Tech Briefs

Subscribe to this RSS Feed

Magnetic nanoparticles can be used as contrasting agents in MRIs, and as a drug delivery mechanism.

Interest in the design of new drug delivery systems focuses on releasing the drug at a controlled rate and desired time. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have shown great potential for use in biomedicine due to their ability to get close to biological entities such as cells, viruses, proteins, and genes with heating ability when exposed to a time-varying magnetic field. Superparamagnetic MNPs with proven biocompatibility have attracted attention as drug carriers in hyperthermia therapy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a contrasting agent, tissue repair, immunoassay, and cell separation procedures.
Read More >>

This diode-pumped, thin-disk laser is designed for applications in ophthamology, dematology, and endoscopy

The JenLas® D2.mini 5/8 W, recently introduced to the U.S. market, offers an output power of up to 8 Watts. Lasers of the JenLas D2 product line work in continuous wave mode, emitting green laser light at 532 nm. The infrared laser light is converted into green laser light by an intracavity frequency doubling crystal. The new laser is a multi-mode system.
Read More >>

This technique merges tissue engineering and medical imaging to directly implant a prosthetic interface.

A main limitation in deployment of prosthetic technology is the integration of the prosthetic device into the body. Using current procedures, effective prosthetic integration often requires 18 months and multiple surgeries. A new technique involves merging tissue engineering and medical imaging technology to directly implant a prosthetic interface that will rapidly and securely integrate with surrounding bone and soft tissue. Through controlled placement of appropriate cells, signaling factors, and scaffold materials, this process will enable the generation of multi-component implants that include a prosthetic interface.
Read More >>

This work will explore an illumination system's potential to miniaturize traditional endoscopes by shrinking the size of the channel used to deliver light.

Physical space constraints continue to impact advanced procedures such as single-incision laparoscopic surgery, robotic-assisted surgery, and other minimally invasive surgical procedures. Additional functionality and instruments are being squeezed through the smallest incisions possible. Available space continues to tighten with the migration of larger diameter, three-dimensional, high-definition endoscopic imaging systems into minimally invasive procedures. Fortunately, a significant portion of the endoscope, the light delivery channel, can be reduced in size, thereby allowing the space to be used for other purposes, or for shrinking the endoscope itself.¹
Read More >>

A non-invasive system employing radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology is designed to give physicians easy access to information about implants and patients.

Radio-frequency technology that uses human tissue instead of air as a conduit for radio waves is the basis of the first electronic “tag” system designed to track and monitor orthopedic implants. A 2009 RAND Corporation (Europe) technical report found that RFID technology offers several advantages to medical care in such areas as wireless data transfer and patient/object identification, and as a sensor.
Read More >>

Heat pipes and vapor chambers are being utilized to address challenging thermal management requirements.

In an increasing number of medical device applications, thermal issues limit the overall performance and reliability of the system. Basic thermal management strategies such as liquid cold plates, air cooled heat sinks, and thermal interface materials are becoming insufficient as stand-alone solutions. In many new medical applications, implementation of advanced thermal technologies such as heat pipes and vapor chambers are becoming an integral part of the thermal management solution. These technologies offer excellent heat transfer and heat spreading performance. Furthermore, they are passive (no energy, no moving parts), quiet, and reliable. Several medical devices, such as powered surgical forceps, skin/tissue contacting devices, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/thermocyclers already use these technologies, and more applications are emerging. A discussion of heat pipe and vapor chamber operation and selected medical device applications follows.
Read More >>

A device based on this technology may be used as a miniature patch worn by people with disabilities to improve posture and locomotion, and to enhance adaptability or skill acquisition.

Crewmembers returning from long-duration space flight face significant challenges due to the microgravity-induced inappropriate adaptations in balance/sensorimotor function. The Neuroscience Laboratory at JSC is developing a method based on stochastic resonance to enhance the brain’s ability to detect signals from the balance organs of the inner ear and use them for rapid improvement in balance skill, especially when combined with balance training exercises. This method involves a stimulus delivery system that is wearable/portable and provides imperceptible electrical stimulation to the balance organs of the human body.
Read More >>

In order to make good color specifications, the OEM should gain an understanding of color technology, color measurement, and methods available to control color.

