LEAD STORIES
Google’s anti-aging Calico project received a major boost this week with the news that geneticist Cynthia Kenyon is formally joining its ranks. Kenyon, who has been an advisor for the project since its inception last year, formally left the University of California, San Francisco this month to join an elite team at Calico led by Apple and Genentech chairman Arthur Levinson. She will also be working with fellow high-profile scientists Hal V. Barron (Roche/Genentech), David Botstein (Princeton University), and Robert Cohen (Genentech).
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Covidien Issues Recalls For Two Medical DevicesCovidien recently issued voluntary recalls for certain lots of its Pipeline embolization device and its Alligator retrieval device, due to a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating delamination and detachment issue on their delivery wires. The company is not yet aware of any patient injuries or deaths as a result of the life-threatening flaw.
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Powering Medical Devices With Heartbeats And Breathing LungsAn interdisciplinary group of researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Arizona have developed a flexible medical device capable of capturing enough electrical power from the natural motions of a beating heart or a breathing lung to power pacemakers, defibrillators, and heart-rate monitors.
ARTICLES
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Precision Prototyping: The Role Of 3D Printed Molds In The Injection Molding IndustryInjection molding (IM) — the process of injecting plastic material into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the cavity — is best used to mass-produce highly accurate, and often complex, three dimensional (3D) end-use parts and products.
Validating Medical Heat Sealers: Process Control That Goes Beyond Time, Temperature, And Pressure
Validating the heat sealing process is thus critical both to comply with regulatory oversight and to be confident in the overall quality of the final product.
Choosing The Right Resin For Your Design — A Reference Guide
There are more than 85,000 commercial options for plastic materials listed in materials databases, and within those, there are 45 polymer families which can be broadly classified into two categories: thermosets and thermoplastics.
10 Tips For Successfully Addressing FDA Warning Letters
Each year, the FDA issues hundreds of warning letters to medical device companies for reasons ranging from manufacturing practice violations to breaches in labeling and misbranding. By Maria Fagan, President, Regulatory & Quality Solutions LLC
LED Component And Assembly Miniaturization
The trend towards miniaturization in the electronics world is on‐going and is fueled by a variety of factors including the consumer’s desire for portability as well as improved efficiency and reductions in costs. By Vincent C. Forte, Chief Technology Officer, Marktech Optoelectronics
FROM THE EDITOR
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The Toxic Killers Of Innovation — And 3 Simple Rules For Avoiding ThemMeet Pete Rosencrans. Pete's an R&D design engineer at a medical device maker, and he’s been tasked with overseeing the research, ideation, and design for a new medical device. He’s faced with gathering input from numerous stakeholders and incorporating it into a final design that pleases everyone. Oh, and his boss wants the device to look great and be fully functional within a matter of months. Sound familiar?
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Photonics And The Future Of MedicinePhotonics West serves as the perennial indicator of market trends for the photonics and optics industries. At this year’s event, held last month in San Francisco, one of the pervasive themes I observed in both the technical conference and the exhibition was the increasing role photonics and optics are playing in the development of advanced biomedical technologies. That trend is poised to continue well into the future.
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3D Printing In Medicine: 4 Questions That Need To Be AnsweredAlmost everyone would agree that 3D printing has a bright future in the medical device industry. So what’s holding it back? This article poses four questions the industry must answer before 3D printing can reach its full potential in medicine.
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
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4 mHealth Trends That Demand Higher Attention To User ExperienceThe upsurge in mobile healthcare devices and software — and their use by healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers — proves that mHealth has entered the mainstream. No longer just a novelty, mHealth has been embraced by the entire healthcare industry for its potential to improve patient outcomes, increase productivity, and render cost-effective care. By T. Grant Leffingwell, Principal Usability Researcher, Human Centric Design, Battelle
PRODUCT SHOWCASE
Performance Level Infrared Cameras For Research And Science Applications
Performance Level Infrared Cameras from FLIR feature coverage in the SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR spectrums, image spot size down to 3 µ, fast frame rates with variable integration times, thermal sensitivities better than 20 mK, built-in filter wheels, triggering and synchronization capabilities, and more. These infrared cameras are highly versatile and can be used in industrial R&D, auto manufacturing, and building diagnostics applications, as well as in aerospace and university research.
