February 2012

Stories

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Custom integration of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products can be complex, particularly for medical device integrators that build diagnostic instruments incorporating numerous optical...
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Briefs: Medical
Virtual Ultrasound Guidance for Inexperienced Operators
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...
Briefs: Tubing & Extrusion
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...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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...
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Features: Materials
Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) have historically been used as thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) for medical applications.1 The well-known biocompatibility, biostability,...
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Features: Medical
One of the phone calls that product managers fear most is a supplier notifying them that a material used in their product is being discontinued. The impending change forces a litany of...
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Features: Materials
Major advances have been made in the past few decades in the percutaneous treatment of artery diseases. The development of each new technology has been spurred by the downfall of the...
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Applications: Medical
Combination products offer several advantages when compared with drug delivery via oral, injection, and infusion methods. All drug-device...
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Applications: Medical
On Sept. 21, 1960, Dr. Albert Starr successfully implanted the world’s first “ball-in-cage” prosthetic heart valve into a patient’s mitral valve, a mechanical...
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Mission Accomplished: Photonics/Optics
In the 1980s, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists James Stephens and Charles Miller were studying the harmful properties of light in space, as well as that of artificial radiation...
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Mission Accomplished: Medical
Every year, 1.5 million Americans incur head injury; the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have further increased this number. Head injury affects people of all ages and is the leading cause of...
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Global Innovations: Medical
In the future, the success of drug delivery could rely on its ability to integrate with patients’ lives without too much effort. Textiles, which are already a permanent fixture in people’s...
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Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Excelitas Technologies (Waltham, MA) has released the DigiPile thermopile detector with digital output, combining an MEMS-based sensing element with a fully integrated low noise amplifier, A/D converter, and integrated...
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Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The drylin® HTSP-FF leadscrew table from igus (East Providence, RI) includes a quick-release nut that makes format adjustments faster and easier by reducing the number of revolutions required to position the...
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Products: Materials
The 211-CTH-SC MD® medical device adhesive from DYMAX (Torrington, CT) is formulated for on-demand cure with the BlueWave® LED Prime UVA spot-curing lamp. It is bright blue in the uncured state, enabling automated...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The battery-powered Pro-Driver from Pro-Dex, Inc. (Irvine, CA) offers an alternative to time-consuming and arduous placement of screws and plates in a variety of surgical procedures, such as small bone, neuro,...
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Products: Medical
Power Technology (Little Rock, AR) has introduced additional blue laser diode wavelengths and power levels. The laser diodes can be installed in an assortment of PTI modules, including laserinduced fluorescence, confocal...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Jenoptik (Jena, Germany) has launched the JenLas® D2.mini 5/8W, a diode-pumped thin-disk laser that provides up to 8 W output for applications in medicine as well as for entertainment. The laser can be used for laser...
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Products: Medical
Interface Catheter Solutions (Laguna Niguel, CA) has introduced the Auto-i 360 balloon visual inspection system with upgrades to reduce cycle times. The new system provides both visual/flaw in spection and...
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Products: Medical
HKAUTOMATION (Peachtree City, GA), a Hoffman + Krippner company, has introduced industrial panel PCs called flex-IPC®. The line provides a robust enclosure made of zinc-coated stainless steel and a customizable aluminum...
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Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Mill-Max (Oyster Bay, NY) has added three large-scale, high-current spring pins to its family of ruggedized spring-loaded products. These rugged spring pins are rated at 9 amps and designed with unique termination...
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Products: Medical
