Design for manufacturing (DFM) or design for manufacturability involves designing a medical device component or product so it can be efficiently manufactured. Adopting DFM principles during the product design stages of your project ensures a smoother design transfer process and, ultimately, improves the quality of your product once manufacturing begins. Examples of the questions that engineers will work through as part of the DFM process include: Can the product and all its components be manufactured as it has been designed? Will the component or product meet the defined functionality requirements? Is the manufacturing process cost-efficient? What level of variability does...
Sensors are becoming increasingly critical components of new and innovative catheter products. As sensor technologies develop further, a number of design considerations must be taken into account when integrating sensors into catheters. A key objective in the design process is to ensure the catheter is safe and performs as intended. When that is achieved, sensors can significantly enhance a new catheter product, leading to transformed patient outcomes. For example, sensors can provide data that guides medical procedures, enhances decision-making, and helps detect complications and risks. They are also a useful tool to help monitor the progress of treatments. To achieve...
Interventional and diagnostic catheters have transformed healthcare. They enable increasingly advanced minimally invasive medical procedures that are precise, targeted, and effective while minimising patient trauma and recovery times. While the benefits of advanced catheter technologies are substantial, integrating sensors into these devices is taking their capabilities to another level. Sensors integrated into interventional and diagnostic catheters provide medical professionals with real-time procedural and patient data. This enables more precise and customised treatments and diagnoses. Medical professionals use the information from sensors for a range of purposes, including: Making decisions and guiding medical procedures based on the response of the patient....
The design of the packaging for your medical device product is often as important as the design of the medical device. Packaging is critical for compliance, quality, and patient safety, and it can be a key factor in the commercial success of the product. In a previous blog, we gave an overview of sterile barrier medical device packaging, including what it is, the key characteristics, and when packaging should be considered in the product development process. The answer to that last question is as early as possible, i.e., packaging should be part of design direction and decision-making processes from the...
At Arrotek, we continuously work to improve how we operate to enhance the quality of the services that we offer. This includes using Lean Manufacturing methodologies to optimise production processes for our manufacturing customers, but we take a similar approach to other parts of our business, including medical device product design. Specifically, we use Lean Six Sigma to optimise and continuously improve our design and development processes. Lean Six Sigma uses the principles, methods, and tools of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma to: Improve business operations Streamline product development processes Optimise product quality Lean Six Sigma combines the Lean concept...
Packaging is often one of the last things that is thought about in a medical device product development project. The reality is it takes time to properly design and test packaging for medical device products, especially sterile barrier medical device packaging. Furthermore, the importance of packaging to the success of your product, not to mention product quality and safety, should not be underestimated. In this blog, we’ll provide an overview of sterile barrier medical device packaging design, including why it is so important and the main characteristics of this highly specialised type of product packaging. What is Sterile Barrier Medical...
Advances in catheter technologies have enabled new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that continue to transform healthcare. These advances are led by innovations in catheter design that push the boundaries of materials science and introduce new technologies and capabilities. The standard makeup of a catheter is the starting point for developing any new catheter device. In this blog, we’ll look at the makeup of catheters used in interventional radiology procedures as well as typical performance characteristics. Catheter Applications in Interventional Radiology Procedures Angiography – where catheters deliver a contrast agent into blood vessels that can then be visualised using a variety...
There are multiple components that make up modern minimally invasive medical device products. Among the most important are needles, cannulas, and stylets. Steel components like this need to be specifically designed to optimise the performance of the device and ensure patient safety. They also need to be precision manufactured to ensure consistent, accurate, and repeatable production. At Arrotek, we have extensive experience designing, customising, specifying, improving, and manufacturing needles, cannulas, stylets, and similar steel components. Our capabilities include: Handling a specific aspect of your project, taking on the entire project, or anything in between. Developing products that feature high-precision steel...
Steerable catheters are used in a range of different applications, including cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and neurological procedures. One thing these types of procedures often have in common is the need to navigate complex vasculatures to reach the required treatment or diagnostic site. As a result, steerable catheters have transformed healthcare by improving minimally invasive procedures. Steerable catheters have also made more minimally invasive procedures possible. Furthermore, innovations in the field of steerable catheter devices continue. If you have an idea or development project for a new steerable catheter device, what are the main performance characteristics you need to be aware...
Needles, cannulas, stylets, and other steel components are crucial to the performance and quality of many minimally invasive medical devices, including catheters. With all these components, there is a diverse range of design, manufacturing, quality, and performance options available. We outline the main design considerations in this blog, starting with making sure needles, cannulas, and similar components are given enough attention during the early stages of the design process. Consider Needles and Similar Components Early in the Design Process Problems with needles, cannulas, stylets, and similar components are sometimes not discovered until a prototype for the device has been developed...