Color is an important factor in many aspects of medical devices, from design to how the device is used and by whom. In 2010, the FDA and regulatory bodies around the world increased their scrutiny of colors as additives in all materials and are paying special attention to the biologic testing performed on pigments used in plastic in an effort to reduce potential safety risks.
Read More >>

Access to parametric data allows OEMs to monitor device performance throughout production, and is particularly useful for new product introduction.

In this era of ever more stringent FDA oversight and regulations, the responsibility for vigilance falls on medical manufacturers and their manufacturing partners or customers. Those companies that support a “best practices” medical manufacturing environment often rely on a shop floor data collection (SFDC) system that embeds attributive data in each unit’s device history record (DHR). More recent advances allow for parametric, or performance, data to be captured as well, so that not only can the medical device’s progress through the manufacturing process be monitored, the device’s quality of performance at each stage can also be assessed. Access to this data facilitates timely decision- making, ensuring the highest quality medical product, and saving money due to reduced downtime, scrap and/or repair work.
Read More >>

This medical device includes a computer with two screens, a helmet, three software programs, and a recording device for taking eye movement measurements.

The EyeBrain Tracker (EBT) is an eyetracking medical device, which uses algorithms to accurately track eye movements for the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. The brain uses many different areas to produce eye movements, so if an area of the brain does not function well, the eye movements it controls will produce an abnormal behavior.
Read More >>

A thread form is designed to withstand repetitive loads, shock, and loosening for implant use, as well as in artificial limbs, heart pumps, and MRI machines.

Today, engineers are successfully attacking problems from vibrational loosening to joint fatigue with a self-locking fastener called Spiralock, whose effectiveness has been validated in published test studies at leading institutions including MIT, the Goddard Space Flight Center, and British Aerospace. It has been used in extreme fastening applications, from medical implants, to the main engines of NASA’s Space Shuttle, to the Saturn Cassini orbiter and Titan Huygens probe.
Read More >>

These non-toxic nano sponges are a means to deliver a drug or payload to cells in an extended-release fashion.

This invention is a means of delivering a drug, or payload, to cells using non-covalent associations of the payload with nanoengineered scaffolds; specifically, functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and their derivatives where the payload is effectively sequestered by the nanotube’s addends and then delivered to the site (often interior of a cell) of interest.
Read More >>

Manufacturers are deploying mobile video collaboration solutions to improve quality, accelerate decisions, and increase productivity.

The value chain for many medical device manufacturers is increasingly complex, with suppliers or internal factories located across the country or spread around the globe. Often, production line equipment problems, product design flaws, and quality issues occur in locations that do not have local access to the best subject matter experts. And frequently, these problems occur in areas that are located in plants that require extensive travel for the subject matter expert.
Read More >>

The durability and miniaturization of this technology allows for increased patient comfort in pill-cam and hearing-aid applications.

Miniaturization of medical devices offers tangible advantages to clinicians and patients alike. Smaller pill cams, for example, are more easily ingested. Likewise, smaller hearing aids are less invasive and therefore more comfortable for the wearer. But before either of these devices — and many others like them — can be reduced in size, their components must be made smaller. Magnetic reed switches are increasingly being used to enable manufacturers to reduce their footprint while maintaining tight sensitivities and performance characteristics.
Read More >>

With careful planning, system integrators can select the optimal optics, filters, light sources, and cameras for their medical diagnostic instrumentation.

Custom integration of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products can be complex, particularly for medical device integrators that build diagnostic instruments incorporating numerous optical components. Often, objective lenses, illumination sources, and imaging detectors are assembled and custom-mounted into finished instruments. Such components must not only meet stringent performance requirements, but often have to meet established Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards.
Read More >>

This audio/video system provides real-time help to inexperienced ultrasound operators in remote environments.

Medical ultrasound or echocardiographic studies are highly operatordependent and generally require lengthy training and internship to perfect. To obtain quality echocardiographic images in remote environments, such as on-orbit, remote guidance of studies has been employed. This technique involves minimal training for the user, coupled with remote guidance from an expert. When realtime communication or expert guidance is not available, a more autonomous system of guiding an inexperienced operator through an ultrasound study is needed. One example would be missions beyond low Earth orbit, in which the time delay inherent with communication will make remote guidance impractical.
Read More >>

Presents a solution to certain challenges that design engineers and manufacturers face when working with silicone rubber.

