September 2013

Stories

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Briefs: Medical
Bioresorbable polymers for medical devices encompass a broad class of materials with two of the more common materials being poly(L-lactic acid) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid). Some terminal...
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Briefs: Medical
The use of lasers to mark surgical instruments has become of greater significance, however, the parameters used in these applications are not always fully appreciated. The...
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From the Editor: Medical
From the Editor — Which Message Gets Delivered?
The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association announced in July that medical device manufacturers have now paid $1 billion to the Internal Revenue Service for the medical device excise tax. Their...
Features: Medical
Around the world, people are living longer, more active lives thanks to continuing advancements in medical technology. This evolution in technology stems from the development of...
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Features: Materials
Medical device manufacturers are being challenged by strong market demand for tubing that delivers increased functionality, lower profiles, and lower costs—pushing the limits of material...
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Features: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Medical imaging technology is improving at a remarkable speed, but most imaging technicians and physicians still use a mouse and keyboard to manipulate in two dimensions the complex ultrasound, computed...
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Applications: Photonics/Optics
Nikolay V. Vasilyev, MD, and Pedro J. del Nido, MD, in the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, are developing novel, prototype...
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Applications: Medical
The lack of gravity in space reduces the mechanical loading seen by both the muscles and bones of the body, especially those related to standing and moving. The body adapts to reduced...
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Features: Medical
Recent demands from hospitals, practitioners, and even patients themselves calling for more functions and increased portability, has created a market for upgraded surgical,...
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Features: Electronics & Computers
A growing array of electronic devices are available to healthcare providers, patients, and their families, including glucose meters, blood pressure...
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Features: Electronics & Computers
History Although the deadline for RoHS compliance for medical device manufacturers is nearly a year away (July 22, 2014), there is more than ten years of testing and in-service data that can be...
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Global Innovations: Medical
Imagine a tool the size of a credit card that can analyze single cells with a throughput of more than 2 million cells per second. Moreover, the tool retains each cell of interest for downstream...
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R&D: Medical
Glass Scaffolds for Bone Implants Engineers at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, have developed a glass-based scaffold that could one day be used as an implant to repair injured weight-bearing...
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Mission Accomplished: Photonics/Optics
One of the main components of NASA’s vision for the future of space exploration will actually have a keen eye for the past. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scheduled to...
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Products: Imaging
Molex Incorporated, Lisle, IL, announces its Projected Capacitive Touch Screens, which deliver multi-touch functionality that is responsive and intuitive to operate. The touch screens...
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Products: Electronics & Computers
Cicoil, Valencia, CA, the leading manufacturer of high Performance Flexx-Sil™ Flat Cables and Assemblies, announces its New Master Catalog. Avail able in print or downloadable, the catalog offers an extensive...
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Products: Medical
Laser Components USA, Inc., Hudson, NH, presents assembled patchcords based on UV fibers for immediate application. UV fiber assemblies are required for many applications, for example in fluorescence...
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Products: Electronics & Computers
HSI Sensing (Hermetic Switch, Inc.), Chickasha, OK, created a quality line of high-power, high-voltage reed switches, engineered for fluid processing applications, including the world’s highest-power...
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Products: Electronics & Computers
KOA Speer Electronics, Inc., Bradford, PA, introduces the 0402 (1E) size of their RN73H line of ultra precision chip resistors. These thin film (metal) chip resistors feature high heat resistance (up to +155°C)...
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Products: Electronics & Computers
Littelfuse, Inc., Chicago, IL, introduces the SRDA3.3 Series TVS Diode Array – SPA® Diodes. The SRDA3.3 Series integrates low-capacitance steering diodes with an additional zener diode to protect data lines against...
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Products: Medical
Murata Power Solutions, Inc., Mansfield, MA, announced its MEJ1 series of isolated 1 Watt DC-DC converters. Encapsulated in a 7- pin SIP package, the series offers basic and supplementary isolation to the...
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Products: Electronics & Computers
Digi-Key Corporation, Thief River Falls, MN, announced its agreement to distribute IPDiA products worldwide. IPDiA provides innovative 3D silicon sub-mounts, 3D silicon RF, and 3D silicon capacitor products....
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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Xilinx, Inc., San Jose, CA, Xilinx has now taped out the semiconductor industry’s first 20nm device, and the PLD industry’s first 20nm All Programmable device. Xilinx has also implemented the industry’s...
