Medical Design and Outsourcing Archives - Page 99 of 154

Design patents can provide extra protection for medical robots

Filing design patents can protect a medical robot’s overall aesthetic and the software user interface.

Roman Fayerberg, Todd C. Basile and David J. Dykeman, Greenberg Traurig

[Image from Pixabay]

Medical robotics companies often emphasize utility patents when building strategic patent portfolios, given the complex nature of robotics technology. However, don’t overlook design patents, which provide another layer of protection by covering elements of robotics beyond the scope of utility patents.

A robust patent portfolio is an important indicator of a successful medical robotics company. As the medical robotics industry continues to grow and more and more companies enter the increasingly competitive market, a medical robotics company needs a comprehensive and strategic patent portfolio around its technology to compete. A strategic patent portfolio attracts investors, keeps competitors at bay, and provides …

TPG Capital makes majority investment in Confluent Medical Technologies

Confluent Medical Technologies announced today that TPG Capital agreed to make a majority investment in the company.

TPG Capital joins Amerpand Capital Partners, an existing investor that will retain a substantial minority interest in Confluent, according to a news release.

Scottsdale, Arizona-based Confluent partners OEMs to support the design, development and manufacturing of life-saving implants, minimally invasive delivery systems and other medical devices.

“Confluent’s depth of expertise in Nitinol processing and other complex modalities, differentiated manufacturing capabilities and unique end-to-end integration have positioned the company as a trusted design and manufacturing partner to OEMs for many of the most complex implantable products,” TPG Capital Partner Kendall Garrison said in the release.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as the exclusive financial advisor and Goodwin Procter LLP served as the legal counsel to Confluent in this tr…

Withings launches Body Scan smart scale platform

[Image from Withings]

Withings announced today that it launched its Body Scan in-home connected health station smart scale platform.

Las Vegas-based Withings’ Body Scan goes beyond weight management to offer a way for users to take proactive control over their health with segmental body composition, heart rate and vascular age monitoring, according to a news release. It also allows users to access coaching, clinical specialists and personalized, holistic plans in-app.

Body Scan has a single tempered glass platform with four weight sensors and 14 ITO electrodes in the platform and four stainless steel electrodes in the retractable handle for 6-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and segmental body composition analysis. It also has a battery life lasting one year with a high-resolution 3.2″ LCD color screen for displaying statistics.

The platform can provide precise weight measurements, meas…

Jury finds Elizabeth Holmes guilty on 4 counts

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (center) arrives at federal court in San Jose, California on Aug. 31, 2021.[Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

After more than 50 hours and seven days of deliberations, the Elizabeth Holmes federal fraud trial jury found her guilty on four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The San Jose, California jury, consisting of eight men and four women, also returned a verdict of not guilty on four other counts and was deadlocked on three charges. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila is expected to declare a mistrial on the three deadlocked charges, according to multiple news reports.

Get the full story on our sister site, MassDevice.

Vance Street Capital acquires Plastic Design Company

Vance Street Capital recently announced that it acquired micro-molded plastic components maker Plastic Design Company for an undisclosed amount.

Scottsdale, Arizona-based Plastic Design Company (PDC) is a contract manufacturer that has micro-molding and micro-on-macro capabilities, as well as injection-compression and over-molding capabilities for medical device OEMs.

“Vance Street’s long and impressive record of successfully partnering with family-owned businesses in the medical component manufacturing space made them the ideal partner for PDC’s next chapter of growth,” Mark Kinder, president of PDC, said in a news release. “Finding a partner that could come in and provide not only growth-based resources, but also one that valued the technology and employee base we have built over the past several decades was an important decision factor in finding our next partner. Vance Street truly understood and respected those aspects of our …

Abbott sees the delivery system as a differentiator for its TAVR

A top Abbott executive explains how the company’s FlexNav delivery system could make the Portico TAVR competitive.

The Portico with FlexNav TAVR system [Image courtesy of Abbott]

Abbott is aiming to claw away market share from transcatheter aortic valve replacement pioneers Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic.

The Abbott Park, Illinois–based medtech company in September announced FDA approval of its Portico with FlexNav TAVR system, more than a year after it secured CE Mark approval in Europe. For now, the approval covers symptomatic, severe aortic stenosis associated with a high or extreme risk for open-heart surgery.

