Originally Published EMDM September 2002
MEDTEC IRELAND 2002
Virtual Simulation: It's Real |
| Virtual product design, verification, and validation can speed time to market and increase revenue, according to MSC Software. Company manager Bert Knops will discuss the benefits of nonlinear simulations for complex biomedical applications at MEDTEC Ireland. |
Nowadays, the pressure on industry to deliver better products faster at a lower price is "getting higher and higher, and manufacturers are looking for tools that can influence these issues," says Bert Knops, manager of enterprise solutions for Europe at MSC Software (München). According to Knops, the most promising way to meet these challenges is to simulate the design and manufacturing of a component virtually, and then to virtually verify and validate the part. "In this way, you can significantly reduce the number of prototypes required," he explains.
According to Knops, while virtual simulation is already widely used in such fields as electronics, packaging, and nuclear engineering, the technique is of particular interest to the biomedical industry because of US FDA certification issues. At MEDTEC Ireland, Knops will present a conference session titled "Nonlinear Simulation for Complex Biomedical Applications." His presentation will include a discussion of software that enables virtual design and manufacturing simulations, as well as examples of practical applications of this software. This will be Knops's first time speaking at MEDTEC Ireland. "I'm looking forward to getting in touch with R&D managers from the biomedical industry who are looking for ways to decrease their expenses and increase their product revenue by means of virtual product design, verification, and validation," he says.
Knops cites the design of cardiovascular stents as an example of a biomedical engineering problem that can be addressed with virtual simulation. "A cardiovascular stent undergoes large deformations and large displacements, and will also be in contact with the balloon catheter and the blood vessel," says Knops. "From a finite-element point of view, this is a 100% nonlinear problem that requires special treatment." He goes on to explain that, using finite element analysis (FEA), the final shape of a stent can be predicted, including the maximum local deformations or plastic strains. "Based on these plastic strains, one can determine whether the stent will break during implantation, or whether it might fail later on due to fatigue," he says. "This is an excellent example of a problem where, on the basis of FEA simulations, the design of the stent can be improved significantly even before producing the first prototype."
Copyright ©2002 European Medical Device Manufacturer