Accudynamics (Lakeville, MA) offers precision machined base plates for medical diagnostic equipment. They eliminate flexure or unintended movement, which can cause damage to the machine or produce inaccurate test results. The base...
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Products: Electronics & Computers
LCR Electronics (Norristown, PA) offers two new series of EMI filters for MRI shielded rooms. The 058 series filters are designed to mitigate any unwanted EMI noise through MRI room telephone, alarm, and data lines. The...
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Products: Medical
KNF Neuberger (Trenton, NJ) offers the N0150 diaphragm pump, which can be customized with a water-cooled head to prevent pump overheating in process applications where exothermic reactions from helium, xenon, and other gases may...
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Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Keystone Electronics (Astoria, NY) offers hardware mounting kits for PC/104 and PC104-Plus Bus Drives for limited space design/installation applications. Each mounting kit includes all the hardware required to mount a...
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Products: Medical
Shin-Etsu Silicones of America (Akron, OH) has announced the launch of its HCR (high consistency rubber) product line – Sil-X-Shin™ Silicone Elastomers, which are designed for extruded tubing and profiles. The platinum,...
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Products: Medical
Sensortechnics (Walpole, MA) offers the LBA series of differential low-pressure sensors based on thermal mass flow measurement of air through a micro-flow channel integrated within the silicon sensor chip. The sensors are...
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Products: Medical
USB Power Sensor
Giga-tronics (San Ramon, CA) offers the GT-8555A 100 MHz to 20 GHz USB Peak Power Sensor, which provides fully calibrated peak and average power measurements, with a high dynamic range and PC-based user interface. The power sensor delivers 20 GHz frequency range, 2,000 readings per second typical, dynamic range of –40 to 20 dBm...
Products: Electronics & Computers
The DTM110-C series of medical-certified AC-DC external power supplies from TDK-Lambda (San Diego, CA) offers output power ratings from 90 to 110 watts. Typical operating efficiencies are greater than 85%. Available...
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Products: Medical
CILS International (Burlington, MA) has launched a solvent-resistant durable label range that provides lifelong adhesion and product identification when exposed to aggressive chemicals and solvents such as Acetone, MEK, and...
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Products: Medical
The new EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) devices from ON Semiconductor (Phoenix, AZ) include the high density 512 kilobit CAT24C512 and 1 megabit CAT24M01, which have a 1.8 to 5.5 V supply voltage...
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Videos: Medical
Nanotechnology to Combat Diabetes
For years, researchers and patients have been dreaming of an insulin pill that could save diabetics from frequent injections. But the fact that digestive acids in the stomach destroys the insulin before it can enter the bloodstream has been a major obstacle until now. In Coimbra a team of Portuguese researchers...
Videos: Motion Control
Aidex 2011 Innovation Challenge
Aidexpo wrote: The Aid Innovation Challenge is a competition to find inventions that will be beneficial to supplying humanitarian aid around the globe. 2011 winners: Business entry - Leaf Supply with their LeafBed Individual entry - Claire Louise Barrie with MedAlert The challenge was open to various design agencies...
Videos: Medical
Inventing Medical Devices for Children
The UCSF 'D'Vice Squad' teams physicians, engineers, and other scientists to develop devices that will improve the health of children.
Videos: Medical
Functional Materials Research (Engineering) at the University of Exeter
This video focuses on the Engineering side of Functional Materials Research at the University of Exeter: Functional materials research focuses on the design and fabrication of novel materials, the understanding, via modelling and experimental characterisation, of their physical...
Videos: Materials
Portable Device Analyzes Rocks and Minerals
inXitu, Inc. specializes in developing technologies required to enable the next generation of scientific instruments used for materials analysis. The technology used in inXitus portable rock and mineral analyzer received a prestigious R&D 100 award and was chosen to fly on the Mars Science Laboratory...
Videos: Aerospace
Space Suit Technologies Protect Deep-Sea Divers
Creating devices for the high-stress rigors of space travel pushes designers to their limits, and the results often far exceed the original concepts. The technologies developed for the extreme environment of space are often applicable here on Earth. Some of these NASA technologies, for example, have...
Videos: Medical
Noninvasive Test Detects Cardiovascular Disease
ArterioVision provides a direct measurement of atherosclerosis before it causes these “symptoms” by safely and painlessly measuring the thickness of the first two layers of the carotid artery wall using an ultrasound procedure and advanced image-analysis software. The carotid artery, located on...
Videos: Medical
Robotics Offer Newfound Surgical Capabilities
