Streamline Medical Device Design By Engaging Early With An Expert Textile Component Supplier

By Andrew Metzger, Amy Zakrzewski, and Dan Treusch, Secant Group

Medical device manufacturers often need foundational guidance about medical device textiles — how they’re made, how they function inside a device, and how to choose the right materials based on device application. Different considerations often apply to raw material selection, prototyping, and scale-up, and medical device manufacturers can be at a loss for where to start. Therefore, they are well-served by securing the guidance of a medical component partner — ideally, a supplier who is dedicated solely to textiles.

Device manufacturers know from a high level that they need fabrics for their devices. But inexperience, often coupled with a lack of understanding about how the material selection process works, can slow decision-making and impact project timelines. Additionally, device manufacturers — despite being experts in their device and its functionality — may not always immediately grasp the nuances of how different textiles perform within the context of different applications in a way that ensures optimal benefit to patients.

A textile expert’s narrow focus on textiles streamlines product development. The ideal supplier has been entrenched in the process for decades, offering fundamental knowledge of the product lifecycle from relationship-building at the prototyping stage and material selection to polymer science and finished textile components for small runs or scaling up for commercialization.