Medical Device Developments

The key to developing antimicrobial medical devices without chemicals or antibiotics could lie in mimicking nanopillars commonly found on insect wings

US inventor John Wesley Hyatt, together with his brother Isaiah, patented the first injection-moulding machine in 1872. Over the next few years, the technology progressed slowly, producing products such as collar stays, buttons and hair combs. Today, injection moulding is used for creating products across multiple fields, including electronic, automotive and home appliance, as well as the medical device industry. Kerry Taylor-Smith speaks to Michael Gilchrist, senior professor of mechanical engineering and head of the University College Dublin School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, about the applications of the technology today, particularly the value of micro injection moulding.

Despite considerable effort, the problem of infections related to biomedical devices and implants persists. There are a number of strategies that can be used for the design of antibacterial coatings. Kerry Taylor-Smith speaks to Krasimir Vasilev, professor at the University of South Australia, about the advantages and disadvantages of the available options.

A semiconductor material is a nominally small band gap insulator that can be doped with impurities that change the electronic properties of the material in a controllable way. They are often crystalline, inorganic solids which are classified according to their periodic table groups; for example, group IV includes carbon, silicon, germanium and tin, while group VI included sulfur, selenium and tellurium.

Custom 3D-printed implants used for robotic surgery to treat bone cancer patients are opening up new frontiers in medical technology. Professor Milan Brand of Melbourne’s RMIT University talks to Kerry Taylor-Smith about a healthcare manufacturing revolution.

Joining with a manufacturing company that has a global reach can be an important way to save time and resources. Kerry Taylor-Smith talks to Bill Welch, chief technology officer at Phillips-Medisize, about how a point of contact creates communication between the company and its contract manufacturer that is critical to resolve any issues.

Andy Slupecki, general manager for order fulfilment at GE Healthcare, speaks to Medical Device Developments about the logistical challenges of accessing emerging markets while also remaining compliant to legislation. We explore how to handle emerging markets where there are different import and shelf-life rules, how companies are structuring the regulatory organisation to support a global footprint, and how to make a success of setting up shop in places where the infrastructure might not be there.

There are many challenges to pre-hospital sterilisation methods of medical equipment, from single-use disposable devices to longer-lasting equipment designed to work for years. Kerry Taylor-Smith explores the ongoing debate around reprocessing single-use devices. Association of Medical Device Reprocessors president Daniel Vukelich explains how single-use device reprocessing is a good way of containing costs without risking patient safety.

Femtosecond lasers for cataract surgery could provide better care for patients than conventional methods. Kerry Taylor-Smith speaks to Mr Bobby Qureshi of the London Eye Hospital – the first surgeon in the UK to use femtosecond lasers – about the technology and its future.