S&N's wound management operation, which employs 1,000 people in Hull, has developed two products called V1STA and EZCARE that use a new technology called Negative Pressure Wound Therapy.

These products have a suction device that is applied to the wound. A tube goes into the wound and basically sucks the pus out, clearing the wound and allowing it to heal.

The device will be used to treat chronic wounds such as diabetic ulcers, pressure sores, and post-operative and hard-to-heal wounds. The new products will make Smith & Nephew the only company to offer a complete portfolio of advanced wound care solutions to help physicians treat a broad range of wounds.

The Negative Pressure Wound Therapy market is the fastest growing segment of the wound care market, estimated to be worth £800m in 2008. The launch of these products will allow S&N to enter a rapidly expanding area of the market which grew at an annual rate of over 15 per cent in the US and 28 per cent in non-US markets.

Joe Woody, president of Advanced Wound Management, said: "These products give us the opportunity to offer physicians an additional weapon in their armoury to treat serious wounds."

Earlier this month S&N, Europe's biggest medical devices company, reported an increase in profits helped by strong demand for its new hip implant. The Birmingham Hip is the first of a new kind of less-invasive implant that relies on hip resurfacing technology.

The company reported a 17 per cent increase in trading profits to £363m in the year to December 31. Revenues rose 10 per cent to £1.75bn.

The group said it sees good growth across all four of its business divisions in 2008 and is confident of demand for new products.

The company has four businesses – orthopaedics, which includes hip implants; orthopaedic trauma and clinical therapies, which includes the ultrasound bone healing system; endoscopy, or keyhole surgery; and wound management, which takes in the advanced dressings business based in Hull.

The group employs a further 180 people at a research centre in York. The wound management arm has launched around 20 new products over the past year, including an absorbent silver barrier dressing called Allevyn.