The Backstory

Invisaid came to Acorn for one thing: a single NHS sign-in integration that required a named Clinical Safety Officer. Pulling that thread revealed the wider set of NHS requirements sitting behind it, from DTAC to the DSP Toolkit. Rather than leave compliance for later, founder Abdul used the Squirrel™ automated compliance platform to work through it early, while the product was still in beta. Invisaid now walks into NHS trust conversations already ahead, with its clinical safety evidence reviewed and its DTAC work well in hand before going to market.

About Invisaid

Invisaid is pre-operative orthopaedic surgical planning software. It helps surgeons plan procedures in 3D from radiographs and CT scans, with AI-assisted tools that support the clinician's decision rather than replace it. Built to work with NHS England systems, it helps surgeons plan faster and more confidently and supports teaching and research. Invisaid is a Class I medical device, a classification Abdul designed for deliberately by keeping the AI in a supporting role.

The Challenge: Compliance a solo, non-clinical founder could actually work through

Abdul is a software developer, not a clinician, and for most of this journey a solo, self-funded founder. He faced three problems at once.

• A specialist gap: the NHS integration he wanted needed a Clinical Safety Officer, a role he had no way to fill in-house.
• A cost wall: three providers he approached quoted around £20,000 upfront for consulting plus roughly £1,500 a month for a CSO, close to £35,000 in a first year for the one piece he thought he needed.
• An unclear map: DTAC, DSPT and clinical safety documentation are hard to interpret from the guidance alone, especially alongside daily product development.

The Solution: Structure from the platform, assurance from the experts

Squirrel broke the work into clear, sequenced tasks with deadlines, so a non-clinical founder could see what was needed and in what order. Documents were often reviewed within a day, which kept momentum without in-person consulting cycles. Alongside the platform, Acorn's Clinical Safety Officer Zoe reviewed the product itself. In one session she flagged that patient details were not visible on every planning screen, a gap tied to the risk of misidentifying a patient. Invisaid added patient information to every screen. Months later, a surgeon testing the product singled that change out as something that genuinely mattered in the operating room.

The Results

• External validation: a trust CTO who reviewed Invisaid's evidence found nothing outstanding beyond an optional ISO 27001, and called the work thorough and accurate.
• A head start on market access: having DTAC in hand before launch has impressed the trusts and hospitals Invisaid now works with, including a children's hospital helping refine features for paediatric surgery.
• A safer product: the clinical safety review led to a concrete design change surgeons value.

Client Testimonial

“For the easy stuff it's just so easy, and for the hard stuff you can make it easy with the team. Every startup should be using Squirrel. You want that pace, and you want that peace of mind.”

— Abdul Anwar, Founder, Invisaid

Thinking about NHS readiness before you launch?

Getting your clinical safety and DTAC evidence in place early can turn compliance into a reason trusts say yes. Whether you're a solo founder or a growing team, we can help you get there without slowing your product down.

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