A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
No Longer the Missing Link on the World Wide Web
While reading the past couple of issues of EMDM, you probably noticed a series of advertisements for Medical Device Link (MDL), a site on the World Wide Web that premiered last October. Many of you visited the site and, I trust, were pleasantly surprised by the wealth of relevant information and useful sourcing tools. If, on the other hand, MDL remains on your to-do list, perhaps this will motivate you: EMDM now has a home page on the site.
At the EMDM section of Medical Device Link, you will discover articles from the current issue. Eventually, you will be able to scan features from past issues and access a searchable database of Europe's leading suppliers of products, components, equipment, and services.
You will find a multitude of other resources at the MDL site. Articles from EMDM's sister publications Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry, IVD Technology, Medical Plastics and Biomaterials, and Medical Electronics Manufacturing and featured products and services from Medical Product Manufacturing News can be accessed through an easy-to-use index. In the site's News & Features section, you will be able to browse articles on regulatory matters and other industry-related items, some of which are posted prior to publication, others which are produced uniquely for MDL. At the on-line bookstore, you'll be able to buy publications from Canon Communications, the publisher of EMDM, and you can verify dates and locations of industry shows and events by scanning the extensive Calendar section. For up-to-the-minute information on upcoming Medical Design & Manufacturing shows and conferences, click on Expo Center. You'll even be able to register to attend on-line.
I think you'll find the MDL site to be an extremely useful tool specifically attuned to the information needs of device manufacturers. Ultimately, you will be the judge of that and I actively encourage you to share your comments and suggestions through the on-line Forum. If your remarks are specific to EMDM, click on Norbert Sparrow.
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Meanwhile, back in the Gutenberg galaxy, we have introduced a number of changes to the pages of EMDM.
Industry News, as I'm sure you've noticed, has a new look and features broader coverage of company expansions, product developments, industry events, and related items. Product Update is a new section that explores state-of-the-art research within a specific product category through interviews with leading industry suppliers. In-depth profiles of suppliers to device manufacturers are included. Finally, the Q&A column premieres in this issue featuring an interview with industry luminary Gordon R. Higson. Consulting director of Quintiles-Medical Technology Consultants (Staines, Middx, UK), chairman of ISO TC 210, and author of The Medical Devices Directives: A Manufacturers' Handbook, Higson offers manufacturers some critical pointers on choosing a notified body.
On-line and in print, our goal is to provide you with timely, accurate information that has an immediate impact on your business. Don't hesitate to let me know how we're doing.
