We’re constantly giving you the scoop on the latest in orthopedic devices from our clinical and design perspective, but have you ever wondered about the steps that go into manufacturing these devices? There’s a lot of work in the process that turns an idea into an actual physical product, and often times it’s something we don’t think about.
During our recent trip to Northeast Indiana, we had the opportunity to visit a number of manufacturing sites and learn the high-tech processes and technology that go into producing orthopedic implants and instruments. Here’s how it works!
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Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine are developing a new type of retinal prosthesis which aims to simplify the complex surgery associated with existing, bulkier implants. The prosthetic comprises a pair of goggles and an implanted retinal sensor made up of an array of light-sensitive photodiodes.
The goggles incorporate a miniature camera, a pocket computer for processing the camera data, and an LCD screen embedded into the goggles for displaying the data. The LCD screen beams images using laser pulses of near-infrared light to a photovoltaic ultra thin silicon chip implanted beneath the retina. The chip, in turn, translates the infra-red pulses to neural pulses in the retina which can be processed as images in the brain. The key selling point for the new implant is the elimination of wires and cables and the relative simplicity of implantation.
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A community of physicians who are actively involved with our video sharing site EchoJournal now has a collaborative blog where they’re discussing the latest echocardiography videos, clinical concepts and ideas. EchoBlog can be accessed from the EchoJournal website, or directly by going to EchoBlog.com.
If you are a cardiologist, anesthesiologist, radiologist, medical student, or just a person interested in cardiac ultrasounds, EchoJournal is where you can develop your knowledge and consult with others. To learn and discuss, you can watch new cardiac videos that are added almost every day, or you can browse through our video archives. To store or share, you can upload your own clips. The site has a growing membership base, and solid traffic stats. EchoJournal is curated by David E. Winchester, MD, a cardiologist at the University of Florida.
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BiO2 Medical has received CE Mark approval for the Angel Catheter, a nitinol inferior vena cava (IVC) filter permanently attached to a central venous catheter, for the use of preventing pulmonary embolism in critically ill patients. The multi-lumen catheter can be used like a normal central venous system for administering medications, fluids or blood products, blood sampling and monitoring of central venous pressure. At the same time it provides pulmonary embolism prophylaxis by means of the attached IVC filter.
The primary patient population is critical care patients in whom anticoagulation therapy poses a high risk of complications, including major bleeding and death, and in which patients are at highest risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). The filter can be easily removed when the central line is removed, once the danger of VTE has been resolved.
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Back in February, we wrote about Altapure‘s adaptation of military sonar technology to sterilize clinical environments. During our recent trip to northeast Indiana, we had the opportunity to visit Altapure’s home on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.
Since our last mention, Altapure has been able to not only get their product on the market, but is already working on a newer version of the device that clocks in at 1/3 the size of the current model but has the same power.
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NIDEK (Gamagori, Japan) has received FDA clearance to market its AFC-330 fundus camera in the U.S. The unit is an all-in-one system that contains both the camera and the processing computer, negating the need for another machine to remain nearby.
The device is the company’s most automated model, and features automatic alignment along the three axis, uses a lower brightness flash, and has dampened mechanical components, among other advances.
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It seems that renal denervation systems are popping up like daisies these days. Today at the EuroPCR meeting in Paris, France, St. Jude Medical announced CE Mark Approval and the launch of its EnligHTN renal denervation system. Like other renal ablative systems, this one is approved to reduce blood pressure in patients with hypertension resistant to medical therapy.
Similar to the Vessix Vascular V2 system, the EnligHTN has multiple electrodes which potentially saves time during the ablation procedure, as four ablations can be performed without catheter repositioning.
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Researchers from Purdue University are reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the development of a novel new biosensor that combines mechanical and electrical components that together make the device more sensitive than either alone.
The device, known as Flexure-FET biosensor, measures a sample’s mass, size, and electrical charge. If the sample is not charged, the mechanical measurements are still effective, making the sensor applicable in a variety of situations. The device is able to detect DNA fragments and proteins in a sample, making it potentially a highly useful tool in detecting cancer and generally for the growing field of personalized medicine.
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The radioisotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) is a source for the commonly used radiomarker technetium-99m applicable in cancer diagnostics and life science research, but it’s in short supply and there are no American manufacturers of the material. Producing Mo-99 involves bombarding highly enriched uranium (U-235) with an intense beam of neutrons, which normally means you’ll need a nuclear reactor and have to answer to authorities that deter nuclear weapon proliferation to make the stuff. Last year the Canadian government gave $15 million to the Canadian Light Source, a 2.9 GeV synchrotron facility, to develop a method of using X-rays to manufacture molybdenum-99.
Following up on their own $4.6 million investment last year in NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes to do the same, America’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has partnered with the Morgridge Institute for Research at the University of Wisconsin to build an $85 million facility that will use an accelerator to generate Mo-99.
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Sometimes it seems that there are almost as many diabetes monitors, or glucometers, as there are people with diabetes (well, not really, but you get the point). Furthermore, each one seems to tout a different set of features that differentiate it from the rest. So when we at Medgadget were approached by the people at Life Scan about their new OneTouch Verio IQ Meter, we were curious to learn more. Described as “the first meter ever that looks for patterns of highs and lows—and alerts you, right on screen, when it finds one,” the VerioIQ is a hand-held monitor with a simple array of four buttons, a color display screen, memory to hold 750 recordings, and bilingual (English/Spanish) capability.
Like most current glucometers, it provides the user a lance to draw blood via finger-prick. This editor was provided with a complimentary review device and found it to be user-friendly, though had to lend it out to a diabetic colleague who was impressed enough with the added features. The key development is the VerioIQ’s PatternAlert system that detects time ranges during a five-day period during which the patient’s glucose is running abnormally high or low, thus virtually eliminating the need for a logbook. For those with extremely well-managed diabetes this is likely not as much of an issue, though it’s clear how patients with more variable glucose levels may benefit.
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