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...
Forming Technology With a Twist
  Koslosky Finding the ideal material for an orthopaedic implant isn’t always a straightforward process. As manufacturers look for more effective and less invasive technologies, Secant Medical LLC (Perkasie, PA) has stepped up to the plate in working with customers to not just develop a customized technology but also to understand their specific needs. The company places...
Barely Scratching the Surface
A close-up of a spinal implant with a proprietary texture etched into the surface. Until very recently, there were a limited number of surface texture application methods available to designers and manufacturers of metal orthopaedic implants. The most commonly used were porous coated beads and plasma spray to provide on-growth surfaces to orthopaedic implants. Today, an increasing...
Ortho Industry Digs Beneath the Surface for Success
In the past month alone, orthopaedics companies have laid the grounds for future success. They’ve added jobs, engaged in acquisitions to solidify product lines, and many manufacturers have reported encouraging financial results.    Biomet announced a plan to add nearly 280 jobs to its Warsaw, IN headquarters over the next two years and is spending $26 million on site...
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...
Hip Implant Bearing Report Shows Little Difference Among Bearing Combinations
As metal-on-metal hip implants continue to be scrutinized, here's the latest from Jim Dickinson in MD+DI's Washington Wrap-Up: A review of clinical trials, observational studies, and registries produced limited evidence on comparative effectiveness of various hip implant bearing combinations, according to an open source British Medical Journal report by researchers from CDRH and universities...
Expanding Medical Textiles: Q&A with Biomedical Structures CEO Dean Tulumaris
  The demand for biomedical textiles continues to grow as device OEMs look for strong yet flexible fabrics to replace Dean Tulumaris, president and CEO of Biomedical Structures materials such as metal or plastic, and the movement is increasing competition in this segment of the industry. In a Q&A with the president and CEO of Biomedical Structures (Warwick, RI), Dean Tulumaris...
S&N Spins off Biologics Biz, Breast Implant Scandal, and Employee Poaching
S&N is expected to get $98 million cash and a $160 million five-year-note for spinning off its biologics business into the joint venture Bioventus. Reuters reports that S&N will be using the money to pay down its debt. Check out some more news highlights from this week. Smith & Nephew Spins Off Biologics Biz (PE Hub) Employee Poaching Gets Competitive in Device Industry (MD+DI)...
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...
Best Orthopaedic Technologies of 2011
Ok, perhaps these aren’t the “best” technologies of 2011 but rather my top five favorite orthopaedic technologies of the year. You’ll notice the common thread is the integration of electronics and other mainstream technology (i.e., iPod Touch) with implants. Researchers and device designers are helping the field of orthopaedics keep up with other segments of the device...