AN inventor from Cliddesden has won an award for a technological brainchild that could save the NHS millions of pounds.

James Jackson, 41, of Woods Lane, beat off hundreds of entries in the Medical Futures Innovation awards for his Smart Sensor, a small electronic bio-sensor the size of a credit card that will allow patients to carry out blood tests without visiting the doctor.

The patient pricks their finger, then places it on the sensor, which generates an electric current. They then pull off one corner of the disk and post it. Results are stored automatically in the patient's medical records and interpreted by the doctor.

"We will start off by using it for cholesterol tests and diabetes because glucose and cholesterol are easy to test for, but hopefully we will be able to expand their reach," said James.

"An osteoporosis test is the next step, then osteoarthritis and perhaps HIV."

Patients are sent a report as soon as the doctor has interpreted the test results.

James added: "For older people living in rural areas or for those without transport, it means they do not have to travel to the doctor or hospital for routine tests."

He added: "It would eliminate the need for laboratory tests and would save the NHS a lot of money."

James' idea was inspired by a beer mat while drinking at the Hoddington Arms in 1996. He picked it up and realised it would be a practical size for integrating the required technologies. It cost him £25,000 to have a prototype made up and a further £250,000 has now been invested in development.

"Doctors and health professionals are always having ideas to make the system more efficient but they don't have the time to develop them," said James. "Fortunately, I was able to persuade both private investors and the DTI to back me financially."

While employing only three full-time employees, his company, SmartSensor.Telemed, beat off competition from much larger companies to land the award.

The Smart Sensor cards will have to be piloted before being mass manufactured.