Johnson Matthey Medical Components Partners with Microfabrica Inc.

The Medical Components Business of Johnson Matthey Inc. announces a partnership and exclusive supply agreement with Microfabrica Inc.(MFI), a leading provider of sub-millimeter scale, high precision metal components for industries that demand high precision manufacturing at a very small scale. MICA Freeform, MFI’s proprietary additive manufacturing process, will enable Johnson Matthey Medical to expand its existing portfolio of fabricated components made from platinum group metals and other specialty materials exclusively for the medical device industry.

According to a press release, the partnership will leverage the combination of JMI’s expertise in specialty metal products for medical device applications and MFI’s unique ability to fabricate high-precision metal parts, with complex geometries, at the sub-millimeter scale. JMI’s current portfolio of components includes catheter guide wires, radiopaque markers for stents, electrodes for cardiac rhythm and electrophysiology, and nitinol for endoscopy, all of which can leverage the precision and scale of parts produced with MICA Freeform’s additive manufacturing process.

Commenting on the agreement, Brian Woodward, JMI's general manager, says, “The partnership with Microfabrica brings an exciting, novel manufacturing process into Johnson Matthey’s product portfolio that will significantly expand the metal component choices that we can offer our customers at the millimeter and sub millimeter scale.”

Eric Miller, CEO of Microfabrica states, “Johnson Matthey is an ideal partner for us. We see our technology as a logical extension of Johnson Matthey Medical’s process and materials capabilities. Their domain expertise in medical device component manufacturing, combined with our ability to produce sub-millimeter, high precision components, and assemblies, offers customers a unique and unrivaled ability to execute design challenges, regardless of scale.”