their selection problem accurately and to explore in greater depth the candidate materials generated during selection.
Re-using materials knowledge There is another important strand to this story. As stated above, companies can apply in-house data during selection and it is important to remember the value of auditable selection. The problem is that many organisations do not have good sources of in-house data and that, even if they had a rational approach to selection, they would not be able to recover the details of this work at a later date. Medical device companies are often project-focused in their development. Information and knowledge developed in one project may not be captured and made available to future projects. This is particularly true of materials information, where the lack of a large corporate materials team means that there is no natural place for this information to gather. This runs counter to the advice of the US Food and Drug Administration, which encourages “product lifecycle management” principles in device development, believing that knowledge from one product should be applied to future generations.
The medical industry could perhaps learn from
aerospace. Aerospace organisations have large materials and process teams and have driven the design of materials information management software that systematically captures and maintains materials information and makes it available enterprise-wide. The results are less time wasted looking for the right data, less duplication of materials tests and better informed materials decisions. This is now a proven technology. Granta’s GRANTA MI software, for example, is used by companies including Rolls-Royce, Boeing and NASA. The good work of the aerospace industry means that other sectors such as medical devices do not need large materials teams or lots of expertise to build effective systems. This software can be implemented “out of the box” for any size of company and is now used in medical device companies.
A new choice
The medical device industry is beginning to successfully apply materials information technology that can help with exhaustive, repeatable and auditable materials selection. It is using software developed in other sectors to help it re-use materials knowledge between projects. Whether these approaches will gain widespread acceptance across the industry remains to be seen. But, with more engineers coming out of universities who have been trained in the key concepts, and forward-looking medical device companies seeking a competitive edge, the chances are high that materials selection will be getting more attention.
Dr Sarah Egan is Product Manager Medical at Granta Design Ltd, Rustat House, 62 Clifton Road Cambridge CB1 7EG, UK, tel. +44 (0)1223 218 000,
e-mail:
sarah.egan@
grantadesign.com,
www.grantadesign.com
www.med-techinnovation.com
RAUMEDIC AG, is a flexible company, operating from state of the art Class 7 clean room facilities near Nuremburg. Current research and development includes novel medical grade material alternatives, micro extrusion, devices with electronics, as well as a number of exciting custom developments for the medical device and pharma industry.
RAUMEDIC UK Ltd – Tel: +44 7785 714815 –
info@raumedic.com www.RAUMEDIC.com
Extrusion Moulding Assembly
Your Medical and Pharma Device Partner
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