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Products: Electronics & Computers
Mouser Electronics, Inc., Mansfield, TX, is now stocking highly accurate 1-wire Thermocouple to Digital Converters from Maxim Integrated. MAX31850 and MAX31851 ease design effort and lower system cost. The...
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Products: Medical
Cognex Corporation, Natick, MA, has released a new vision system and image engine for OEM devices. The Advantage 100 vision system is a compact (23mm x 44mm x 54mm), enclosed vision system...
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Products: Medical
DELO Industrial Adhesives LLC, Sudbury, MA, announces that its new light curing DELO-KATIOBOND product lineup has been engineered specifically for exceptionally fast seal-bonding functions in the production of...
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Products: Medical
Ironwood Electronics, Eagan, MN, introduced a new LGA socket addressing high performance requirements for 2.54mm pitch devices - CBT-LGA-5002. The contactor is a stamped spring pin with 19 gram actuation force...
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Products: Electronics & Computers
GlobTek, Northvale, NJ, announces that its Series GT-43007 wall plug in power supply AC adapter’s operating temperature specifications have been tested, certified, and upgraded to -40°C to +40°C for...
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Products: Medical
Qosina, Edgewood, NY, offers an IV Flow Regulator (Part #21293) with an easy-to-turn ridged dial that facilitates quick and accurate flow rate adjustment. Latex-free and DEHP-free, the ABS regulator features a clear silicone...
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Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Igus, East Providence, RI, has unveiled its next generation of micro-chains. E2 Micro cable carriers can be mounted to a machine in any direction. This allows the unobtrusive cable carrier to be used in horizontal, vertical,...
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Products: Medical
OMAX Corporation, Kent, WA, introduces its OMAX 5555, JetMachining Center with a Tilt-A-Jet cutting head, a robust, reliable cantilever-style abrasive waterjet machine that easily handles a wide range of production runs...
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Products: Software
Tektronix, Beaverton, OR, the world’s leading manufacturer of oscilloscopes, announced a series of enhancements to its USB 3.0 test solutions including an industry first transmitter test solution for...
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Products: Medical
Mahr Federal Inc., Providence, RI, offers an extremely broad line of MarCal calipers for outside, inside, depth, step, and compound measurements. The line includes standard, special, and universal digital, dial, and...
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R&D: Medical
In a small clinical study, researchers at Drexel University, Philadelphia, administered a new method to treat chronic wounds using a novel ultrasound applicator that can be worn like a bandage. The...
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R&D: Medical
Nephrologist William Fissell IV, MD, associate professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, is intent on creating and mass-producing an implantable bioartificial...
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R&D: Medical
When a person experiences a leg amputation, the residual limb will shrink after the surgery. Putting weight onto a prosthetic leg may cause discomfort in the socket, the connection point of the limb...
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R&D: Medical
Engineers at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, have developed a glass-based scaffold that could one day be used as an implant to repair injured bones in the arms, legs, and other...
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R&D: Semiconductors & ICs
Those scientists working with tiny components in nanoelectronics say that the nano-components are so small that arranging them with external tools is impossible. Their only solution is to...
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INSIDER: Nanotechnology
Inspired by the natural properties of the blue Morpho butterfly's wings, a team of researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Osaka, Japan, and...
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INSIDER: Medical
New Balance Tool to Inexpensively Diagnose Concussion
In the US, there are millions of sports-related concussions yearly, and a large percentage go unreported or undiagnosed because many high school, college, and professional athletes do not report them. Balance tests are the primary method to detect concussion. However, the current means of...
INSIDER: Medical
Considering Women’s Needs in Medical Devices
Women differ from men in many ways, including anatomy, physiology, risk factors, and disease symptoms. They are also likely to use more medical devices over the course of their lives than men do, says the FDA. That’s why the FDA is actively trying to learn more about how medical devices uniquely...
INSIDER: Medical
Artificial Muscle Used to Carry Electrical Charge and Play Music
Materials science engineers at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, have created a transparent audio speaker consisting of a thin sheet of rubber sandwiched between two layers of a saltwater gel that can carry a high-voltage signal across the surfaces and through the layers forcing the...
INSIDER: Medical
Artificial Muscle Can Lift 80 Times Its Weight
A research team from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Engineering has created efficient artificial, or “robotic” muscles, which, they say can carry an object 80 times its own weight, and be able to extend to five times its original length when carrying the load—a first in...
INSIDER: Medical
Robotic IV Insertion Device Designed for Use in Kids
A new prototype device for rapid and safe IV insertion has been designed to reduce pain in hospitalized children. Inserting an intravenous (IV) catheter to administer fluids to patients can be difficult, particularly in children and infants, and often causes pain, distress, and frustration. To...
