BREAKTHROUGH advances in keyhole surgery are expected, thanks to new equipment developed by a North Yorkshire company.

Medinox International Ltd, of Harrogate, received help from Business Link North Yorkshire to win a £42,000 Department of Trade and Industry Smart award.

The award helped the firm undertake a feasibility study into developing a series of disposable tips to revolutionise a range of keyhole surgery processes, including heart operations.

The planned new tips will be attached to the company's cryosurgery - or freeze surgery - machine called Cryoprobe which is used by GPs and veterinary surgeons to freeze and destroy growths such as warts, verrucas and skin cancer.

Before the invention of the Cryoprobe these growths were treated using either heat or laser, but the freezing of nerve cells is reckoned to be more cost-effective and causes less trauma to the body. In many cases patients will need only to attend day surgery rather than be detained overnight in hospital.

Medinox is one of 36 companies helped by Roger Benson, the innovation and technology adviser for Business Link North Yorkshire over the past two years. Between them he has raised £1.9 million in Smart Awards.

The company, based at Hornbeam Business Park, was started in 1990. Its managing director, Mike Bury, said: "This is an exciting development and a major breakthrough for keyhole and other surgical procedures. Hopefully it will be good for Medinox too, and lead to job creation in Harrogate."

PICTURE: ADVANCE: MIke Bury, left, of Medinox International Ltd, demonstrates the company's Cryoprobe machine to Roger Benson,

innovation and technology adviser for Business Link North Yorkshire