:

Functional analysis of oesophageal clearance from 24 hour ambulatory pH recordings comparing patients with Barrett’s oesophagus and healthy controls, Haylett 2011.

Example: This shows a web based example of the basic technique developed within this work.

Analysis of ambulatory oesophageal manometry

My latest research has also involved investigating and improving techniques to analyse ambulatory oesophageal manometry. Ambulatory manometry was first introduced in the mid eighties but has gradually gone out of fashion. Initially there was great enthusiasm for this technique. Standard laboratory based oesophageal manometry had been and still is problematic. With just a small window of observations how do the results relate to day to day swallowing activity and symtoms? The results from laboratory studies are still problematic and the relationship between observations and diseases is by far from clear. Terms and concepts are frequently introduced and there is much confusion about what value the results can be given. How should we interpret the results?

Typical computer analysis is not trusted for 24 hour ambulatory recordings (see page 5 for a simple model of reflux and page 6 for a reviewhttp://www.medeng.net/volume_9_4.pdf ). This is largely because the waves are complex and the algorithms used are linear only detecting previously well defined patterns. Small signals and ‘noise’ can disrupt the analysis. Importantly anything not predefined is not captured by the basic peak detection algorithms.

The data mining approach

In our approach a simple data mining technique is used. This described in the following papers presentation.

http://www.medeng.net/IEE%20MASP.pdf andhttp://www.medeng.net/York%202007.pdf

In summary all possible events of interest are collected and then clustered using a Kohonen self organising feature map. These clusters can then be explored by the user. In addition post cluster classification can be carried out and results compared between subjects or groups of subjects

Examples

Example 1: This shows an example of analysing a 24 hour recording and the clusters created. It also shows post cluster classification into primary, secondary and non-peristaltic waveform classes.

Example 2: This shows a comparison between a series of controls and patients with Barrett’s oesophagus using post cluster classification.

The technique is MATLAB based and can be carried out online via the internet. For further information please contact me.