First Insulin Pump with a Color Touch Screen Cleared by FDA
  The t:slim Insulin Delivery System has received FDA clearance. Photo courtesy of TANDEM DIABETES CARE Back in 2007, Amy Tenderich, an advocate for diabetes patients, wrote an open letter to Steve Jobs, asking him to have his company create a better insulin pump. Apple didn't bite, but today a pump that meets Tenderich's criteria (smaller, sexier) received FDA clearance...
A Device to Keep Tabs on Tumors
For patients diagnosed with cancer, so-called watchful waiting, in which a doctor monitors the growth before intervening, can be frustrating. But a new device for monitoring tumors developed by medical engineers at Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) could make watching and waiting easier to take. Less than twice the size of a thumbnail, the electronic sensor chip can be implanted near a tumor...
Bluetooth Low Energy Explained
Bluetooth 4.0 is going to lead to some pretty cool medical devices, such as wireless thermometer and heart rate products. One of its key features, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), will allow devices equipped with the wireless technology to consume far less power than before. MED asked Tim Whittaker, a system architect in the wireless division of product development firm Cambridge Consultants, what BLE...
Two Techniques for Designing IR Gesture-Sensing Systems
Most people are familiar with touchless user interfaces through video game systems such as Microsoft Kinect. As the technology emerges, motion sensing will make its way into more devices, including those in the medical space. MED sister site EDN has an article by Alan Sy, an application engineer for Silicon Laboratories’ human-interface products, about how the advent of highly...
Bluetooth in 467 Million Health Devices by 2016
  As many as 467 million health care and personal fitness devices will ship in 2016 using Bluetooth Low Energy, according to a new report by ABI Research. But a delay releasing the spec has given competing technologies a leg up in the new markets, it said.   The Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0 was released in July 2010, more than six months later than anticipated, said...
Freescale Files for $1.15 Billion IPO
Freescale Semiconductor Inc. Friday (Feb. 11) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering in which it hopes to raise $1.15 billion. Freescale (Austin, Texas), a onetime spinout from Motorola Inc., was a publicly traded company before it was bought for $17.6 billion in 2006 by a consortium of private equity firms led by the Blackstone Group. In recent...
Triple Ring Joins Forces with Modulus
Triple Ring Technologies, a Newark, CA–based provider of advanced research and product development services for the medical device industry, has partnered with Modulus, a microelectronics specialist. The strategic partnership between Triple Ring and San Jose-based Modulus was formed to offer client companies a variety of services through all stages of the product life cycle. The alliance,...
Imaging Gurus Establish CRO
A group of imaging experts specializing in clinical trials has launched Intrinsic Imaging LLC. The San Antonio-based firm is an advanced medical imaging contract research organization staffed by radiologists from South Texas Radiology Group, among others. The CRO will offer various services, including radiological review and image management, to global medical device companies as well as those in...
Sparton Corp. Acquires Delphi
Sparton Corp., an EMS provider that supplies electromechanical and electronic devices and subassemblies to the medical device industry, has acquired Delphi Medical Systems.  Sparton bought Delphi, a contract manufacturing firm, in an $8 million all-cash transaction. Schaumburg, IL–based Sparton estimates that the acquisition will increase its annual revenue by $32 million. “The...
Eastman, DD Studio, PolyOne and Phillips Plastics Collaborate
Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, TN) and DD Studio (Carlsbad, CA) have released a mobile, wireless, continuous vital signs monitoring system called ViSi Mobile by Sotera Wireless Inc. The device is a wireless device that straps to a patient’s arm to monitor vital signs and a monitoring device to keep clinicians connected to patients’ information. The ViSi Mobile leverages design...
GM Nameplate Licenses DuPont’s Bonding Technology
GM Nameplate (Seattle) has licensed DuPont’s Vertak bonding technology to provide customers with display enhancement technology. When applied to front panels during manufacturing, the Vertak optical bonding technology significantly increases LCD readability in bright sunlight and also improves scratch resistance, impact resistance, and overall durability. Vertak has attributes of silicone...
D-M Associates and EAO Switch Agree to Cover Indiana and Kentucky
EAO Switch Corp. (Milford, CT), a global supplier of human-machine interface (HMI) components and systems, has extended its relationship with D-M Associates (Westerville, OH) to include coverage for Indiana and Kentucky. D-M Associates is EAO’s authorized sales representative in the Midwest and provides manufacturing for medical and other applications. Customers in Indiana and Kentucky will...