Barrett Technology Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts, completed three Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts with Johnson Space Center. In 1989, the company worked with NASA on a Phase II to create a robotic arm, and in 1991, was again awarded a Phase II to create a hand. Nearly a...
Videos: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Deformable Mirrors Correct Optical Distortions
In 1999, Boston Micromachines Corporation, a newly formed company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for space-based adaptive optical technology. The Phase I led to a Phase II SBIR with JPL and...
Videos: Medical
Aculight
Aculight is a complete laser solutions resource. Founded in 1993 and privately held, they develop and manufacture innovative lasers for the industrial, research, government and medical markets. Offering both off-the-shelf and custom-designed products, Aculight is an ideal partner for laser system development. www.aculight.com
INSIDER: Medical
Crab-Inspired Surgical Robot
You just never know what will get the creative juices flowing. It could be a slight aberration from your morning routine. Or it could be something as basic as the entree you order at dinner. The latter is actually what inspired the invention of a crab-like miniature robot that could help surgeons remove early-stage...
INSIDER: Medical
Scientists Demonstrate New 'Biopsy in a Blood Test'
An advanced blood test uses a blood sample, digital microscope, and an image-processing algorithm to distinguish suspect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from healthy cells — a method that could yield information comparable to some types of surgical biopsies, according to findings from five new...
INSIDER: Medical
3D-Printed Jaw Transplant Surgery a Success
The world's first 3D-printed, patient-specific jaw transplant surgery was successfully performed on a patient in the Netherlands, according to a BBC News story released today. The patient had a chronic bone infection and was not a suitable candidate for reconstructive surgery. This development points to a...
INSIDER: Medical
Smartphones Answer the Call of Remote Patient Monitoring
Mobile health apps are taking off in a big way. Juniper Research recently estimated that 44 million mobile health apps were downloaded in 2011. Smartphones already offer two top-notch qualities that designers often seek to achieve in any medical device: affordability and portability. One of...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Miniature Medical Sensor is Powered by Rap Music
Purdue University researchers have developed a miniature medical sensor that could be powered by music with a strong bass rhythm, such as rap. Acoustic waves from rap music were found to effectively recharge the pressure sensor. Such a device could ultimately help treat people with aneurysms or...
INSIDER: Medical
Houston, We Have a Diagnosis
When it comes to medical technology, what's good for the astronaut is good for the rest of us, too. Thinking a little out of this world has inspired and driven the development of a host of medical technologies that have advanced the ways in which patients are diagnosed and treated, whether in space or on Earth. Earlier...
INSIDER: Medical
Wanted: Small and Self-Powered Devices
No one ever gets anywhere by setting the bar low — so it's exciting to see that researchers are dreaming big when it comes to the next class of medical devices. Actually, they're tackling two challenges at once: devices that are not only tiny, but also self-powered. Just as Hollywood challenges its stars to...
INSIDER: Medical
Nano Loudspeakers Could Improve MRIs
A team of physicists from the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), the Neils Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Harvard University has developed a theory describing how to both detect weak electrical signals and cool electrical circuits using light and something similar to a nanosized loudspeaker. The ability...
INSIDER: Medical
Improving Neural Control of Prosthetics for Amputees
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are using off-the-shelf equipment to improve amputees' control over prosthetics with direct help from their own nervous systems. The goal is improved prosthetics with flexible nerve-to-nerve or nerve-to-muscle interfaces through which transected nerves...
INSIDER: Medical
Exploring Less Invasive Options for Implants
On an episode of "Shark Tank" (a reality TV show in which people present their business ideas to a panel of potential investors, or "sharks"), a man proposed the idea of a surgically implanted Bluetooth set. The "sharks" laughed him right out of the tank, reasoning that nobody would want to undergo a...

Ask the Expert

Eric Dietsch on the Benefits of Nitinol Wire
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In collaboration with the Fort Wayne Metals Engineering team, Eric Dietsch focuses on supporting customers with material recommendations, product development, and education. Eric is available to help you and your company with any Nitinol-related questions or needs that you may have.

Inside Story

Inside Story: Trends in Packaging and Sterilization
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Eurofins Medical Device Testing (MDT) provides a full scope of testing services. In this interview, Eurofins’ experts, Sunny Modi, PhD, Director of Package Testing; and Elizabeth Sydnor, Director of Microbiology; answer common questions on medical device packaging and sterilization.

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