Materials & Manufacturing

How Heterogeneous Integration Is Changing Medical Manufacturing: Workflows, Assembly Tools, Metrology, and Inline Inspection

Medical device manufacturing is undergoing a structural shift. As devices become smaller with broader...

Why the Next Medical Breakthrough May Come from Space

Dr. Nicole Wagner of LambdaVision and Dr. Michael Roberts of the ISS National Lab explain how microgravity manufacturing could improve artificial retinas, reduce waste, and advance future treatments for macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on how researchers at Arizona State University are developing bioinspired robotic “muscles” that aim to enable robots to do much more than their motorized counterparts; one on Wichita State University and Dassault Systèmes launching a Manufacturing Innovation Center to accelerate AI‑driven automation, virtual design, and additive manufacturing across the aviation sector; one on the University of Texas at Austin's robotic hand with human-like touch; and more.

New Velocity Group Plant to Feature Cleanroom-Based Injection Molding for Medical Device Manufacturing

Velocity Group, an Ohio-based contract manufacturer specializing in high-mix, low- to mid- volume assembly, injection molding and tooling, is...

How Industrial Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Twin Accelerate Innovation in Life Sciences

Pharmaceutical and life sciences manufacturers are under growing pressure to compress development timelines, from discovery to...

3D Printing Could Change How Cancer Drugs Reach Tumors

New research offers hope that cancer drug therapies packaged in 3D printed carriers could deliver medication directly to tumors while reducing many of the side effects that cancer...

Trelleborg Expands Innovation Center

Trelleborg Medical Solutions is breaking ground to expand its Innovation Center based in Delano, MN. The company says the site expansion will enable it to take on additional projects and accelerate the...

Manufacturing: Strategies to Maximize Precision, Yield, and Cost-Efficiency with Photo-Chemical Etching

Read on for practical strategies that consistently improve precision, yield, and unit economics, while also widening the design space — particularly for medical and high-tech applications.

Advanced Materials Open New Possibilities for Medical Devices

In this Q&A, Jeremy Schaffer, director of research and development at Fort Wayne Metals, discusses how advances in titanium, nickel-titanium, surface engineering, and smart materials are helping device developers improve performance, miniaturization, durability, and patient outcomes. Read now!

Highly Reliable Electronic Components Drive Medical Innovation

Designing the next generation of wireless wearables, implantables, and real-time external or in-body monitoring devices is a complex challenge that requires highly reliable electronic components that greatly exceed the performance of standard commercial alternatives. Read on to learn more.

How Advanced Conveyance Is Reshaping Medical Manufacturing Automation

Read on to learn Mark Dinges', technical product manager at Bosch Rexroth, insights into how conveyance systems are adapting to shifting industry needs and influencing the way end users visualize and implement their processes.

Fluid Management and Tubing in 2026: Precision, Connectivity, and Materials Discipline

Fluid management and tubing have long been treated as foundational elements of medical device design — necessary, heavily specified, and often invisible once integrated into a finished system. That status is changing. Read on to learn how and why.

Technology

May is National Stroke Awareness Month. What minimally invasive medical device, first approved in the United States in 2004, revolutionized treatment for certain ischemic strokes by physically removing blood clots from blocked...

Soft Robots Bend in Predictable Ways

Soft robots made out of flexible, biocompatible materials are in high demand in industries including healthcare, but precisely designing and controlling such robots for specific purposes is a perennial...

Enlil Forms Strategic Alliance with OVA Solutions to Solve Medtech’s Costliest Documentation Problem

Enlil, an AI-powered development traceability platform built for medical device and life sciences organizations, has formed a strategic...

Hydrogels: The Future of Bone Implants

Researchers have developed a novel hydrogel that is as soft as pudding and dissolves in the body over time. This material could one day be used for custom-made bone implants.

Geometric Twist Boosts Power of Robotic Textiles

By rethinking how thin metal threads are woven into a flexible textile, researchers have created a lightweight fabric capable of lifting over 400 times its own weight. The work advances the...

Bodycote to Open New Heat Treatment Facility in Mexico

Bodycote, a provider of heat treatment and specialist thermal processing services, plans to open a new facility in Apodaca, Mexico, at a date yet to be announced in 2026. Located in the...

Component Manufacturer PrecisionX Acquired by Windjammer Capital

PrecisionX Group, Waterbury, CT, has been acquired by private equity firm Windjammer Capital. PrecisionX manufactures high-precision metal components for regulated industries....

Product of the Month

See the product of the month: Zeus' expanded PTFE tubing platform engineered to increase flexibility while maintaining structural integrity in demanding catheter applications.

The Strategic Advantage of Automation in Medical Device Manufacturing

Medical device manufacturers face increasing pressure to deliver higher volumes, greater consistency, and stronger compliance in a challenging labor environment. Strategic automation provides a path forward by embedding repeatability, traceability, and verification directly into manufacturing processes. Read on to learn more.

From the Editor: Industrial Mastery Comes to Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing is entering what the Wohlers Report 2026 calls “The Era of Industrial Mastery.” For the medical device industry, that phrase should resonate. Read on to learn more about what Sherrie Trigg, Editor and Director of Content, thinks about the matter.

New Products and Services

See the new products and services, including Boker’s new 2026 resource tools to support specification and sourcing of precision metal stampings and non-standard washers; Advanced Thermal Solutions' expanded thermal measurement and analysis tools for quantifying airflow and heat dissipation in compact medical electronics; integrated magnetic field sensor modules for current, angle, and position measurement from Magnetic Sensor Systems; and more.

Engineers Create Hydrogels to Monitor Activity in the Body

Wearable or implantable devices to monitor biological activities, such as heart rate, are useful, but they are typically made of metals, silicon, plastic, and glass and must be surgically implanted. A research team in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis is developing bioelectronic hydrogels that could one day replace existing devices and have much more flexibility. Read on to learn more.