The University of Minnesota (U-MN) has built a center solely devoted to furthering research in the medical device industry. The Medical Devices Center combines brainstorming, development, and testing to turn basic research into medical devices. One goal is to create patentable devices from research that originated at U-MN, says Arthur Erdman, Richard C. Jordan professor of mechanical engineering and director of the center. The facility’s 11 rooms contain the equipment necessary to keep the process under one roof. After brainstorming how to develop a device, a prototype is built, ensuring that everyone involved in its development is on the same page. “Usually the inventor has one idea, but the engineer may be thinking something different,” Erdman points out. A three-dimensional prototype then can be tested at the center. Although testing usually leads to more failure than success, the process conducted at the center takes just a few days. “Everyone stays engaged and excited because [they] are not just waiting,” Erdman says.
Almost all of the material, including catheters, needles and even commercial medical devices, is donated from medical device companies. Undergraduates, graduates, and fellows at the center have access to these materials at their convenience, according to lab supervisor Lucas Harder. Students often dismantle devices worth several thousand dollars just to learn about them. This contributes to the center’s other emphasis, which is to teach students about the medical devices in a practical way. Once the group has acquired knowledge about devices, they observe surgeries and identify new needs for medical devices. “In order to be successful, everything has to be designed with the end user in mind,” says Karl Vollmers, PhD, senior innovation fellow at the center. So far the program, which is in its second year, has produced 20 medical device patents.
Source: mndaily.com