Fanuc FA America, the largest CNC sales, service, and support organization in the Americas, is gearing up to celebrate its 35th anniversary on the continent.

"We want to thank our customers for their loyalty over the past 35 years. We take pride in our leading position in the industry and we never take it for granted. We promise our customers in the Americas continuous innovation to remain their CNC of choice in the future" states Tomo Ishibe, President of Fanuc FA America.

On November 29, 1977, Fanuc USA was founded with headquarters originally in Elk Grove Village, IL, to provide service and support for imported machine tools with Fanuc CNC systems. Fanuc FA America has evolved and grown over the years to meet customer demand. Today, Fanuc FA America's current headquarter location in Hoffman Estates, IL, provides customers with a wide range of sales and after-sales service, and support from a single source and supports all of the Americas with 43 offices and service centers throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.

Founded in Japan in 1956, Fanuc continues to contribute to the automation of machine tools as a pioneer in the development of computer numerical controls. Fanuc technology has contributed to a worldwide manufacturing revolution, which evolved from the automation of a single piece of equipment to the automation of entire production lines.
 

CardioNet Inc., the leading wireless medical technology company with a current focus on the diagnosis and monitoring of cardiac arrhythmias, announces the launch of its new wireless event monitor, wEvent.

Joseph Capper, president and CEO of CardioNet, says the device offers wireless transmission of symptom and activity reporting, providing a better quality of information to physicians than a traditional event monitor.

Following the roll out of MCOTos earlier this year, wEvent marks the company's second major product launch of 2012, but Capper is focused on the future.

"Looking forward, we remain committed to introducing the most advanced technologies designed to meet the needs of an evolving healthcare market," says Capper.

Open Mind and CGTech renew an agreement between their two companies to work closely to provide seamless integration between their products and customer support. CGTech and Open Mind have already worked together to create an interface between hyperMILL and VERICUT. The interface is designed to help their mutual customers create a better machining process by providing an easy way to verify hyperMILL’s post-processed machining paths in VERICUT.
 
“hyperMILL provides innovative techniques for 2.5-axis through 5-axis milling and drilling, mill-turn, and specialized niche applications.  These solutions are intended to streamline programming time and reduce cutting time and risk at the machine tool.  Many of our customer’s work processes mandate part program simulation and they are most often using VERICUT.  The hyperMILL to VERICUT data interface provides high assurance for the transfer of information between these software products,” states Alan Levine, managing director of Open Mind Technologies USA Inc.
 
By simulating CNC programs on a computer without using the actual machine tool, hyperMILL users can realize significant savings by reducing machine cycle time, improving work quality and maximizing throughput. Possible programming errors are identified sooner without putting the actual machine tool at risk.   

Officials at MedShape Inc. introduce the first surgical use of the DynaNail Ankle Arthrodesis Nail, an intramedullary (IM) nail that contains an innovative internal nickel titanium (NiTiNOL) element. The product represents a breakthrough in that it is the first IM nail to harness the shape memory properties of NiTiNOL, which up to now has been impeded from clinical use due to various technological challenges ranging from basic materials science to manufacturing and device design.

After receiving 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, DynaNail was successfully used in an ankle arthrodesis procedure performed by Dr. Doug Pacaccio, DPM, at Valley West Community Hospital in Chicago, IL.

"I was impressed with the performance of the DynaNail device," says Dr. Pacaccio, who is a co-founder of MedShape. "The nail sustains compression across the joint like an external fixator, but because it is inserted like traditional IM nails, it reduces operating time significantly."

DynaNail is expected to become an effective alternative to external fixators for treating limb salvage procedures, as the NiTiNOL compressive element gives the nail unique properties over traditional IM nails. Compression across the joint is important for not only ensuring the joint bones remain in close apposition, but also in promoting healing.

"The NiTiNOL compressive element allows DynaNail the ability to apply sustained compression across the joint on the level of an external fixator. Traditional nails lose compression upon hardware removal or require follow-up procedures to re-apply compression," says Jeremy Blair, team leader for DynaNail. "NiTiNOL gives DynaNail 'shape memory' so that it can automatically transform and adapt to bone resorption minimizing the need for follow-up procedures."