Meet our Healthcare scientists
10 March 2025
Meet Chloe Mirfin, healthcare science practitioner, who supports patients undergoing spinal surgery.
The main aspect of my role as a healthcare scientist involves intraoperative neuromonitoring during spinal surgeries. Most of the surgeries that we work in are corrective spinal fusions for scoliosis (curving of the spine) and it is our job as scientists to monitor the spinal cord throughout the surgery and alert the surgeon if there any unanticipated changes to the spinal cord function. We are there to monitor throughout an operation and to ensure surgery is progressing safely at all times.
We work as part of a multidisciplinary team, working closely with surgeons, anaesthetists, and operating department practitioners, across both adult and children’s services at the Northern General and Sheffield Children's Hospitals.
For a long time, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, and I certainly didn't know there were so many different scientist roles within healthcare. I was 18 when I had scoliosis surgery myself here, and I became so passionate about learning more about physiological sciences; it solidified my desire to pursue a science career.
I love my role and it’s really tricky to pick just one thing, but I think my favourite part is the opportunity to contribute to the development of intraoperative neuromonitoring. It is still quite a new field, especially in its applications to spinal surgeries, so as well as always learning new things, we are also looking for ways that current things can be improved – whether that’s a procedure, equipment, knowledge, or general patient experience. I also love the variety of working with both adults and children of varying ages as each day brings something new.
Most people probably wouldn’t realise the breadth of knowledge we use in the role. We don’t just need to understand the nervous system of the spinal cord, but we also need a good understanding of anatomy so that we can place the electrodes correctly and so that we can identify which level of the spine the surgeon is working at and what part of the patient's body that correlates with. We also need to understand some anaesthesia and physiology so that we can be aware of the effects of different drugs and physiological changes, like blood pressure or temperature, all of which can have different effects on the intraoperative monitoring.
There are so many different roles in healthcare sciences and if you’re interested, or unsure, never be afraid to reach out and ask."
