MD&M Minneapolis Conference Session to Focus on Power Design

MD&M Minneapolis, taking place next month in the city’s convention center, is a tradeshow designed to address all aspects of medical device development. This year’s event will feature an exposition gathering hundreds of industry suppliers to showcase their products and services. The conference associated with the event will bring together industry experts to discuss the latest issues in medical device design and manufacturing.

On Tuesday, November 1, Quinn Horn, PhD, PE, senior managing engineer for engineering and technical consulting firm Exponent Inc. (Menlo Park, CA), will chair a conference session on medical devices with batteries. Horn, who helps clients determine the cause of battery failure in their devices and offers assistance in designing and testing future products to avoid failure, says he has seen an increase in medical devices experiencing battery problems over the past few years.

Part of the reason for the problems, he says, is that except for in implantables, batteries are not viewed as critical components of device design.

“Companies have no internal expertise on how to select the appropriate type or chemistry for their batteries or how to test to the very rigorous standards in order to get approved by FDA,” Quinn says.

This session, he hopes, will provide some insight for device engineers and supply chain professionals who deal with batteries. Speakers will touch on topics including FDA’s perspective on battery reliability and safety, batteries for implantable devices, small batteries for diagnostic devices, and how to quantify battery reliability. Also addressed will be battery maintenance and diagnostics and lessons learned from battery failures in other industries.

On Wednesday, November 2, Randy Nelson, president of Evergreen Medical Technologies (St. Paul, MN), will lead the “DFx for Medical Devices” session. DFx means design for x, in which x represents variables such as manufacturability, assembly, testing, and disassembly. The point, Nelson says, is to consider a holistic view of the product life cycle early in the design phase.

A central tenet of DFx is collaboration. Bringing departments as diverse as engineering and marketing together in the design phase can help identify and avoid problems that could arise down the road.

“It’s about looking at it as a team effort, bringing all of your experience to bear,” Nelson says.

The session looks at DFx principles within the framework of the medical device industry. Speakers will cover topics from the basics of DFx to using the concept within the structure of 21 CFR 820.30 and ISO 13485. Attendees can learn how to apply DFx principles when working with multiple partners, component suppliers, and an international manufacturing base. Nelson says the session is suited for design, quality, and manufacturing engineers, project managers, and even marketers.

“What I would like people to come with are projects that they’re working on,” Nelson says. “We can use that as a context for how DFx could make their projects move along more efficiently and effectively.”

Those unfamiliar with the concept, he says, will leave with a basic understanding that they can take back to their companies to begin a conversation about implementing DFx in their operations.

For more information about MD&M Minneapolis and to register for the event, visit www.mdmminn.com.