MEDICAL | PROCESSING
repeating this validation process can be extensive. Altering a validated process using ML is still a long
way off, the company says. For medical in particular – with its need for risk mitigation – there will be “continued resistance to the adoption of ML auto- matically adjusting processing parameters”, it says. That said, AI has already been used to accelerate the development of customised medical produc- tion cells through more accurate simulations and generative design – as AI models can help medical processors test concepts before machine builds and installations, says the company.
Sensor boost Europlaz, a UK-based contract manufacturer of medical devices, has developed an integrated ‘sidestream’ CO2 sampling port that is joined to the side of its existing neonatal flow sensor. It says the device will help improve neonatal
care and save the lives of more babies born prematurely or in distress. The patented addition enables clinicians to follow the correct protocols of using both lung protective volume control and CO2 monitoring, giving babies a better chance of survival and limiting the possibility of longer-term conditions, such as cerebral palsy or lung disease. It does this by combining the sensor for measur- ing flow volume with the optimally placed sam- pling port for safely extracting gas for tidal flow CO2 monitoring, reducing the ‘dead space’ found in existing products and ensuring more accurate readings. “Two global manufacturers adopting our new flow sensors – and trials are about to begin with a London hospital,” said Frede Jensen, product development manager at Europlaz. “This will provide the clinical evidence that many ventilator manufacturers have been asking for.” Europlaz says it has made neonatal flow sensors
for more than 10 years and sold more than 1 million to date – but without the sampling port. It
plans to increase production of the new neonatal flow sensor, with a new robotic welder. This will weld a 13-micron precious metal wire (thinner than a human hair) to a surface smaller than a pin head with 5-micron precision. “It gives us the repeatable quality that we know
is required, and the confidence that our sensors will deliver accurate readings time and time again,” he said.
It will also allow the company to supply 500,000 sensors every year, he added.
High heat Syensqo has launched a medical-grade Amodel polyphthalamide (PPA). The glass-filled polymer is designed for ad- vanced single-use medical devices, with high heat resistance, robust electrical properties and biocom- patibility requirements for limited contact duration medical applications. The material has a high melting point (above 300°C) and maintains mechanical strength at temperatures up to 280°C. This makes it ideal for manufacturing processes such as surface-mount technology (SMT) assembly, infrared (IR) reflow and metal overmoulding. The material is suited to electrosurgical instruments and electronic device
Left: Europlaz has developed an improved version of its neonatal flow sensor
IMAGE: EUROPLAZ
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