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Prosthetics: designed to fit – and fast

Elly Earls catches up with Elaine Figgins, of the University of Strathclyde’s National Centre for Prosthetics and Orthotics, and Anna Reyes-Potts, of Trulife, a manufacturer of orthotic and lower limb prosthetic devices, to find out how CNC machining and rapid prototyping are giving patients quicker access to a wider choice of prosthetic devices than ever before.

The FDA’s view – Dr Jeffrey Shuren

In recent months the medical device industry has been critical of what it says is a growing delay in the time it takes to get new products to market in the US. In November 2011, Dr Jeffrey Shuren, director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the FDA, testified in front of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions about the pre-market review process, and the agency’s work to reduce delays and improve clarity. Here are highlights from his testimony.

Open innovation in medical technology – Frank Topper

The old days of medical device manufacturers nurturing research and development in secret are gone and a new era of open innovation and sharing suggestions has arrived, argues Frank Tropper of NineSigma, which promotes the practice.

Are manufacturers getting the green signals?

Procurers across the healthcare industry are calling out for green medical devices, but, in the main, the market is not responding. Health Care Without Harm Europe’s Anja Leetz and Practice Greenhealth’s Beth Eckl tell Elly Earls about the initiatives underway to encourage medical device manufacturers to shift their priorities and create a much more sustainable sector.

Heart of the device market

GlobalData’s new report, ‘Cardiovascular Devices – Emerging Countries (China, India, Brazil) Pipeline Analysis, Competitive Landscape and Market Forecasts to 2017’ provides key data, information and analysis on the cardiovascular devices market in emerging countries.

Oceans apart on device approval

US-based medical device manufacturers are said to be increasingly looking towards Europe to gain approval for their products because, they say, the system in the US is too slow. Medical Device Developments talks to Thomas Novelli, vice-president of government relations at the MDMA, and Eucomed chief executive John Wilkinson about the differences between the US and European approval structures, and investigates the position of the FDA.

Venture capital bright spot – GlobalData

M&A activity in the medical equipment sector took a dip in Q3 2011 although the venture capital market remained relatively buoyant, as the latest market research from GlobalData reveals.

Market snapshot: medical devices in China

China’s medical device market is experiencing a period of surging growth. GlobalData reports on the key trends and opportunities in the country up to 2017.

Ray of hope on biomaterials degradation

The use of biomaterials in medical devices and drug delivery systems has been one of the industry’s most exciting and innovative success stories in recent years. However, device performance can be hampered by unpredictable rates of degradation. Dr Natalie Artzi of Harvard Medical School and MIT tells Nic Paton about how fluorescence imaging is helping to overcome this obstacle.

Stay cool for injection moulding

The need for consistency and dimensional stability when manufacturing injection moulded parts is dependent on many process variables. One factor that is sometimes overlooked or treated lightly is the efficiency and assurance of the mould coolant control system, as Andrew Reed of Mold-Masters explains.