The Portico valve boasts a self-expanding design with intra-annular (within the native valve) leaflets. The Portico’s creators designed its structure to provide optimal blood flow when placed inside a patient’s natural valve. It also preserves access to the critical coron…

The top 5 medtech news stories of 2021

The past year saw significant changes in the medtech space. Our editorial team picked their top stories.

The lingering COVID-19 pandemic was top of mind in 2021, but there was much more going on in the medical device industry. The Life Sciences editorial team here at WTWH Media discussed their top picks during the December 17 episode of our DeviceTalks Weekly podcast.

Tom Salemi, DeviceTalks Editorial Director: Vicarious Surgical goes public

Back in 2020, Vicarious Surgical seemed like the little surgical robotics company that could — seeking to succeed in a space dominated by Intuitive, with giants including Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson seeking to enter the market. Flash forward to 2021, and Vicarious was going public through a $1.1 billion special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal.

“We’ve got these smaller companies carving a niche for themselves,” Tom said of the surgical robotics space. He also noted that the deal was a great sign for medtech e…

Heraeus acquires Norwood Medical

Heraeus Holding announced today that it has purchased Dayton, Ohio–based Norwood Medical.

Norwood Medical and its more than 1,100 employees make high-precision components in three key medical device markets: minimally-invasive surgery, orthopedics and robotic-assisted surgery.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Norwood Medical will continue to operate as a standalone business and retain its company name and management team.

“When we began discussions, it was evident that Norwood checked all the boxes: an experienced team, an outstanding innovation culture and a track record of manufacturing excellence. We are very confident we can accelerate their growth and penetrate new markets around the world,” Heraeus Holding CEO Jan Rinnert said in a news release.

Ken Hemmelgarn Jr., the VP of finance of Norwood Medical, said merging with Heraeus will enable it to capitalize on the Hanau, Germany–based giant’s global reputa…

Inside Genoskin’s quest to use human skin scraps to accelerate drug research

“How do you maintain human skin alive so that you can generate data from what would otherwise be trash?” asked Eric Merle, chief business innovation officer of Salem, Massachusetts–based Genoskin. “We work with surgical discards.”

Founded a decade ago, Genoskin collects human skins from cosmetic surgeries such as face-lifts and abdominal surgeries that would otherwise be waste to foster research on new drugs and cosmetics.

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

FDA issues draft guidance for transitioning medical devices granted EUAs during pandemic

The FDA is proposing that it give medical device makers about half a year’s notice before terminating emergency use authorizations post-pandemic.

That was one of the major takeaways from the draft guidance that the FDA released today. It considers ways to transition medical device regulation once COVID-19 moves from a pandemic to an endemic phase. There are presently hundreds of medical devices sold in the U.S. under EUAs issued during the pandemic.

Get the full story at our sister site, MassDevice.

Medline is spending $1.5B on new distribution centers

Medline announced yesterday that it opened five newly constructed distribution centers this year and plans to complete two more in 2022.

Northfield, Illinois-based Medline opened the latest LEED-certified distribution center — set to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2022 — in Richmond Hill, Georgia as part of its healthcare resilience initiative, a national expenditure campaign including $1.5 billion in new distribution centers, manufacturing capabilities and IT upgrades.

According to a news release, Medline’s healthcare resilience initiative has delivered approximately 8,500 new jobs, eight new distribution centers, nearly 150 manufacturing expansion projects and a new global digital customer ordering platform since 2018.

Medline’s Richmond Hill center, located less than 30 miles from the Port of Savannah, which the company touts as the single largest and fastest-growing container terminal in the U.S., provides more options to su…

The pandemic tested Medtronic’s mettle: Its CFO explains how

CFO Karen Parkhill discusses leadership, innovation and restructuring Medtronic — the largest organization in medtech.

“When the pandemic hit, we didn’t know how bad, how long it was going to affect us,” Medtronic CFO Karen Parkhill told MDO and MassDevice in a recent interview. [Image courtesy of Medtronic]

Karen Parkhill drew on her experience in the banking industry to offer Medtronic a prognosis as the COVID-19 pandemic started rippling across the globe.

Parkhill, Medtronic’s CFO and EVP, was CFO of JPMorgan Chase’s commercial banking business during and after the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and then served as CFO at Comerica before joining Medtronic in 2016 under former CEO Omar Ishrak.

“When the pandemic hit, we didn’t know how bad, how long it was going to affect us,” Parkhill said in an interview with Medical Design & Outsourcing. “We need…