The Phoenix open house will run from 10AM to 6PM PST each day, while the Los Angeles open house will last from 10AM to 4PM PST.
Methods’ open houses go above and beyond the traditional machine showcase experience. Visitors can talk shop and learn from some of the most innovative, experienced CNC and automation experts in the industry. Technical specialists will be hosting seminars at each event, in addition to more than 10 machine demonstrations and one-on-one meetings with application engineers to discuss specific projects.
“Manuals and videos have their place, but all the real action happens in person,” says Anthony Harrod, general manager of Methods’ Phoenix Technical Center. “Open houses are the best places to learn how to make more chips fly faster.”
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn how to switch from vertical to horizontal machining, automate a 5-axis machine, advances in probing, and more. Both events will feature live cutting demonstrations and dry cycling on machine tools from Methods’ brands including Nakamura-Tome, FANUC RoboDrill and RoboCut, Yasda, Kiwa, OKK, Methods Machining Centers, VisionGauge, and Beamer.
“It has been a long time since we’ve been able to welcome customers to our technical center,” adds Daniel Piece, general manager of Methods’ Los Angeles Technical Center. “And I know everyone is as excited as we are to get out there, meet face-to-face again, and talk about solving problems and making shops more efficient.”
The geko device, powered by OnPulse neuromuscular electrostimulation technology, is clinically proven to increase blood flow for the promotion of wound healing and the reduction of edema.
Sky Medical Technology
Improving patient outcomes with medical technology
A new approach to managing patient conditions to deliver quality of life.
An ideal healthcare system cures every type of medical condition an individual may have. However, healthcare professionals have always had to judge whether they can cure a patient or simply manage their condition to provide a better quality of life.
Many pharmaceutical interventions and treatment options are designed to manage people’s illnesses, not necessarily cure them. This increases the cost of healthcare – particularly as people live longer and the proportion of illnesses that are manageable rather than curable increases – as do the requirements for long-term care.
Some conditions have proven particularly hard to cure, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, leaving no choice but to manage and monitor a condition across an extended period. However, this is costly and poses many challenges to medical and clinical resources.
The geko device’s intended use is to increase blood circulation, prevention of venous thrombosis, and prevention and treatment of edema.
A new approach Technological advancements during the past decade have introduced new treatments, exploring non-pharmaceutical interventions instead of conventional methods. For example, healthcare professionals may suggest dietary changes, exercise, wearing specially designed clothing (such as non-restrictive socks for diabetics), or the use of medical technology (medtech) devices.
Consider leg ulcer treatment: 15% of older adults in the U.S. suffer from chronic wounds, usually either venous stasis ulcers, pressure ulcers (bedsores), or diabetic foot ulcers. Venous ulcers alone cost the U.S. healthcare system approximately $3 billion per year, and each year 2 million to 3 million more Americans are diagnosed with various types of chronic wounds which all take time to heal.
If the illness requires regular attention from healthcare professionals, issues become even more expensive and time-consuming – leg ulcer wounds need regular dressing by healthcare professionals, which is an extremely expensive treatment. As incidence of ulceration rises, so do the intervention costs.
However, we are now seeing new technology providing solutions to these problems. Medtech devices can better maintain people’s wellbeing and provide a permanent treatment to chronic medical conditions, saving time and money.
The medtech revolution Technology helps find faster, more effective solutions to deliver better results – so it’s no surprise that technological innovation is now being adopted more widely in healthcare. The goal is to reduce the financial burden on healthcare systems, saving clinicians time and resources while improving patient outcomes.
But this is easier said than done. It’s challenging to implement new medical devices into healthcare; innovators need time, money, clinical data, and regulatory approval – as well as support from clinicians within the system.
For leg ulcers: clinical data has shown that by increasing blood circulation to wound surfaces – to enhance oxygen and nutrient delivery – ulcers can be cured rather than simply managed. This can speed up recovery from months to weeks and, crucially, cure patients entirely rather than maintain. Today, with regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), bioelectronic medtech devices that increase blood flow in the lower limbs are now being deployed in these instances.
Soon, connected devices could also remotely share data with healthcare providers to enhance management of chronic conditions and treatment plans, focusing resources where they are needed most. This would eliminate the need to regularly visit a patient’s home to assess and redress ulcers, in turn reducing cost and time required to improve patient outcomes.
The size of a wristwatch and worn at the knee, battery powered, daily disposable geko device gently stimulates the common peroneal nerve activating the calf and foot muscle pumps, resulting in increased venous arterial and microcirculatory blood flow.
Transforming how healthcare providers operate Simply having these innovative medical devices available is only half the battle. The challenge now is reshaping how healthcare systems reward positive outcomes to enable new solutions that are adopted effectively – rewarding innovation and risk without tearing up what already exists.
