THE company behind a revolutionary pain zapper which has attracted worldwide interest is poised to expand after receiving a £300,000 cash boost.

Advanced Pain Management Ltd has also completed its move from Clitheroe to the Saturn Centre, Challenge Way, Blackburn, part of the Greenbank Technology Park.

The expansion, which will include the recruitment of extra staff, has been sparked by the grant from the United Utilities Venture Fund - set up to boost the prospects of small to medium-sized businesses.

The firm has pioneered the XPain 2000 machine which fires electric impulses into the spinal cord to attack the root of recurring pain. Two self adhesive electrodes are positioned on the user's back or neck while controlled pulses of electrical energy are transmitted.

The £169 hand-held device, which was used by former Blackburn Rovers star Graeme Le Saux when he was at Ewood, is now used in more than 100 hospitals across the UK.

Managing director Nigel Fryer, a former chief executive of Burnley General Hospital, said: "We have been looking for investment into the company since early in the new year.

"It had become increasingly obvious that we could not enter into the next phase of our development without additional capital resources.

"The funds we have received are allowing us to take on additional staff and to put our marketing strategy into place."

Another user of the XPain device is Ultraframe supremo John Lancaster, who said: "I have watched the development of Advanced Pain Management with considerable interest and am pleased to see them making progress in this way.

"My only slight sadness is that they have had to move away from Clitheroe where they originated."

The company was set up in 1996 and there is also a veterinary version of the device used to control pain in small animals.

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