Join Poly-Med’s CTO, M. Scott Taylor, Ph.D. for his presentation, “Adding Value to Additive Manufacturing, Creative solutions using bioresorbable polymers.” Dr. Taylor’s talk will highlight the unique chemistry behind bioresorbable polymers and the newest platforms to design medical devices using additive manufacturing.

During the last decade, Life Sciences companies have been divided into numerous isolated divisions. To manage this, many created complex matrix-based organizations attempting to enhance cross-division communication and data exchange to streamline internal processes, but much more is required.

Researchers have found a method of identifying biological markers in small amounts of blood that they believe could be used to detect diseases, infections, and medical conditions at early stages, including early detection of traumatic brain injury in athletes.

Arterial Everter

Jeffrey Plott, Adeyiza Momoh, Ian Sando, Brendan McCracken, Mohammed Tiba, Kevin Ward, Jeffrey Kozlow, and Paul Cederna
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

Microvascular anastomosis is the surgical joining, or coaptation, of small (sub-centimeter) veins and arteries with the aid of loupe or microscope magnifcation,This is accomplished using a microanas-tomotic coupling device (Synovis GEM Coupler) that reduces complication rates, improves patency rates, and substantially reduces the time necessary to complete the coaptation compared to manual suturing.

University of TwenteEnschede,
The Netherlands
www.utwente.nl/mira

According to a clinical study published in the scientific journal Photoacoustics, the University of Twente and various European partners have designed a device that shows the difference between healthy fingers and arthritic fingers. The University of Twente and Ziekenhuis Groep Twente researchers responsible for the development of the compact device believe that it may in time help doctors to objectively diagnose the degree of inflammation in joints.

Infrared surgical lasers, e.g., CTH:YAG @ 2100 nm and TM:YAG @ 2000 nm, are wonderful tools for minimally invasive surgery such as laser vaporization of hyperplastic prostate tissue (BPH), but they are completely incompatible with right angle, off-axis delivery. Fiber optics find great utility for vaporization of prostate gland lobes about the urethra at less-challenging wavelengths, e.g., 532 nm, where water is transparent. The fundamental advantage of infrared lasers is strong absorption by water (within tissue), but this very absorption renders water-cooled side-firing fibers useless with these laser generators, i.e., MoXy^® by Boston Scientific; where the surgical beam passes through the coaxial cooling jacket, the coolant boils and blocks further flow, overheating the device rapidly.

Longer life expectancy in conjunction with improved knowledge of cancers has resulted in increased demands for core needle biopsies. Additionally, cancer diagnosis typically occurs earlier and hence biopsy specimens are required from smaller tissue masses.

Choosing the right fluid dispensing pump for a given application is critical. Whether it’s accuracy and precision or the need to perform for millions of cycles, understanding the most suitable types of pumps available is the first step. This article describes several pumps commonly used for medical manufacturing applications. It examines their advantages and disadvantages. In addition, it discusses how to maximize accuracy by minimizing fluid slip, an important factor in the design of any positive displacement pump. It also looks at the importance of testing the fluid prior to determining what pump is best for the application.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disease that affects premature infants. It is the leading cause of childhood blindness. Although effective treatments exist, many infants are still at-risk due to the small window of time for detection. The current standard of care consists of in-person, manual screening by a pediatric ophthalmologist. Unfortunately, the number of infants in need of screening far surpasses the availability of specifically trained ophthalmologists. Consequently, fewer than 30 percent of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) worldwide have fully compliant ROP screening programs.

FDA’s introduction to its rules for medical device regulation states: “Medical devices are classified into Class I, II, and III. Regulatory control increases from Class I to Class III. The device classification regulation defines the regulatory requirements for a general device type. Most Class I devices are exempt from Premarket Notification 510(k); most Class II devices require Premarket Notification 510(k); and most Class III devices require Premarket Approval.”¹