Optical Thickness Gauge: 157 Series
The Model 157 Optical Thickness Gauge uses proven optical interferometer technology to measure the absolute thickness of specialty plastic films, medical membranes, and ophthalmic products. High accuracy and exceptional repeatability results in the most reliable measurement available. Straightforward operation and rugged design satisfy the needs of the R&D scientist and the manufacturing engineer.
Micro Optics
Ross Optical’s line of micro optics includes achromats, plano convex lenses, and bi-convex lenses. They’re typically used in compact or miniature optical systems, medical devices, and in optical fibers. These optical components allow for shorter focal lengths in compact systems and feature diameters from sub-millimeter to 6mm.
Medical RF & Microwave Semiconductors
Skyworks offers low noise amplifiers, power amplifiers, general purpose amplifiers, mixers, modulators, demodulators, switches, attenuators, detectors, directional couplers, and other components and subsystems from the antenna connection to the baseband input. These products are used in blood sugar (glucose) monitoring, defibrillators, hearing aids, heart monitors/pacemakers, MRI scanners, patient monitors, and other medical devices.
Laser Rotary Encoders For Highly Accurate Angle Sensing
Canon USA has developed laser rotary encoders that can provide 81,000 pulses with a 36mm diameter. This is done through the use of the light-diffraction interference method in conjunction with a semiconductor laser acting as the light emitting element. The result is a family of laser rotary encoders that provide highly accurate angle sensing for applications involving robotic engineering, stage position control, direct motor control, measurement instruments, and more.
Benchtop Laser Controller: EM595
The EM595 is a benchtop device used to control Gooch & Housego’s line of 14-pin DFB lasers or single-mode lasers. It combines a laser driver and a TEC controller into a 111 mm x 73.5 mm x 169.2 mm (with elements) package and weighs just 1.0 kg.
LATEST HEADLINES
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Fast-Growing New Wave Surgical Sold To Covidien
New Wave Surgical Corporation, a fast-growing healthcare products company, has been sold to Covidien for at least $100 million.
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Indiana Governor Renews Push For Medical Device Tax Repeal
Indiana Governor Mike Pence is leading a new wave of pressure for President Barack Obama and federal lawmakers to repeal the medical device excise tax created to help fund Obama's healthcare law.
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Google Hires High-Profile Geneticist To Aid In Search For “Fountain Of Youth”Google’s anti-aging Calico project received a major boost this week with the news that geneticist Cynthia Kenyon is formally joining its ranks. Kenyon, who has been an advisor for the project since its inception last year, formally left the University of California, San Francisco this month to join an elite team at Calico led by Apple and Genentech chairman Arthur Levinson. She will also be working with fellow high-profile scientists Hal V. Barron (Roche/Genentech), David Botstein (Princeton University), and Robert Cohen (Genentech).
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Proto Labs, Inc. Opens New Manufacturing Facility In Plymouth, MN
Proto Labs, Inc., a leading online and technology-enabled quick-turn manufacturer, has announced today that it has completed renovation of the Plymouth Industrial Building at 2600 Niagara Lane, Plymouth, MN, and will begin operations at this location effective Monday April 28.
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Proto Labs, Inc. Launches New Additive Manufacturing Service
Proto Labs, Inc., a leading online and technology-enabled quick-turn manufacturer, has announced recently the launch of its additive manufacturing service through the acquisition of privately held FineLine Prototyping, Inc. a leading provider of additive manufacturing services.
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Apple Adds Another Medical Device ExpertAccording to recent reports, Apple has hired Divya Nag, a high profile medical device expert, to its ever-growing team of health-related researchers, developers, and industry strategists.
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Intuitive Surgical Announces FDA Clearance Of da Vinci® Sp™ Surgical System
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISRG), the global leader in robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery, today announced it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for the da Vinci Sp Surgical System, which is designed to expand the Company's single-incision product offering.
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Cloaked DNA Nanodevices Survive Pilot MissionIt's a familiar trope in science fiction: In enemy territory, activate your cloaking device. And real-world viruses use similar tactics to make themselves invisible to the immune system.
FEATURED SUPPLIERS
Canon USA, Inc.
Canon Optoelectronic Components, Integrating the Latest Technologies. Canon has been developing industrial components with super-high levels of precision and accuracys using its optical technologies gained and accumulated for over half a century.