A PIONEERING device developed through a partnership between a Bradford charity and a university looks set to greatly improve quality of care for child cancer patients.

The product, dubbed a wiggle bag, features central line catheters safely and comfortably hidden away in a harness, while still delivering medication, including chemotherapy, to the child, aged up to eight.

It has been developed through a partnership between Little Heroes Cancer Trust based at Park View Court, Shipley, and the University of Huddersfield.

Little Heroes helped towards research funding, alongside the University's own Collaborative Ventures Fund and the Yorkshire Innovation Fund.

The Shipley charity has been provided with six prototype harnesses and it will now check it meets a range of British and International standards. If it does, it will then go into commercial production.

The central line catheters, also known as Hickman Lines, are vital to treatment but the tubing protruding from the chest can result in problems, including infection and also discomfort for the child, particularly during sleep.

It is hoped the device will prevent young patients from chewing on their lines and also a strong possibility that parents who sleep with their children can snag the catheters.

The device has received positive feedback from medical professionals, including a consultant paediatrician and senior nurse at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.

The wiggle bag will now undergo three-month long clinical trails at the children's ward at four unnamed hospitals across the country.

A disposable version and home version of the device have been invented and it is hoped to extend it to be used by adult cancer sufferers in the future.

Colin Nesbitt, founder of Little Heroes Cancer Trust, who invented the wiggle bag, said it will help save children's lives.

He said: "If we can stop one infection of a child into their central line, then it is doing its job.

"It's not a miracle device, its a way to help children who are going through the trauma that is cancer.

"We are going to save children's lives with it.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm about it that it is going to do good. I saw the need for something like this."

The harness is made from an advanced fabric with anti-bacterial properties.

A team of researchers at the University of Huddersfield held focus groups with the parents of young cancer patients.

Dr Jess Power, director of teaching and learning for the School of Art, Design and Architecture at the University of Huddersfield, said: "It is a fantastic result because the product really does benchmark three important things, comfort, functionality and aesthetics."