The Microgaming Health and Care Trust is pleased to announce the donation of £4,000 to the Isle of Man Sport Institute, to assist with the purchase of a new ultrasound probe.
This ‘hockey-stick’ probe provides a much finer and more accurate image of soft tissue injuries involving tendons, ligaments and muscles. The Microgaming Health and Care Trust contributed two thirds of the cost, enabling the Sport Institute to purchase the equipment which has already been put to good use at the Institute.
The probe is connected to a portable ultrasound machine the size of a laptop, allowing it to be taken to sporting events both locally and off island. This allows on-the-spot, early diagnoses for athletes, so that treatments can be started promptly and be properly targeted for a more rapid recovery. Dr Frank Vaughan estimates that he performs approximately 500 scans a year – more than the annual total performed by Noble’s Hospital.
Dr Roy Clague, Chairman of the Microgaming Health and Care Trust, comments: “Microgaming itself has long supported sporting activities, so this well presented application from the Sports Institute was felt to be a highly appropriate beneficiary of the Microgaming Health and Care Trust. We’re pleased to see the donation is already benefitting Manx athletes, and are thrilled to have played a part in helping the Sports Institute deliver such a high quality service to the island’s highly competitive sporting community.”
Chris Quine, Sports Performance Co-ordinator at the Isle of Man Sport Institute, adds: “Dr Vaughan of the Institute has been training with this equipment for three years and had identified the need to improve diagnoses, but without support from the Microgaming Health and Care Trust it simply wouldn’t have been within our resources. We’re delighted that we are now able to offer this service to our athletes, and are incredibly grateful for their backing with this project.”
The Isle of Man Sports Institute is run by Isle of Man Sports Aid, a charity established to support the island’s top athletes in all aspects of their development, be they clinical, educational or training-orientated. Previous beneficiaries of Sport Aid include former World Enduro Champion David Knight, Olympic snowboarder Zoe Gillings and cycling superstar Mark Cavendish, who will be competing shortly at the 2012 London Olympics.
Photo caption - Dr Frank Vaughan of the Sport Institute (foreground) demonstrating use of the ultrasound machine to Dr Roy Clague, Microgaming Health and Care Trust Chairman. Photo by Shelby Sandyford-Sykes. High quality copies of image available upon request.
