Solvay's Radel PPSU resin helped Legacy Medical Solutions optimize a large-format sterilization tray for surgical instruments. Radel polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) resin’s strength-to-weight ratio, ability to withstand high pH cleaners during repeated sterilization cycles and high-temperature autoclaves were key factors in Legacy Medical Solutions’ decision to utilize the material to improve the design, manufacture and use of the tray.

Legacy Medical Solutions’ unique sterilization tray, measuring 23.5" x 15.0" x 5.6" (59.7cm x 38.1cm x 14.2cm) is comprised of a thermoformed Radel PPSU transparent lid and an opaque base tray that secures with a metal clamping system. The transparent lid provides visibility of the tray’s contents for added convenience. The base tray weighs up to 50% lighter than competitive models fashioned with anodized aluminum, a traditional material of choice, and features large drilled holes for effective venting during sterilization. Radel PPSU resin also provides the tray with superior impact strength, flexibility and chemical resistance. Importantly, the material is compatible with various sterilization methods, including autoclaving at 280°F (138°C) for sustained periods of time, demonstrating exceptional toughness and maintaining excellent aesthetics. 

“Today’s sterilization trays need to withstand punishing autoclaving protocols with high pH cleaners, through hundreds of sterilization cycles,” says Joel S. Hughes, president of Legacy Medical Solutions. “Anodized aluminum trays can fade quickly after just one sterilization cycle if treated with high pH cleaners, but the trays we make with Radel PPSU retain their fresh appearance thanks to the material’s superior chemical and heat resistance.”

Legacy Medical Solutions also selected Solvay’s Radel PPSU because this high-performance, medical grade polymer supports the design and manufacture of a customizable platform. Through the addition of an innovative bracket, multiple insert plates can be used, and the number of sterilization validations can be reduced. Radel PPSU resin further enables product customization due to its availability in a variety of transparent and opaque colors that can support customer corporate branding efforts.

“Solvay’s commitment to innovative product development is demonstrated through its collaboration and technical support for leaders like Legacy Medical Solutions,” notes Dane Waund, global marketing manager for healthcare at Solvay’s Specialty Polymers global business unit. “With this large-format sterilization tray, Solvay’s Radel PPSU resin is enabling dramatic design improvements, supporting a variety of manufacturing methods, and ensuring superior performance and a longer product life.”

St. Paul, Minnesota – Matsuura Machinery USA Inc. will host the IMAGINE.CREATE.INNOVATE. open house at its St. Paul, Minnesota, facility April 23-24, 2019 from 10:00am to 4:00pm. At the event, Matsuura will debut the company’s latest machines, the MAM72-70V, a high speed, large capacity 5-axis vertical machining center and the MX-850 PC4, an automated version of the large capacity 5-axis vertical machining center.

Technology seminars
“Matsuura USA will feature technology seminars, machine tool accessory vendors, and applications and service experts, providing engineering solutions for your manufacturing challenges. Learn what Matsuura’s knowledgeable and experienced speakers have done to make their business so successful. Invest in yourself and your company, be inspired and motivated to reach the same level of success,” says Matsuura USA President, Craig St. John.

Contact your exclusive Matsuura distributor or events@matsuurausa.com to register.

Matsuura Machinery USA will also showcase the following machines at the open house:

• CUBLEX-35 5-axis multi-tasking machining center with turning and grinding capability equipped with a 32-pallet tower and a 3,200-tool matrix magazine
• H.Plus-504 horizontal machining center (HMC) outfitted with 500mm x 500mm pallet and #40-taper spindle
• H.Plus-630 high performance machining center designed for hard metal cutting with a standard 12,000rpm spindle offering 451N•m of torque
• LF-160 linear motor machine for high-speed, high-precision machining of smaller workpieces employing linear motor technology
• MX-330 5-axis vertical machining center (VMC) configured with 10 pallets and 90 tools providing unmanned 5-axis production using a standard Matsuura-made 15,000rpm spindle with 119.3N•m of torque
• MX-520 PC4 5-axis vertical machining center (VMC) outfitted with 90 tools, 4-pallet changer, and Matsuura MAXIA 12,000rpm high-torque spindle
• Matsuura LUMEX Avance-25 metal laser sintering hybrid milling machine
• Matsuura LUMEX Avance-60 metal laser sintering hybrid milling machine

© Matsuura | http://matsuurausa.com

Open house debuts, demos
Matsuura USA chose this year’s theme for the open house, IMAGINE.CREATE.INNOVATE., based on Matsuura Corp. President, Katsutoshi Matsuura.

