SAFIRA®: SAFer Injection for Regional Anaesthesia

• Makes regional anaesthesia a single operator procedure
• Gives anaesthetists control of injection
• Built in safety mechanism automatically stops injection at 20psi
• Helps reduce the risk of nerve damage
• Intuitive to use

Invented by clinicians working at QEH (Dr Peter Young, Dr John Gibson, Dr Joseph Carter*, Dr Emad Fawzy**). Medovate Ltd has worked closely with the inventors to develop, manufacture and secure the required regulatory approvals to launch SAFIRA® on the global market.

Benefits of SAFIRA®

SAFIRA® has been developed to help overcome certain challenges around regional anaesthesia. Current RA procedure is a ‘three handed process’ and so requires two operators: an anaesthetist to hold and position the block needle using an ultrasound probe held in their other hand, and an assistant to operate the syringe to inject the anaesthetic.

Transforming RA into a one person procedure removes the need for a second operator and gives the anaesthetist total control of the syringe and injection. This removes reliance upon the assistant’s subjective feel of the pressure in the syringe and timely communications between the anaesthetist and second operator. ‘Injection feel’ is very subjective and varies between individuals. With the anaesthetist in control of injection, they make the decision if the pressure is in the syringe is safe or not to inject, and can immediately make adjustments as necessary.

Safety is further promoted by a built in safety mechanism which automatically prevents injection at pressures above 20psi. Studies have shown that injection of regional anesthesia at pressures above 20psi can result in transient or serious nerve damage (transient nerve damage in up to 8% of cases and serious nerve damage in up to 1% of cases.)

Regulatory approvals

SAFIRA® has FDA clearance and European CE Mark Approval.

SAFIRA® available worldwide

Medovate Ltd initially launched SAFIRA® across the United States of America and have now appointed a network of exclusive distributors covering: the US, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Further distributors are to be appointed.

Details of all appointed distributors are available here.

What clinicians say about SAFIRA®

"Having full control over the injection means that I know exactly when, where and how much local anaesthetic I am putting into the patient. And also, the objective pressure limit which is built into the system, provides me with confidence that I am less likely to cause nerve injury." – Dr Stewart Southey, Consultant Anaesthetist.

“My first impressions of SAFIRA® were the simplicity, the ease of use. New clinicians were able to pick it up and use it straight away without any difficulty at all.” – Mr Chris Withey, Consultant Surgeon (Orthopaedics).

Discover more about SAFIRA®

Find more detail about SAFIRA® on the Medovate website.

Download documents - product brochure, FAQs, how to use guidance etc.

Watch videos – A guide to setting up and using SAFIRA®, testimonials from clinicians.

Video links:

• SAFIRA® in use to perform an ankle block – filmed at QEH 24 September 2020
• Dr Joseph Carter – a clinician’s view of SAFIRA®
• Dr Stewart Southey – a clinician’s view of SAFIRA®
• A Guide to Setting Up and Using SAFIRA®

More videos available on the Medovate You Tube channel.

To return to the innovations page, click here.

* Dr Carter now works at the York Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

** Dr Fawzy now works at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City hospital in Abu Dhabi