A NEW surgical implant to cut the time it takes to recover from career-threatening cruciate knee ligament damage is being developed by a North Yorkshire company, with help from Business Link York and North Yorkshire.

Atlantech, which designs surgical products for use in keyhole sports medicine and ligament reconstruction surgery, is developing an implant made from an absorbable material to help lock replacement ligaments into the knee during surgery.

Footballer Paul Gascoigne famously suffered from cruciate knee ligament damage just before he moved to Italian club Lazio.

Atlantech, of Freemans Way, Harrogate Business Park, has now won a £45,000 DTI-sponsored Smart award to look into the feasibility of developing the implant.

It received help and guidance in securing the award from Business Link York and North Yorkshire innovation and technology adviser Roger Benson.

Until 20 years ago, a cruciate knee ligament tear would have ended the career of a sportsman or woman. Even now, the injury is career-threatening for professional sports men and women. The surgery involves taking a piece of ligament from elsewhere in the body and attaching it within tunnels drilled into the bone around the knee joint, in place of the damaged ligament.

Atlantech managing director Clive Reay-Young said: "This implant is designed to give strong initial fixation of the new ligament to allow integration of newly-formed bone with the ligament as quickly as possible so that the knee can recover to something close to its original state in the shortest possible time."

Atlantech was founded in 1995 by Mr Reay-Young, Nick Woods and Jennifer Garman and has now expanded to 21 staff. Mr. Reay-Young says he expects further expansion if developments go to plan.

He added: "I would like to thank Roger Benson at Business Link York and North Yorkshire for their help in winning the Smart award. Roger guided us through all the various stages of our application."