He describes how this slogan inspires him because, “My Grandfather Imagined what Matsuura could become. My Father Created it. And I have Innovated it.”

Making its North American debut, the MAM72-70V, a high speed, large capacity 5-axis vertical machining center:

“The MAM72-70V is designed to handle a greater workpiece size than Matsuura’s existing models, offers faster response times to the market, and delivers an even higher productivity to meet customers’ business requirements for faster cycle times and cost down performance,” says David Hudson, Matsuura Machinery USA vice president of sales and marketing.

The MAM72-70V features a maximum workpiece of 700mm x 500mm (DxH) with a load capacity of 500kg per pallet; an 11% increase in diameter/height; 43% increase in weight; and 38% increase in envelope volume as compared to the MAM72-63V.

The MAM72-70V includes a newly developed 4th/5th axis table equipped with a proven roller gear drive for the 4th axis and direct drive motor for the 5th axis. These enhancements achieve a rapid traverse rate of 50 min^-1 and 100 min^-1 respectively, enabling high speed, high accuracy and durability in extended performance over the lifetime of the machine.

By improving the MAM72 structure, improved ergonomic operator access and ease of operation for setup and maintenance are assured. The distance from the machine front (oil pan edge) to the pallet center is now only 620mm.

“Unmatched in performance, and the globally trusted go-to platform for a variety of precision led industries, the MAM72 Series enhances cost-savings and provides better positioning, while delivering pallet and productivity solutions to keep your work center efficiently producing components around the clock,” Hudson adds.

The MAM72-70V is Internet of Things (IoT) ready, delivering measurable remote and real time monitoring of the machine status, condition and performance. IoT, the internet of things, is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

Matsuura USA will also introduce the MX-850 PC4, an automated version of the large capacity 5-axis vertical machining center:

© Matsuura | http://matsuurausa.com

“With cost down pressures on all manufacturers, the need for reliable automated machining is increasing globally in both established and emerging markets,” Hudson explains.

The MX-850 PC4 is outfitted with 90 tools and a load capacity per pallet of 500kg. Additionally, the MX-850 PC4 has a standard installed Universal Robot interface to maximize the automation potential.

The MX-850 brings cutting power and Matsuura 5-axis high speed to within reach of every company. From aluminum to hard to cut materials, the MX-850 manages sizable and multifaceted machining tasks.

Developed in response to market demand for a large capacity, high-quality, yet cost-effective, single-table Matsuura 5-axis machining platform, the MX-850 is compactly built, yet ensures high rigidity and a sufficient machining area and workability.

The MX-850 is equipped with Matsuura’s proven operating system optimizing performance, automation and spindle utilization. The operating system permits direct, instinctive control as well as Matsuura Intelligent Meister System (MIMS) and Matsuura’s proprietary Intelligent Protection System for the prevention of collisions.

“At Matsuura, we have developed machining centers with large pallet pools to achieve lights-out manufacturing with size ranges never before available in the Matsuura family of 5-axis machining centers. Matsuura’s automated pallet pool machining solutions achieve more production, offering higher levels of spindle optimization and machine utilization,” Hudson adds.

Contact your exclusive Matsuura distributor or events@matsuurausa.com to register

Engineers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a new non-invasive technique for simulating repairs to the heart's mitral valve with levels of accuracy reliable enough for use in a clinical setting. Mitral valve (MV) disease is one of the most common valve-related heart conditions, newly diagnosed in 5 million Americans each year. Left unchecked, MV disease can lead to heart failure and/or stroke. This advance in computational modeling technology allows surgeons to provide patient-specific treatments, a development that will improve the long-term efficacy of current medical approaches.

Led by Michael Sacks, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering, the team outlined their computational modeling technique for imaging MV leaflets – flaps located on the base of the valve that open and close to regulate blood flow from the left atrium to left ventricle of the heart – in recent issues of the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering and the Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

The MV plays a crucial role in maintaining healthy blood flow in the heart, but normal function can be compromised in a number of ways. For instance, heart attacks may disrupt the MV leaflets' capacity to close properly, resulting in blood leaking back into the heart's left atrium. The importance of healthy MV function is thus widely understood within the medical community, but there is not a consensus on how best to treat common MV disorders such as regurgitation, prolapse and mitral valve stenosis.