Industry News: Medical
September Mid-Month Industry News
Here is the latest batch of news from the medical products community. Please click the link for more.
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
Robots Helping with Brain Tumor Surgery
Scientists and engineers funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NABIB) are teaming up with neurosurgeons to develop technologies that enable less invasive, image-guided removal of hard-to-reach brain tumors. Novel imaging techniques allows...
INSIDER: Medical
Artificial Nose Can Speed Diagnosis of Sepsis
The stench released by disease-causing bacteria is the basis for a faster and simpler new way to diagnose blood infections and pinpoint the specific microbe, scientists reported at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society. The new test produces results in 24 hours,...
INSIDER: Medical
Robotic Surgery Training Tool in Beta Available
The Altair Robotics Laboratory at the University of Verona, Italy, has developed and is making available its Xron, a new simulator for training in robotic surgery. With Xron, a trainee controls the virtual robots in a realistic environment using stereoscopic rendering and advanced input devices.
INSIDER: Medical
Spider Silk + Nanotubes = Tiny Working Wires
Eden Steven, a physicist at Florida State University Magnet Lab, Tallahassee, conducting innovative experiments with spider silk, wanted to see what would happen when strands of spider’s silk were coated with carbon nanotubes. Using drops of water to adhere the powdery carbon nanotubes to the spider...
INSIDER: Medical
Smartphone Microscope Can Image Single Virus Particles
Aydogan Ozcan, a professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and his team have created a portable smartphone microscope attachment that can be used to detect viruses and bacteria without the need for bulky and...
News: Medical
FDA Finalizes Rule on UDI
Today, the FDA issued its final rule on the unique device identification (UDI) system that, once implemented, will provide a consistent way to identify medical devices. The UDI system should improve the quality of information in medical device adverse events reports, which will help the FDA identify product problems more...
News: Medical
NSBRI Space Biomedical Research Fellowships Awarded
Five young scientists have received First Award Fellowships from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). Through this two-year program, they will conduct biomedical research with the aim of helping to protect astronaut health during long-duration spaceflights. In addition to...
INSIDER: Medical
Real-Time Detector for IV Drugs Could Eliminate Errors
Computerized smart systems can deliver drugs intravenously in exact volumes to hospital patients. However, the systems do not recognize which medications are in the tubing, nor can they determine the concentration of the drug in the tubing. This can lead to medication errors including incorrect...
INSIDER: Medical
New Heart Catheter Used on US Patient
An innovative new heart catheter, the IntellaTip MiFi™ XP catheter, pinpoints areas for therapy delivery. The device was given FDA approval in the United States in August for the treatment of atrial flutter, an arrhythmia that affects nearly one million people in the United States.
INSIDER: Medical
Electronic Smart Pump Could Revolutionize Heart Disease Treatment
Researchers at Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK say that they are developing the world’s first electronic smart pump, which could increase survival chances of victims of chronic heart failure. The smart aortic graft would be...
INSIDER: Medical
Encrypting Heartbeats to Keep Implants Safe from Hackers
Implanted medical devices like defibrillators and insulin pumps now include wireless connections to let doctors or technicians update software or download data—but such improvements could open the door to life-threatening wireless attacks. Security researchers have shown that they can...
INSIDER: Medical
Plastics from Renewable Raw Materials
A team of scientists from Graz University of Technology, Austria, together with colleagues from the Medical University of Graz, Vienna University of Technology, and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, are developing absorbable implants to promote bone healing that can be broken down...
News: Medical
Proposed Vascular Stent Standard Being Developed by ASTM
All interested parties are welcome to join in the development of a proposed new ASTM International standard that will provide guidance on how to conduct axial, bending, and torsional fatigue testing of stents. The proposed new standard, ASTM WK23330, Guide for in vitro Axial, Bending and...
INSIDER: Imaging
First Real-Time Detector for IV-Delivered Drugs May Eliminate Errors
While computerized smart systems can deliver drugs intravenously in exact volumes to hospital patients, the systems cannot recognize which medications are in the tubing nor can they determine the concentration of the drug in the tubing, which could lead to serious medication...
Industry News: Medical
September Month-End Industry News
Here is the latest batch of news from the medical products community. Please click the link for more.
News: Medical
Innovators Seek Ideas to Reduce Infection Rates
Hill-Rom, Batesville, IN, a leading manufacturer and provider of medical technologies, and Edison Nation Medical, Charlotte, NC, a medical invention developer and online resource for health care innovation, have formed a partnership to conduct a worldwide search for medical invention ideas to address...

Ask the Expert

John Chandler on Achieving Quality Motion Control
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FAULHABER MICROMO brings together the highest quality motion technologies and value-added services, together with global engineering, sourcing, and manufacturing, to deliver top quality micro motion solutions. With 34 years’ experience, John Chandler injects a key engineering perspective into all new projects and enjoys working closely with OEM customers to bring exciting new technologies to market.

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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