Company insight
How a wire transforms into a sensor
What was once science fiction is now reality as innovative sensing wires from Alleima are being used to manufacture remote monitoring devices that support people to manage chronic health issues, get medical home care, or simply get a healthier lifestyle.
any of the medical wire-based solutions that Alleima’s medical business unit manufactures are used as sensors within medical devices. These wire-based solutions can be incorporated into standard medical devices, such as catheters and guidewires. A wire becomes a sensor when it is engineered with specialised materials or coatings that enable it to detect changes in temperature, pressure and analytes during procedures, as well as chemical or electrical signals within the body. “The wire-based components that we make go into a lot of different applications,” says Dr Cacie McDorman, global product manager wire technologies at Alleima’s medical business unit. “In almost all cases, the wire is an active part of how the sensor works – a continuous glucose monitor wire, for example, is an active chemical sensor for sensing the amount of blood sugar in your interstitial tissue. “For blood pressure and airflow sensors in ventilators, fine medical wires are used to transmit electrical signals from a sensor component placed in the body to an external signal processing device. In fractional flow reserve (FFR), multi-filar conductors are used to transmit signals from a piezoelectric chip.
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Bundle more capabilities into one single wire configuration The industry trend is to make smaller and smarter medical devices for minimally invasive therapies to cut the time and the cost of being hospitalised, while reducing complications and increasing patient comfort. This trend has challenged medical device manufacturers to bundle more capabilities into the same footprint than ever before.
“What we find with a lot of our customers is that they’re looking at more advancements in their designs – they need to be able to incorporate multiple capabilities within the same footprint of wire,” McDorman explains. “We have been
www.medicaldevice-developments.com
Dr Cacie McDorman (left), located at Alleima’s Palm Coast facility. She is the global product manager for wire technologies and an expert in sensor integration solutions.
assisting in the design of composite wires that have different elements incorporated into a single wire system. One part of the wire is used to locate the sensing device inside the body, almost like a smart guidewire. Another senses heat, another senses chemical reactions.”
Innovative flexibility
“Part of the key to our success in building high-quality wire-based sensors is that we custom build the majority of our equipment, allowing us an additional degree of flexibility to work outside of the box. This sets us apart,” McDorman continues. Customising and co-designing wire-based
components is one of the keys to Alleima’s medical business, and why it is a partner to leading global OEMs with its vertically integrated value chain. The company has many wire processing capabilities. They draw wire to size and perform thermal treatments to achieve the desired mechanical and electrical properties. Alleima can also modify the surface using electroplating, coating or other techniques to alter the material’s surface characteristics to fit an application. “Our coatings not only provide electrical insulation but can be used to join materials together or increase lubricity,” McDorman says. “We offer a range of capabilities that enable designers at medical device OEMs to develop the right solution for their needs. In interactions with design engineers, we provide information about what’s possible but also ensure they understand what is scalable so that they can make the best decision for their product long term.” ●
There is a trend to incorporate multiple capabilities within the same footprint of wire. One part is, for example, used to locate the sensing device inside the body, another senses heat and another senses chemical reactions.
www.alleima.com/medical 77
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