In Case You Missed It: MD&M West in ReviewIn Case You Missed It: MD&M West in Review

This year's MD&M West trade show and its co-located events provided a cornucopia of product launches, educational presentations, and medical device engineering advice. Luckily, you're not out of the loop if you didn't attend the show or missed something amid the endless aisles of the massive show floor. For your convenience, we've rounded up coverage by MPMN and several of our sister publications to bring you the best of MD&M West below.

Five Medical Device Technologies that Point to the Future
From materials and equipment to software and artificial body parts, hundreds upon hundreds of medical device technologies were on view at this year's MD&M West. Among them, five offerings stand out as technologies that could shape the direction of medical device development in the months and years to come.
 

Laser Sintering System Enables Development of Complex PEEK Prototypes
Manufacturer EOS had a lot to share at MD&M West this week regarding its P 800 laser-sintering system. Touted as the first laser-sintering system operating at up to 385°C processing high-performance polymers, the P 800 is enabling development of innovative and traditionally difficult-to-manufacture implants and parts.
 

Color Blind: Why You Shouldn't Treat Color as an Afterthought in Device Design
The use of color in a medical device can provide market differentiation and an attractive aesthetic that can appeal to consumers or discerning doctors, depending on the end use. But there's more to color for medical device applications than meets the eye. At MD&M West, Clariant Masterbatches was spreading the word about several new developments at the company while emphasizing the importance of thinking about color early on in the design process.
 

Micromolding of PEEK: It Can Be Done
Although molding PEEK has historically been challenging, micromolding can, in fact, produce both simple and complex geometries using the material without extra cost, according to Scott Herbert, president of micromolding specialist Rapidwerks Inc. In a presentation at the recent MD&M West conference sessions, Herbert spoke about "Precision Micromolding of PEEK Components" as well as associated benefits, obstacles, and considerations.
 

Gallery: Medtech on Display in Anaheim
The annual MD&M West show, one of the world's largest medical electronics events, gathers a cross section of the medical electronics industry and much more. This year it included DesignMed, a new engineering conference located a few floors above the massive exhibition hall.
 

Imec Shows Off Wireless EEG Technology
Last week at MD&M West, our sister publication MED had a chance to sit down with some folks from Imec about the work that the organization is doing in the medical sector. The nanoelectronics research firm was there showing an EEG headset that records high-quality EEG signals and then wirelessly transmits the data to a receiver (up to 10 m away).
 

Prent Launches New Lightweight Material for Rigid Packaging
Prent Corp. announced the availability of MEDEX 641, a medical grade thermoform rigid packaging material, at the MD&M West show in Anaheim, CA. "We understand the medical device industry's interest in reducing packaging costs while also reducing its environmental footprint," says Joseph T. Pregont, Prent president and CEO.
 

Medical Device Assembly: LED- Vs. Lamp-Based Technologies
Which is better for medical device assembly: A lamp-based UV spot-curing system or an LED-based one? "The answer to that depends on your process, the parts you're joining, and the application," says Mike Kay of Lumen Dynamics. In his presentation, "High-Throughput, Low-Temperature UV Assembly of Medical Devices" at the MD&M West Innovation Briefs Theater last week, Kay addressed the pros and cons of each technology.
 

Trading in Body Parts at MD&M West
One of the busiest booths at this year's MD&M West in Anaheim featured body parts--not real ones, of course, but synthetic ones made by SynDaver Labs. Why all the gore? SynDaver offers synthetic body parts as platforms for testing surgical and other medical devices.
 

Evonik Introduces Antimicrobial Acrylic
After four years of development, Evonik introduced an antimicrobial acrylic to the medical device industry at MD&M West, hosting device OEMs and their suppliers at a breakfast event launching the new material. Cyrolite Protect is described by the company as an acrylic-based multipolymer compound designed for FDA-regulated Class I or Class II medical devices and covered by 510(k) submission.
 

Eastman's Tritan Targets Renal Markets
Eastman Chemical's Tritan copolyester suite has added a fourth grade for the medical market, with the latest version targeting renal-care products. In addition to chemical resistance to blood and lipids, the new grade avoids environmental stress cracking when exposed to chemical agents, including isopropyl alcohol, disinfectants, and bonding solvents.