Medical Design and Outsourcing Archives - Page 46 of 154

What is a self-lubricating liquid silicone rubber?

From innovative new cancer therapies to pioneering diabetes care, self-lubricating LSRs may be the right choice to efficiently manufacture medical devices that make a life-changing difference in patients’ lives. [Photo courtesy of Avantor]

By Alexander Santayana, Nusil — a brand of Avantor

From well-established biocompatibility to robust performance characteristics, silicone offers medical device manufacturers a unique engineered material ideal for these applications. One type, self-lubricating liquid silicone rubbers (LSRs), provides an excellent medical-grade material that can solve manufacturing challenges and increase device performance.

These elastomers contain a built-in lubricant that, over time, elutes to the molded part’s surface. For medical-grade LSRs, this lubricant offers many of the same properties as the elastomer, such as inertness or biocompatibility. In addition, the lubricant can be fo…

Trelleborg Healthcare & Medical will exhibit advanced polymer solutions at MD&M West

An assembly line in Delano, Minnesota, where Trelleborg creates sub assemblies for larger finished medical devices [Photo courtesy of Trelleborg]

NEWS RELEASE: Trelleborg Exhibits Innovations in Medical Device Components at MD&M West

Trelleborg Healthcare & Medical will exhibit advanced polymer solutions for healthcare and medical applications at MD&M West in Anaheim, California, February 7-9, 2023, in Booth 2301.

On display will be Trelleborg’s advanced capabilities in thermoplastic injection molding, drug-eluting devices, tubing, braided hose, molded parts, multicomponent and micromolding offerings, as well as its rapid development expertise which can reduce manufacturers’ time to market. Trelleborg will also display rubber products from newly acquired Minnesota Rubber & Plastics (MRP) and discuss the synergies and capabilities resulting from this merger.

Linda Muroski, President o…

BMP Medical plans expansion for Massachusetts facility

BMP Medical announced that it plans to expand within its Sterling, Massachusetts-based facility.

The company plans to provide additional warehouse space through a 25,000 square foot expansion. It provides customers more space for growing inventory needs to accelerate their time to market. A tenant previously occupied the space.

BMP Medical said this comes as part of its long-term strategic plan to address future growth. It brings its Sterling facility to 80,000 square feet. The facility includes Class 7 assembly and Class 8 clean room manufacturing, packaging and assembly. It also features custom assembly and packaging, custom injection blow molding, custom injection molding and DNase- and RNase-free manufacturing. BMP Medical’s facility is FDA-registered with product design and development services, R&D tooling and sterilization services.

“When we purchased the new facility in 2018, it was with the understanding that we would require that spac…

BMP Medical plans expansion for Massachusetts facility

BMP Medical announced that it plans to expand within its Sterling, Massachusetts-based facility.

The company plans to provide additional warehouse space through a 25,000 square foot expansion. It provides customers more space for growing inventory needs to accelerate their time to market. A tenant previously occupied the space.

BMP Medical said this comes as part of its long-term strategic plan to address future growth. It brings its Sterling facility to 80,000 square feet. The facility includes Class 7 assembly and Class 8 clean room manufacturing, packaging and assembly. It also features custom assembly and packaging, custom injection blow molding, custom injection molding and DNase- and RNase-free manufacturing. BMP Medical’s facility is FDA-registered with product design and development services, R&D tooling and sterilization services.

“When we purchased the new facility in 2018, it was with the understanding that we would require that spac…

What to expect in diabetes care in 2023

[Image courtesy of Walmart]

After a banner year for diabetes technology in 2022, there’s still plenty to look forward to in 2023.

Throughout 2022, we saw a wide range of advancements in diabetes technology. We saw launches for next-generation technologies, exciting clinical trial results, and rumored spinouts and acquisitions.

You can read all about the biggest diabetes stories of 2022 here.

There’s plenty to look forward to in the diabetes space in the months ahead. Here are a few things worth keeping an eye on.

CMS decision could benefit CGMs

In October, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a new local coverage determination (LCD). That LCD modified coverage criteria for continuous glucose monitors (CGMs). The modification includes people with diabetes who receive insulin treatment or have a history of problematic hypoglycemia.

Analysts suggested at the time …

Future-Proof Your Point of Care Solutions

Point of Care (PoC) solutions can provide a faster time to diagnosis, an earlier start to treatment, and a faster recovery for patients. This webinar overviews new chemistry and biosensing technologies that enable decentralized testing by measuring a variety of biomarkers, proteins, and DNA. The webinar showcases Analog Devices unique portfolio of electrochemical and optical diagnostic solutions, which provide a measurement engine to complement a range of biosensors and chemistries while enabling a platform that can be upgraded using software.