The healthcare reimbursement system in the U.S. presents a unique landscape, whereby the process of paying for healthcare products or services is managed by commercial health insurers or government payers. Traditionally, healthcare providers operate a fee-for-service model meaning they’re paid separately for each service they provide – regardless of whether that service leads to a positive and lasting outcome. For patients suffering with chronic conditions and requiring long-term care management, this can result in extensive medical bills.
However, things are changing. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is starting to take an episode-based approach to treatment and payment. With episode-based payments, the total cost for a patient’s care related to any single medical issue is predetermined, instead of having to pay separately for each service and provider along the way.
This changes things for healthcare providers, too. Based on projected costs, a single amount is issued to all healthcare providers and institutions working on the same case, including physicians, hospitals, nurses, medical equipment providers, and post-acute care operators. The more professionals can control the expenses throughout the treatment period – staying within the budget – the more they will all share in the savings generated.
This transformative approach means it’s in the interests of both the patient and the healthcare provider to adopt the best possible treatment plan – using the most effective medical technologies in attempt to cure conditions.
A step in the right direction Medtech is uniquely placed to bring positive change in healthcare across the globe, but especially in the United States. Instead of trying to ensure adoption of new innovations within the confines of the previous system, the healthcare system is changing to actively foster adoption.
The hope is this important shift will enable more investment in the development of new medical technologies and help lessen the pressure on the entire healthcare operation – creating a brighter, more effective, and affordable system for all.
Exact Metrology: A Division of In-Place Machining Company and a comprehensive 3D metrology service provider and hardware sales company, recently scanned a titanium cervical spine locking plate.
Exact Metrology: A Division of In-Place Machining Company
Using a ZEISS METROTOM 6 scout, an applications engineer measured the medical device within a 5-micron resolution and used a deviation color map with the GOM Volume Inspect software.
Exact Metrology: A Division of In-Place Machining Company and a comprehensive 3D metrology service provider and hardware sales company, scanned a titanium cervical spine locking plate. The scan was completed by Brendon Belongia, an applications engineer at the Brookfield, Wisconsin office using the ZEISS METROTOM 6 scout.
The METROTOM 6 scout digitizes complex parts including the internal geometries at the finest level of detail. Users obtain a complete 3D image for GD&T analysis or nominal-actual comparisons. High-resolution images can be captured for precise measuring tasks or detailed inspections of internal structures. Be it shrinkage holes, pores, cracks, sink marks or warpage, all defects or deviations can be detected nondestructively. Furthermore, the combination of a 3k detector and 225 kV X-ray enables ZEISS METROTOM 6 scout to provide high contrast, high-resolution measurement results and exceptional sharpness of detail. As a result, even the smallest defects in the part become visible and can be analyzed to the last detail. A 5-axis kinematics with integrated centering table helps clients optimally position the part in the measuring volume and the control of the device and the metrological evaluation of the data are combined in a single software package, making additional software or intermediate steps redundant.
With this CT scan, the company demonstrates its ability to scan even the smallest part, such as 4mm. This vertebrae plate was measured within a 5-micron resolution and used a deviation color map with the GOM Volume Inspect software. The color representation of a point cloud or mesh data set is compared to its intended, nominal CAD model. This spectrum of colors can tell users how far a value deviates compared to the CAD surfaces. Thus, a weak spot can be detected and can be fixed before a part is used.
The ability of the ZEISS METROTOM 6 scout to see the tinniest defect or detail is especially crucial for medical devices, especially those that go into the human body.
Automating medical device operations on one platform
SPR Therapeutics adopted a single platform that delivered a unified best of breed CRM, manufacturing, and quality management solution to the entire organization.
SPR Therapeutics manufactures innovative medical devices to combat pain without addictive opioids. But its aggressive growth plans were threatened by disconnected, inefficient internal systems and processes. Only with an integrated, modern technology platform could the company empower Sales, break down internal silos to provide decision-makers with real-time insights, and provide faster, more efficient resolution of customer complaints – all while building a foundation on which to run their entire manufacturing operations.
Join us Oct. 13, 2021 at 12PM ET to learn how SPR Therapeutics adopted a single platform for its medical device business that delivered a unified best of breed CRM, manufacturing, and quality management solution to the entire organization.
Ben Austin, chief financial officer at SPR Therapeutics, will explain how the single platform:
Helped reduce compliant resolution times by 60% and open complaints by more than 5x.
Connected everything from supply chain, through operations and quality control, to sales and service, and gave decision makers bespoke dashboards for visibility into business drivers.
Delivered complete traceability, lot control, and complaints processing for better compliance and happier customers.
Posted by Elizabeth Engler Modic
Andrew Thelwell
