DeviceTalks Boston Archives - Page 2 of 5

Contract manufacturer selection tips, tricks and red flags

A few years ago, Vivasure Medical faced an emergency that “nearly shut our company down,” co-founder Gerard Brett said.

“We picked a supplier in good faith — it looked like they had what it took to do the job for us,” he said. “We were working away at developing a part of our product, and we got a phone call with 24 hours’ notice to say the sheriff is going to put a lock on the door of that company.”

The supplier was about 4,500 miles from Vivasure’s Galway, Ireland headquarters where Brett serves as chief operating officer.

“We literally put people on a plane, hired what looked like the CIA, we had black Suburbans, and we backed up to the back of that facility at 2 a.m. and took our stuff out: equipment and materials,” Brett said. “At 6 a.m., it was locked.”

Vivasure Medical co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Gerard B…

Surgical robotics trends and how to accelerate adoption

Moon Surgical Chief Strategy Officer Jeffery Alvarez. [Photo courtesy of Moon Surgical]

Some of the biggest names in the development of surgical robotics systems and virtual reality training technology discussed robotic surgery trends at DeviceTalks Boston.

Moon Surgical Chief Strategy Officer Jeffery Alvarez, Stryker Digital, Robotics, and Enabling Technologies President Robert Cohen, Osso VR CEO Justin Barad and FundamentalVR CEO and co-founder Richard Vincent see rapid changes ahead for surgical robotics and opportunities to win over surgeons, health systems and patients.

We’ve curated excerpts from the conversation, lightly edited for clarity and space.

Trends in surgical robotics

Alvarez: “There’s a transition from building robots that are hyper-specialized in one thing and do one thing really well, to platforms that are looking at how to solve bigger parts of the problem: H…

BD CEO Tom Polen discusses crises-revealing character during COVID-19 pandemic

BD CEO, President and Chair Tom Polen [Photo courtesy of BD]Tom Polen’s original “master plan” included going to medical school. While preparing for the MCAT out of undergrad, he instead joined a small startup based in California.

Ultimately, the startup grew and BD (NYSE:BDX) bought it. That was about 23 years ago. Polen is now chair, president and CEO of the medtech giant, having assumed the role in early 2020.

He noted that BD acquired nine companies in the last three years — much like his startup many years before.

“It’s a pleasure to be able to stand in front of those teams when we bring them in as part of our family and say, ‘I came to BD the same way that all of you came to BD,'” Polen says. “I remember exactly the way that that first day felt.”

Speaking in a keynote address at DeviceTalks Boston today, Polen outlined his career path and how he’s led BD for the past three years.

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Is medtech the answer to healthcare challenges?

[Image from Unsplash]The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has healthcare in the U.S. and elsewhere facing a host of challenges, but medtech could be part of the answer.

Join industry leaders at DeviceTalks Boston, May 10–11, 2023, to find out more about the opportunities. (Register here!)

Here are some of the topics to explore at the event:

Healthcare challenges: Worker shortages

Hospitals and other healthcare settings are facing shortages of physicians, nurses and other critical staff — but one of many healthcare challenges.

BD CEO, President and Chair Tom Polen [Photo courtesy of BD]Opportunity: In a keynote interview, Becton Dickinson CEO Tom Polen will lay out a plan for growth building off a sequence of acquisitions over the past two years that has the company loaded with tech — including digital and robotics tools. In a DeviceTalks Weekly interview, Polen saw automation of pharmacies and lab testing as a sizable growth opportunity for BD.

May 2023 edition: Endolumik’s big step for safety, ortho hot topics, SaMD development lessons

Endolumik’s illuminated device takes a big step for safety

The top orthopedic device news out of AAOS 2023

SaMD development lessons from Cordio’s voice AI heart failure app

Orthopedic device tech advances

High in the Wind River mountains of present-day Wyoming, the inhabitants of a remote alpine village — perhaps the oldest in North America — may have used fresh rawhide soaked in water as a splint to immobilize fractured bones thousands of years ago.

Before them, the ancient Egyptians used tree bark and linens, and native tribes of South Australia used thick clay.

They would all no doubt be amazed by the modern practice of orthopedics on display at this year’s American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting — after they recovered from the shock of the scintillating sights of Las Vegas.

In this edition of Medical Design & Outsourcing, Executive E…

May 2023 edition: Endolumik’s big step for safety, ortho hot topics, SaMD development lessons

Endolumik’s illuminated device takes a big step for safety

The top orthopedic device news out of AAOS 2023

SaMD development lessons from Cordio’s voice AI heart failure app

Orthopedic device tech advances

High in the Wind River mountains of present-day Wyoming, the inhabitants of a remote alpine village — perhaps the oldest in North America — may have used fresh rawhide soaked in water as a splint to immobilize fractured bones thousands of years ago.

Before them, the ancient Egyptians used tree bark and linens, and native tribes of South Australia used thick clay.

