In the UK we have many surgeon inventors – surgeons who innovate and create new ways of doing things, who invent operations, who design new instruments to facilitate surgery or design new implants for using in patients. However truly successful surgeon inventors are a rare breed and they need to develop additional knowledge and skills during their career in order to push forward their devices and innovations. This article reviews my own experiences as a surgeon inventor and the highs and lows over the whole of my surgical career.

The August 2013 Research Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: passive smoking and bone substitutes; platelet-rich plasma and osteogenesis; plantar fasciitis and platelet-rich plasma: a match made in heaven?; MRSA decolonisation decreases infection rates; gums, bisphosphonates and orthopaedics; PRAISE and partner violence; blunt impact and post-traumatic OA; and IDEAL research and implants