Erik Swain

March 1, 2007

1 Min Read
Database Brings Far-Flung Design Information Together

NEWS TRENDS

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The ASM database cross-references materials used in cardiovascular devices.

The first fully cross-referenced database for materials used in cardiovascular devices has gone online.

ASM International (Materials Park, OH) has gathered together information about materials known to have been used in the making of cardiovascular devices. The database can be accessed for a subscription fee. ASM International is a materials information society.

Engineers can now access information on everything from a material's degradation rate to its toxicity to its hemocompatibility to its sterilization options. The database brings together information from FDA, ISO, manufacturer data sheets, and other sources.

“The information that is available is complex and widely dispersed,” said David Cebon, PhD, managing director at Granta Design Ltd. (Cambridge, UK), which helped build the database.

“You have to search literature, books, supplier data sheets, FDA data, and patent data, among other places. That's a big barrier,” said Cebon. “There is an information gap between engineers and medical personnel: Engineers often don't understand biology, and medical personnel often don't understand engineering. The vision is for the database to be used as a design-support tool.” Cebon spoke at the Materials, Medicine, and Nanotechnology Summit at the Cleveland Clinic in October 2006.

The data have been peer-reviewed to ensure accuracy, says Pamela Brown, ASM International's product developer for materials and processes for medical devices. Device companies who sign up can have their engineers access the database on the Internet or have it installed on their servers.

More information about the database is available online. It can be found at www.asminternational.com.

Copyright ©2007 Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry

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