They would all no doubt be amazed by the modern practice of orthopedics on display at this year’s American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting — after they recovered from the shock of the scintillating sights of Las Vegas.

In this edition of Medical Design & Outsourcing, Executive E…

Medtech tackles environmental, social and governance challenges

[Image from Unsplash]

The medical device industry, in recent years, has increasingly faced environmental, social and governance challenges.

As in other cases, challenges can also present opportunities. Here’s what you could discover at DeviceTalks Boston, which runs May 10–11. (Register here!)

Sustainability for environmental benefit

Medical devices can produce a profoundly positive effect on individuals needing care, but they’re also an environmental problem because they create enormous pressure on waste streams once they’re outdated and discarded.

Opportunity: Medical device makers can avoid this growing catastrophe by building sustainability into their designs. In two different sessions, leaders Canon Virginia, Gradian Health Systems and Sagentia Innovation will examine how medical devices can be made with a view toward global health.

Healthcare equity

How can we ensure life-…

DeviceTalks Boston early-bird rate expires today

Today is the final opportunity to secure the early-bird rate to register for DeviceTalks Boston.

The rate will jump from $395 to $695 where it will stay until the day of the May 10-11 conference, which will be held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

DeviceTalks Boston promises to deliver two days of networking, content and know-how for medical device entrepreneurs, engineers, and executives.

The agenda will feature executives and professionals from a more than dozen major medical device companies including Abbott, BD, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Olympus America Corp., Philips, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Vicarious Surgical, ZimVie Spine, Zimmer Biomet and more.

Medtech Innovator, the industry’s largest accelerator, will also host a two-day long track featuring its most successful alumni.

Go here to see the agenda and view the list of speakers including Boston Scientific CEO Michael Mahoney and BD CEO Tom Polen.

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DeviceTalks Boston early-bird rate expires tomorrow

The early-bird registration discount for DeviceTalks Boston ends tomorrow, March 9.

Register right away to save $300 off (43%) off the full price to attend the May 10-11 event at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

Discussions will focus on engineering new devices, materials and manufacturing, bringing products to market, and other challenges to medical device development.

Large medical device companies leading presentations include Abbott, Becton Dickinson, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Olympus, Philips, Vicarious Surgical, Zimmer Biomet, ZimVie, and other medical device companies.

The event features keynotes from Mike Mahoney, CEO of Boston Scientific, and Tom Polen, CEO of BD.

Medtech Innovator will bring a group of start-ups that have graduated from its accelerator to tell their stories.

Go to Boston.DeviceTalks.com to register.

DeviceTalks Boston early bird pricing expires next week

Medical device professionals eager to expand their skillsets and build their brand have until March 9 to secure the early-bird rate to register for DeviceTalks Boston.

The rate will jump from $395 to $695 where it will stay until the day of the May 10-11 conference, which will be held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

DeviceTalks Boston promises to deliver two days of networking, content and know-how for medical device entrepreneurs, engineers, and executives.

The agenda will feature executives and professionals from more than a dozen major medical device companies including Abbott, BD, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Olympus America Corp., Philips, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Vicarious Surgical, ZimVie Spine, Zimmer Biomet and more.

Medtech Innovator, the industry’s largest accelerator, will also host a two-day long track featuring its most successful alumni.

Go here to see the agenda and view the list of speakers including …

How these engineers make DeviceTalks Boston go!

We love engineers of all types — here are a just a few you’ll meet at DeviceTalks Boston.

We love engineers here at DeviceTalks.

It’s obvious why. Engineers are the straw that stirs medtech’s drink (apologies to Reggie Jackson). Nothing happens — financing, manufacturing, approval, help for patients — without a well-conceived product.

And engineers often transcend their typical design roles. They grow into business leaders, technology evangelists, startup CEOs, and yes, some stay to lead ground-breaking research and development groups.

So I’m thrilled to be bringing engineers of all types into the agenda of DeviceTalks Boston. We’ll have engineers from Abbott, ZimVie, Philips, Boston Scientific, Stryker and many other companies on hand to talk about being an engineer.

But we’ll also hear from engineers who have followed their careers into other parts of the medical device industry.

In this column, we’ll walk you through some of their …

How these engineers make DeviceTalks Boston go!

We love engineers here at DeviceTalks.

It’s obvious why. Engineers are the straw that stirs medtech’s drink (apologies to Reggie Jackson). Nothing happens — financing, manufacturing, approval, help for patients — without a well-conceived product.

And engineers often transcend their typical design roles. They grow into business leaders, technology evangelists, startup CEOs, and yes, some stay to lead ground-breaking research and development groups.

So I’m thrilled to be bringing engineers of all types into the agenda of DeviceTalks Boston. We’ll have engineers from Abbott, ZimVie, Philips, Boston Scientific, Stryker and many other companies on hand to talk about being an engineer.

But we’ll also hear from engineers who have followed their careers into other parts of the medical device industry.

In this column, we’ll walk you through some of their career highlights as told in interviews on our DeviceTalks Weekly podcast. We’ll explain t…