Creative design cuts cost out of high-mix, low-volume manufacturing
How one company saved $2.5 million in tooling and reduced individual part cost by nearly 74%....
R&D Notebook-The America Invents Act and how it affects medtech
After six years of lobbying, arm-wrestling, horse-trading and debate the most comprehensive reforms and changes to US patent system in over 60 years is now law. This is The Leahy (D-VT) Smith (R-TX) “America Invents Act” or “AIA.”...
Did you hear? Hearing aid elastomers meet multiple challenges
Flexible material choices advance hearing options....
Robotics in healthcare: challenges and opportunities
The healthcare industry is unlikely to adopt robots unless the risk and the investment are small. Concrete evidence of success is needed before taking on the larger opportunities....
FDA and CMS: A path for parallel approvals for innovative technologies
Parallel FDA and CMS review offers an opportunity to reduce the time it now takes to secure Medicare coverage and payment for innovative new products....
R&D Notebook: When it comes to sterilization, matching methods with materials is paramount
Sterilization methods for medical devices must be sufficiently aggressive to kill bacteria, fungus, spores, and viruses. But which method works best for the myriad of plastics and materials available to designers? Read on....
The third edition of IEC 60601-1–A manufacturer’s perspective
The third edition of IEC 60601-1 places much emphasis on risk management—a monumental change in approach to testing of medical devices. ...
Changing demographic changes medtech designs
With age comes the need for practical application of human factors and usability in medtech products for doctor and patient alike....
Advanced Materials: Metal is material of choice for MIS tubing applications
Key steps involved in designing and manufacturing metal precision tubing for minimally invasive surgical applications...
Clinical trials in the cloud
Clinical trial image management for medical devices has come a long way and cloud computing is now taking it even further....
America, it’s time for a medtech competitiveness agenda
America’s medical manufacturing success story now faces challenges like never making this the time for a medtech competitiveness agenda...
Three strategic processes to accelerate time to market
Concurrent engineering, Scrum, and lean manufacturing combine to improve operations and development time....
Designing with Advanced Materials: Titanium-on-PEEK application method in step with orthopedic and spinal devices
Orthopedic and spinal device OEMs are teaming up with suppliers that are developing new and novel technologies for advanced materials, such as PEEK-Optima polymer by Invibio (invitio.com), West Conshohocken, PA....
