A shaking bed is offering fresh hope to Bradford heart patients suffering the pain of angina.

Several patients at Bradford Royal Infirmary are taking part in the UK’s first pilot study of the bed to find out if it can help alleviate their symptoms, by bringing them the benefits of exercise without them having to move a muscle.

The bed has been set up in Temple Bank House, the home of the Bradford Institute for Health Research, and was bought thanks to a £15,000 donation from the Friends of BRI and the Friends of St Luke’s, following a request from consultant cardiologist Dr Paul Sainsbury.

“The type of patients who could benefit are those with refractory angina – patients whose symptoms remain despite maximum medical and surgical therapy,” said Dr Sainsbury, who is working on the trial with the support of fellow consultant cardiologists at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, Dr Chris Morley and Dr Yusuf Beaini.

“Exercise is good for the heart – we recommend everyone exercises 30 minutes a day. The problem is angina patients struggle to exercise because of their condition.

“What we have here is a machine which brings the benefits of exercise to a group of patients who can’t.”

Angina occurs when fatty deposits develop in the coronary arteries causing a temporary shortage of blood to the heart muscle, causing a squeezing pain.

In a bid to boost blood flow to the heart, patients use the shaking bed for 45 minutes, five days a week. They strap their feet in at the bottom and lie down before using a hand control adjust the speed of the bed.

Shaking a patient using this technique – known as periodic acceleration – causes a wave-like action in the arteries and the friction stimulates the release of beneficial substances such as nitric oxide.

Christine Walker, 56, of Shipley, is one of the patients taking part in the trial. “It is as if someone has their hand around my heart and is squeezing it,” she said of her angina. “It is very unpredictable and can happen even if I am just watching TV.

“ I have been going on the bed for a month and I feel that it has helped.”

The results will be published in a medical journal and if it proves to be beneficial it is hoped NHS funding bodies will back the passive exercise device.