Battling EMI in Wireless Technology
AAMI has just released an updated technical information report to offer guidance on preventing electromagnetic interference, hoping to provide a template for a wireless and electromagnetic compatibility policy. The report, ANSI/AAMI TIR18: 2010, Guidance on Electromagnetic Compatibility of Medical Devices in Healthcare Facilities, was developed with clinical and biomedical engineers in mind. AAMI...
Microchip Completes an Acquisition
Microchip Technology (Chandler, AZ) has acquired Silicon Storage Technology Inc. (SST; Sunnyvale, CA). SST designs and manufacturers a range of memory and nonmemory products. Its patented SuperFlash technology is used in the company’s flash memory components, flash mass storage products, and the embedded applications that it licenses. Microchips says that SST’s SuperFlash technology...
Dassault Technology to Aid in Defibrillator Development
Dassault Systemes’s (Paris) technology has been selected by InnerPulse (Research Triangle Park, NC). InnerPulse will use the company’s Abaqus finite element analysis software in the development of its percutaneous implantable defibrillator. Using both SolidWorks CAD software and the Abaqus technology, InnerPulse engineers can perform analysis for concurrent device and tool design....
SensAble’s Devices Are Used in Simulation Product
SensAble Technologies (Woburn, MA) has provided haptic devices for Medaphor (Cardiff, Wales, UK), an ultrasound training company. MedaPhor’s Transvaginal ScanTrainer relies on haptic devices to enable ultrasound technicians to feel what they see on the computer screen when they follow a training module. This simulation technology helps users to develop the hand-eye coordination necessary to...
EBCI Slips in May, But Six-Month Outlook Improves Again
NEMA reports that the Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions fell to 68.8, down 3 points from April. However, the index remained well above the 50-point level, which indicates that the current economic environment is conducive to industry growth. May is the fifth straight month above that threshold. In addition, the ECBI for...
Ardiem Acquires Intellectual Property
Contract manufacturer Ardiem Medical Inc. (Indiana, PA) has obtained a nonexclusive license to make and sell neuromodulation devices based on intellectual property developed at Case Western Reserve University's Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center in Cleveland. The agreement grants Ardiem rights to intramuscular recording and stimulating...
Lemo Signs Agreement with Avnet
Connector provider Lemo (Rohnert Park, CA) has signed a distribution agreement with the Avnet Electronics Marketing (Phoenix, AZ). Under the terms of the agreement, Avnet will distribute Lemo's line of medical and military circular connectors in North America. Lemo says that the partnership with Avnet provides them with better traction with design engineers thanks to Avnet's expertise and...
Two French Suppliers Join Forces
Radiall SA (Rosny-sous-Bois, France) and Integral Process (Conflans Sainte Honoriné, France) have signed agreements to collaborate in developing and marketing new products for medical applications. Radiall, which manufactures interconnect products such as RF coaxial connectors and cable assemblies, antennas, and microwave components, has established good relationships with major players in...
Endicott Creates QTA Fabrication Line
    Due to a growing demand for increasingly complex printed circuit boards (PCBs) in the medical industry, Endicott Interconnect (Endicott, NY) has created a quick turnaround (QTA) fabrication line. The line has its own equipment, processes, and operation personnel. The company says that the line enables it to provide 5-15-day turnaround times on PCBs, including those with complex...
Texcel Bolsters Capabilities
    Medical device development and manufacturing firm Texcel Medical (East Longmeadow, MA) is expanding its service offering with an investment of nearly $1 million in advanced capital manufacturing equipment. The company also added personnel. According to CEO Barry Smith, Texcel is enhancing its capabilities for Class II and Class III implantable medical devices, including implantable...
Maxtek Speeds Up Prototyping
    Maxtek Components Corp. (Beaverton, OR), a provider of turnkey packaging services for microelectronics, has added rapid prototyping to its suite of services. The company's rapid prototyping services are designed to help manufacturers speed up validation of integrated circuit and package designs as well as speed up the transition to full production. Three service levels are available...
LEM Acquires Danfysik
    To strengthen its position in high-precision current measurements, LEM (Geneva) has acquired Danfysik Advanced Current Products A/S (Smoerum, Denmark). Danfysik specializes in the development and manufacture of high-precision current transducers for medical scanners. The company’s product range includes transducers for nominal current measurements from 12.5 A to 25 kA,...
Mornsun America Signs Agreement with Edge
    Mornsun America (Hudson, MA), a provider of miniature dc-dc convertors and ac-dc power modules, has signed a distribution agreement with Edge Electronics Inc. Mornsun says that its partnership with Edge enhances its nationwide sales channels and provides its customer base with additional technical support and customer service. According to Bohemia, NY–based Edge, the move...