A quartet of scientists based in Edinburgh has invented a device that can help to prevent blood clots from developing in patients who have had operations.

Their polymer-based sensor fits underneath bandages and compression stockings like a sticking plaster, while a handheld reader measures whether the bandage is exerting the correct pressure on the body.

The body’s circulatory system relies on blood return from the heart, but also on muscular activity. Compression therapies such as stockings exert a gentle gradient pressure on the body to support blood flow while someone is immobilised.

This helps to prevent blood clots such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and reduces pain and swelling for people with lymphoedema, but currently pressure exerted by commercially available compression garments is poorly controlled and difficult to measure.

Badly fitting stockings are either ineffective, in that they don’t help to prevent DVT, or, if the pressure is incorrect, they can reduce blood flow and even raise the chances of an embolism or blood clot.