Accurate and reliable testing is achieved even in space-limited settings with a company's 5540 series of single-column biomedical testing systems, which were displayed at the recent MEDTEC show in Amsterdam.

As his breath fogged up the bathroom mirror, the mist turning into droplets of water, Hans Petterson, research engineer at Linköping University in Sweden, had a revelation. "I realized that this phenomenon in combination with fibre-optic technology could be used to measure respiratory functions." Christer Jacobsson, vice president of Optovent OEM (Bromma, Sweden), which markets the Respons respiratory monitoring system that resulted from Petterson's research, demonstrated the product and explained its OEM potential at MEDTEC.

Based on the principle that warm air condenses when it is exhaled onto a cold surface, Respons transmits a faint light via fibre-optic cable to detect the presence of water droplets. By monitoring changes in light, the elapsed time between breaths and their frequency can be accurately measured. If breathing ceases, an alarm sounds.

The finished device, which is approximately the size of a paperback book, is connected to a cable containing the fibre-optic components and a disposable sensor that is placed in the patient's nose and mouth. Respons is suited for monitoring patients during transportation, as well as in intensive-care units, says Jacobsson, because there are no motion artifacts.

Of particular interest for MEDTEC attendees were the "guts" of the system, the OEM card that Jacobsson feels has great potential in a number of applications where the precise and reliable monitoring of respiratory functions is critical. One such application is the timing of magnetic imaging procedures: the technology has been adapted to identify the optimal moment when the magnetic image can be "snapped." Other OEM applications are emerging as the company pursues its work with healthcare experts, notes Jacobsson.

A benchtop injection moulding machine offers precision, low-cost injection moulding of engineered thermoplastics. The Minimolder 12/90HSP from MCP Equipment (Stone, Staffs, UK) is a fully automatic injection moulding machine designed for the manufacture of components from 0.02 to 12 g shot weight.

In order to respond to the needs of manufacturers with high output rates, Ateq Corp. (Les Clayes Sous Bois, France) developed a leak-detection instrument designed for the testing of plastic parts. The Ioniq leak detector saw its medical sector debut at the MEDTEC show in Amsterdam.

The Ioniq detects faults on the order of 10 µm and can test up to 10 parts per second. The instrument can be used for the detection of localized moulding faults, insufficient membrane thickness, or perforations. According to Ateq UK manager Hans Lepelaars, the Ioniq can be used on such products as pharmaceutical caps, plastic and insulating membranes, or any item made of plastic or rubber.

The unit operates by measuring the current flowing between a patented charged probe and a ground plate placed under the part to be tested. Reject levels are determined as a percentage of nominal voltage. The Ioniq has an integrated ionizing high-voltage generator, and includes eight inputs and outputs for PLC applications. The unit measures 420 ¥ 300 ¥ 160 mm and weighs 6.5 kg.

Using its proprietary continuous coating process, MCTec (Venlo, Netherlands) has developed a line of coated stainless-steel tubes that can be supplied in a range of diameters and lengths. The company announced its expanded product line at the MEDTEC show.

"Our coating process is an alternative to conventional spray coating," says technology director Hans Hanssen. The benefits of continuous coating, according to Hanssen, include a uniformly smooth finish and a constant diameter. "And because it is a continuous process, we can treat spools of tubing that measure 5000 meters long," adds Hanssen. The treated metal tubing is suited for the fabrication of electrostimulation and hypodermic needles, PTCA hypertubes, and related devices. Needles are available in five different colours; they can be supplied straightened and in any length.

The company can coat both metal and plastic tubing with a layer of PTFE to promote hydrophobicity, or with hydrogels to induce hydrophilic properties. In addition, anticoagulants and other medications can be added to the hydrophilic SlipSkin coating for localized
drug-delivery applications.

MCTec is a joint venture of cable manufacturer Belden Cable & Wire and Biomat, a division of the University of Maastricht holding company. The firm's core expertise resides in coatings for invasive medical devices.

Moving fluids can be heated up to 100°C with a company's heated polymer-tubing assemblies. High temperatures can also be maintained as fluids move from a reservoir to a point of use.

Freeflex heated tubing has a durable jacket over the wound heating element that allows tubing to bend, flex, or coil on equipment that moves. Freeflex can also be formed and routed around other system components in applications involving stationary equipment.

Watlow manufactures heaters, sensors, and controllers. The company, which exhibited at the October MEDTEC show in Amsterdam, has been a supplier to the medical industry for more than 50 years.

"We do a quarter of our business in the medical sector," says Richard Chatham, managing director at Herga Electric Ltd. (Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, UK), "and 95% of our work is for OEM customers."