While silicone is the obvious material of choice in many medical applications because of its excellent biocompatibility, its physical properties make it challenging to work with. Design engineers, especially those who work with medical devices, know the difficulties of connecting flexible silicone tubing to barbed fittings or mating molded silicone parts with complex geometries to hard plastic parts. The combined elements of its flexible consistency, its inability to expand or stretch without mechanical or chemical assistance, and the tacky surface of silicone rubber, make assembly with rigid parts difficult.
Read More >>

Small-diameter ball screws and stainless steel linear actuators deliver performance and durability for compact, portable, and lightweight applications.

Advanced medical device designs are evolving rapidly and demand higher standards for medical equipment reliability. Applying linear motion components to these medical applications yields the best results when collaboration begins at the early stages of the design. Beginning with specification requirements provided by the medical device manufacturer, definition of design priorities must be incorporated for finished devices intended for human use, including:
Read More >>

New technology offers improved fluid-handling capacity and strong, skin-friendly adhesion for direct-contact wound treatment, stoma care, and other applications.

An aging population and accompanying demand for wound dressing and stoma care technologies that provide better treatment than conventional techniques have prompted the medical adhesives industry to produce a new generation of product solutions. One recently proven technology is a highly breathable formulation with superior fluid-handling capacity called Avery Dennison® Thin Absorbent Skin Adhesive, which is poised to shift current market expectations of conventional acrylic adhesives.
Read More >>

This method can be performed on multiple devices simultaneously or one at a time as quality control.

A variety of silicon-fabricated devices is used in medical applications such as drug and cell delivery, and DNA and protein separation and analysis. In applications such as drug delivery from implantable devices, the silicon device structure must have superior precision. In particular, the nano-channel size in implantable drug delivery membranes strongly determines the drug release from the implanted reservoir. An accidental difference in the nano size may translate into ineffective medical treatment or dangerous overdosing.
Read More >>

Novel infrared fibers provide precision heating and curing of glues in medical device assemblies, improving workflow and design.

Adhesives are often used as the joining compound between substrates in the medical device industry. Typical applications for adhesives include tube-to-connector bonding, steel-cannula-to-hub bonding, and any other joining process. Adhesives work particularly well in the assembly of dissimilar materials where traditional solvent-welding methods are being eliminated due to workplace safety legislation and where other joining methods such as ultrasonic welding and laser welding are inadequate.
Read More >>

This technique could help semiconductor makers create key components of long-lasting micro-electromechanical systems for medical implants.

A new method developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers a precise way to engineer microscopic cuts in a diamond surface, yielding potential benefits in both measurement and technological fields.*
Read More >>

Key selection factors for OEMs to consider include wireless protocol selection, battery selection, operating-voltage and space constraints, and wireless receiver location.

Wireless foot switches for the control of medical devices are gaining acceptance and growing in popularity — prompting OEMs to design medical equipment for use with a wireless foot switch or to accept a wireless foot switch as a pre-sale or post-sale option.
Read More >>

A new software tool aims to make computer-aided tissue analysis faster, more accurate, and more consistent.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System and their colleagues have developed a software tool that aims to make the detection of abnormalities in cell and tissue samples faster, more accurate, and more consistent. The technique, known as Spatially-Invariant Vector Quantization (SIVQ), can pinpoint cancer cells and other critical features from digital images made from tissue slides.

Read More >>

Among other advantages, a new resin offers an attractive option for manufacturers seeking to move toward animal-derivative-free materials.

Material selection plays an important role in the design of a medical device or bioprocessing system. It can improve end-user satisfaction, product reliability, and manufacturability of the device, as well as simplify the 510(k) application process. Various certifications such as animal-derivative-free, USP Class VI, and ISO 10993-5 are just a few of those desired by medical device manufacturers and biopharmaceutical companies. As a result, Value Plastics, a Nordson company, has chosen to mold a large variety of its connectors with a new polypropylene resin in order to better fulfill customer needs and expectations. This material, manufactured by Flint Hills Resources, is represented by part numbers ending in “-6005.” This technical brief will explain the multiple benefits to manufacturers who incorporate this resin into their end products.

Read More >>