Until now, there has been a lack of accurate modeling approaches available to surgeons for predicting the best surgical methods to restore MV function.

"Heart valves are very difficult to study. They are complex structures that move incredibly fast and are located inside the heart, making them extremely difficult to image," says Sacks, who also serves as director of the James T. Willerson Center for Cardiovascular Modeling and Simulation in the university's Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. "Our new computational model provides surgeons with a tool for the prediction of postsurgical outcomes from clinically obtained presurgical data alone."

Sacks has spent most of his academic career analyzing and modeling heart valve function. Recent advances in computational and 3D imaging technologies have made it possible for Sacks and his team to noninvasively and accurately acquire the in vivo (or living) geometry of the MV leaflets in patients from real-time 3D echocardiography – a clinical technique that uses sound waves to monitor heart function.

The UT team's computational model was developed in collaboration with researchers from Penn Medicine and Georgia Tech.

"Our models combined the complete 3D geometry of the mitral valve in the open and closed states, making possible an unparalleled level of predictive accuracy," Sacks says. "To model the MV leaflets, we then integrated into the MV models the structure and mechanical properties of the internal constituents, such as the collagen fibers which make up most of the valve, to develop attribute-rich complete MV models."

Several studies have shown significant deficiencies in the long-term success of current surgical approaches to treating common heart valve diseases. Up to 60 percent of patients who have undergone MV regurgitation surgery report recurrence just two years after the surgery.

"Cardiac surgeons must decide upon the best possible treatment for heart valve repair without knowing all the facts," notes Dr. Robert Gorman, professor of surgery in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a key collaborator on the study. "Most rely on their own experiences or how they were taught to perform valve repair surgery in medical school."

With the researchers' new predictive technique, surgeons won't have to take the previous one-size-fits-all approach to MV leaflet repair.

"The computational modeling tool we've developed will eliminate a lot of the uncertainty and allow for patient specificity," Gorman says. "This will be transformative for those working in the field."

The next step for Sacks and his research team is to commercialize their technique.

"Once heart surgeons gain access to this tool in a clinical setting, we anticipate significant improvements in the long-term well-being of patients who've undergone mitral valve surgery," he says.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Bluffton, Ohio – Grob’s new 45,918ft², three-story facility will feature an open floor plan and flexible workspace designed to help foster greater collaboration, innovation, and creativity. Throughout the campus, a variety of working and gathering spaces will be available to employees to provide maximum flexibility for every working situation.

"We had the opportunity to build something new, giving every consideration to what kind of space our employees would be excited to work in, as well as represent the design and technology of our products” says Grob System Inc. CEO, Michael Hutecker.

"It was important for us to continue our commitment to the Village of Bluffton and the state of Ohio. We've been a huge part of this community for almost 30 years, and we're pleased to bring what we believe is one of the state's top work environments to the area."

There are approximately 560 Grob employees located on-site, with space to allow for future growth. The campus boasts a full-service kitchen that offers a free lunch, as well as an outside patio dining area.

"This building makes a bold statement about our product, while still paying tribute to our roots and demonstrating our journey for the future."

“We feel the addition to our campus will aid in drawing in the communities top talent.” Resumes can always be sent to employment@grobsystems.com.

GROB Systems, Inc. started their operations in Bluffton, Ohio in 1991 as a manufacturer of machine tool equipment, primarily for the automotive industry. They are a subsidiary of Grob-Werke GmbH & Co. KG, located in Mindelheim, Germany. The Grob Group currently consists of manufacturing facilities in Germany, Brazil, United States and China. In addition to these sites, they also have sales and service facilities globally.

Grob Systems’ apprenticeship program began in 1991. Grob is proud to have such a valuable program in place. Not only are they training their workforce for the future, but they are continuing to strengthen the manufacturing presence in Ohio.

Grob Systems’ core competency is in manufacturing systems:

• Five-axis machining centers
• Special machine tools, flexible manufacturing systems
• Assembly and test equipment
• Robots and automation
• E-mobility