Fill out the form below to watch the webinar. var gform;gform||(document.addEventListener("gform_main_scripts_loaded",function(){gform.scriptsLoaded=!0}),window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){gform.domLoaded=!0}),gform={domLoaded:!1,scriptsLoaded:!1,initializeOnLoaded:function(o){gform.domLoaded&&gform.scriptsLoaded?o():!gform.domLoaded&&gform.scriptsLoaded?window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",o):do…

VARTA and Sager Electronics sign distribution agreement

NEWS RELEASE: Sager Electronics and VARTA Sign Distribution Agreement

VARTA AG has a new partner for its U.S. business: Sager Electronics, a leading North American distributor of Interconnect, Power, and Electromechanical products and custom solutions provider, announced the addition of VARTA AG to its line card. As a globally recognized technology innovator, VARTA will be providing an extensive battery offering for a variety of applications.

Bill Flanagan, President for VARTA North America: “As the premier Power and Battery distributor in North America, we are excited to work with Sager Electronics and the Sager Power Systems team to provide innovative battery solutions to their customers. We look forward to developing new battery customers with VARTA’s expansive battery product offering.”

The cooperation is the latest addition to VARTA’s growing line-up of premium distributors in the U.S. and will increase the brand’s visibility and market access, Flanagan ad…

AdvaMed warns Biden of threat from EtO facility closures

AdvaMed CEO and President Scott Whitaker [Photo courtesy of AdvaMed]

The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) shared industry concerns over new ethylene oxide (EtO) regulations with President Joe Biden, warning that sterilization facility closures could cause device shortages.

In a new letter to Biden, AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker said the medtech industry welcomes updated regulations for EtO sterilization facilities and reiterated patient safety warnings.

“With 20 billion medical devices sterilized using EtO each year in the U.S. at about only 100 facilities, the closure of even a small percentage of facilities could harm patient access to health care,” Whitaker wrote. “EtO sterilization is at capacity. With 80 percent of surgical kits alone sterilized using EtO, any shutdown-induced disruption could reverberate from screening to the operating room to post-oper…

Researchers use microelectronics to develop remote control for ‘biobots’

Remotely controlled miniature biological robots — biobots — have many potential applications in medicine, sensing and environmental monitoring. [Image courtesy of Yongdeok Kim]

Researchers at collaborating universities in Illinois developed miniature biological robots with remote control capabilities.

The hybrid “eBiobots” combine soft materials, living muscle and microelectronics. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and collaborating institutions developed them.

In a post on the University of Illinois website, they described them as centimeter-scale biological machines. They published their research in the journal Science Robotics.

“Integrating microelectronics allows the merger of the biological world and the electronics world, both with many advantages of their own, to now produce these electronic biobots and machines that could be use…

Stanford researchers think they can do some of what Theranos claimed

Multi-omic microsampling researchers used the Neoteryx Mitra fingerstick device to collect blood for analysis. [Photo courtesy of Neoteryx]

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Researchers say they can analyze multiple biomarkers to measure a patient’s health using a single drop of blood.

Don’t pull out the black turtleneck yet. The news comes from Stanford Medicine, where researchers said they’ve developed a new approach combining multi-omics technologies (such as genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) with a microsampling fingerstick device.

Patients could collect their own blood drop and mail it to the lab for analysis of thousand of molecules such as proteins, fats, by-products of metabolism and inflammatory markers. The technology could have potential for new or faster disease diagnosis.

Stanford said technology is different than what …

Biomerics completes Connecticut expansion

NEWS RELEASE: Biomerics completes Connecticut expansion

Biomerics, the leading vertically integrated medical device contract manufacturer in the interventional device market, announced completion of a 26,000 sq. ft. expansion of its Monroe, CT facility. The Monroe facility is the headquarters of Biomerics’ micro-metals processing business and specializes in the design, development, and manufacture of complex micromachined and laser-processed components for the interventional robotic medical device market.

“This expansion represents another key milestone in our 30-year pursuit of excellence serving our customers and employees,” stated Rich Rosselli, President of Biomerics Micro Metals Processing. “We are excited to continue investing in Connecticut and expanding our advanced laser processing, micromachining, and micro-metal finishing capabilities.

The expansion increases the building to 63,000 square feet and includes an exterior refres…

How the Philips recall is raising scrutiny of at-home medical devices

The DreamStation CPAP is among the devices involved in Philips’ respiratory devices recall. [Image courtesy of Philips]

Philips’ CPAP recall has placed a spotlight on serious communication gaps involving home-use medical devices.

Nonprofit safety organization ECRI recently released its annual Top 10 Health Technology Hazards report. The report said the No. 1 health technology safety issue for 2023 involves communications over medical devices in the home.

The trend of more healthcare services moving to the home is accelerating, according to ECRI. Officials at the group worry that home patients may not receive safety notices that warn of dangerous problems with the medical devices they are using.

ECRI claims that medical device manufacturers seldom directly communicate with people using their devices at home. Worse, healthcare providers may not proactively contact patients about recalls.…