Sourcing Suppliers of Machining Services
Finding a supplier that has a solid understanding of materials has a strong influence on the success of a product. Machining medical implants and instruments is a complex process. The properties of the raw materials and the production processes used to manufacture medical devices can present extreme machining challenges. For those and other reasons, medical device OEMs should invest...
Using Green Technology to Machine Materials
A close-up view of a fixture holding nitinol tubing illustrates the accurate features generated by an MDP patent-pending, threading process. This unique grinding technology often eliminates the need for subsequent operations. (Photos courtesy of TESCAN USA/OBERG INDUSTRIES) Generating a feature in standard alloys can be challenging. Design criteria mandate smaller products, more-...
Additive Manufacturing a Hot Area in Orthopaedics
Additive manufacturing is getting attention for its ability to accelerate the product development process. The most common types of rapid prototyping methods are additive technologies, meaning that the model is built by adding material layer by layer. By contrast, subtractive prototyping methods create a model by removing material, typically by means of standard machining methods such as...
Metal-on-Metal Hips Need Better Lubricant
With the latest fallout surrounding metal-on-metal (MoM) hip failure being that it will cost the healthcare and taxpayer system billions of dollars, these devices need help. And now researchers from across the globe have made a discovery about MoM hips that could help improve future designs of the device. Did you know that the lubricating layer (graphitic carbon) in MoM hips is more like material...
How to Design a Device Surgeons Really Want
MD+DI's Brian Buntz spoke with product designer Mary Beth Privitera about clinical observation in medical device design and physician feedback during the process. In the first part of a two-part interview, Privitera discussed the "human element of innovation" and much more. Check it out at MD+DI online. "The human element is the one common thread that is throughout the...
Zimmer Focuses on Innovation in Asia
Zimmer is taking advantage of growth opportunities in Asia by opening a center in Beijing that will focus on R&D programs across the continent. Activities at the R&D site will include collaboration between local engineers and healthcare professionals in the hopes of creating new technologies that specifically address the Asian market. "Investment in local research and...
3D Imaging Helps Rutgers University Study Bone Regeneration
Rutgers University is researching bone regeneration in an effort that could lead to a technology that treats soldiers who suffer serious bone damage due to injuries in the field.The university is using 3-D imaging technology from ImageIQ (Cleveland) for a preclinical study that examines how a biomaterial scaffold can improve bone regeneration. The work is being conducted at the New Jersey...
2011 a Year of Conflict and Vulnerability
This year the medtech industry has seen its share of controversies and struggles, but it remains strong and has the potential to take advantage of several opportunities. Check out MD+DI's SWOT analysis of the State of Medtech 2011, courtesy of editor-in-chief Heather Thompson. --Maria Fontanazza
Total Knee Replacements Go Totally Custom
Over the past several years, all knee implant manufacturers have made improvements to their designs—whether it’s been using materials that have better wear properties, fine tuning the implant to have a more anatomical design, or refining the instruments or cutting blocks. Then computer-assisted surgery came along, allowing surgeons to make cuts over the bone based on computer-...
Joint Simulation Technology Shows More
A knee simulator performs a wear test on a set of knee implants. Equipped with Virtual Soft Tissue, these wear testing machines help implant manufacturers and researchers evaluate the performance and durability of new implant designs. Ever wonder how a new prosthetic design will work once implanted? You probably know that a joint simulator is used in this situation. But the next step is...