A supplier of liquid-injection-moulded (LIM) silicone rubber parts, Seal Innovations B.V. (Ramsdonksveer, Netherlands) may have only been in operation since January 2000, but it can lay claim to more than two decades of experience. "I have been involved with the development of LIM technology for the past 20 years," notes company founder and R&D manager H. P. Resler, who attended MEDTEC. "It's a difficult material to process," he says, adding that expertise in the material and the manufacturing method comes at the price of "testing, testing, and retesting."

Liquid silicone rubber has a number of mechanical and physiological properties that make it suitable for use in the medical device arena. To ease processing of the material, Resler helped to develop a pump, moulds, and a cold-runner system that optimize the production of silicone parts and minimize postprocessing operations. The system, adds Resler, "works with all types of materials and is easy to change over."

Seal Innovations specializes in the production of parts weighing from 0.01 to 250 g in small to large quantities. The company's two production facilities—a plant was established in Singapore in April 2000—are equipped with injection, transfer, and compression moulding machines.

At first sight, the ISIS device developed by Vision Engineering (Woking, Surrey, UK) may not seem all that impressive. Exhibited alongside the company's arresting Mantis and Lynx product lines at MEDTEC, the eyepiece lacked visual flair. But as sales and marketing director Mark Curtis points out, appearances can be deceiving. ISIS is not your run-of-the-mill microscope accessory.

Designed to replace traditional eyepieces on mono, routine, research, and stereo microscopes, the attachment significantly improves the performance of conventional binocular microscopes through the use of Vision Engineering's multilenticular and expanded-pupil technologies. "Compared to the conventional binocular setup," says Curtis, "you can move your head back and forth and find your optimal working distance." In fact, the distance between the user's eyes and the eyepiece is increased by a factor of four compared to conventional instruments, allowing workers who wear eyeglasses to avoid physical contact with the microscope without enduring a loss in the field or quality of vision. Expanded-pupil technology dispenses with the requirement to precisely align the eye with the center of each eyepiece, adds Curtis. "You can move your eye around and look at the outer parts of the optical field without losing the full image area."

Another advantage of the ISIS system is the elimination of the effects of mouches volantes or "floaters" in the eye, tiny tissue fragments that float within the eyeball and hinder viewing with a microscope. The expanded-pupil principle prevents these elements from cluttering the image. "This eye defect is accentuated as you get older," notes Curtis, "and it affects a lot of highly qualified personnel in labs that need to constantly pull back from the microscope and blink their eyes to rid themselves of these clouds."

ISIS can be installed in seconds on microscope systems produced by Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Zeiss, and a host of other companies. "It's a low-cost alternative to our Lynx and Mantis machines, suited for companies that aren't ready to invest in a whole new system," explains Curtis, "but who are looking for ways to increase productivity and operator comfort."

The bi-injection moulding process reduces production costs by eliminating assembly procedures, which can also help to minimize product defects. For these reasons, Promepla S.A. (Monaco) has made a "substantial investment in new moulding equipment for the manufacture of injection sites," says Sandra Molinari, who fielded questions about Promepla's new capability from its stand at MEDTEC. "The bi-injection process requires a special mould, which is quite costly," she says, "but we think the investment is worth it. We feel that this is the technology of the future for plastic IV components." The surface of the moulded component is extremely smooth, which reduces the possibility of bacterial buildup," Molinari notes. The use of a thermoplastic elastomer in lieu of latex sidesteps allergy issues, she adds. The products are in the advanced prototype stage and are scheduled to be on the market by the middle of 2001. The company will initially produce sites for 3.5–4-, 4.8-, and 7-mm- ID tubing.

Developed for tipping thermoplastic tubing, a semiautomatic production machine is suited for processing size 2 to 10 French probe and catheter components. The tip former was designed initially by Statice S.A. Etudes et Développement for French device manufacturer Arthesys. "The company asked us to come up with a machine that improved on what was available on the market," says Alain Valorge, quality systems manager, who represented the company at the recent Micronora show. "In particular, Arthesys wanted greater precision and repeatability," he adds. The firm recently gave Statice S.A. permission to market the product to other European device manufacturers.

A biocompatible coating designed to enhance the performance of stainless-steel medical instruments and equipment increases the material's surface hardness to 80 Rc. Developed by ME-92 Operations Inc. (Providence, RI, USA), the coating is now available in Europe through ME-92 Operations, a division of Delage Technologies S.A.R.L. (Chambéry, France), which promoted its services at MEDTEC.