Emerging Technology in the Medical Industry

Summary: Breakthroughs in medical manufacturing have improved patient care.

The medical manufacturing industry has seen massive breakthroughs in creating devices patients find non-intrusive. These devices help improve patient recovery times, make it easier to live with devices inside the body, and reduce the number of infections patients face inside and outside of the hospital. Everything from tubs to fit inside the body to devices used in the patient’s room to monitor conditions has been dramatically improved.

Coatings

There are essentially three types of medical device coatings, each fulfilling a different purpose and used in different applications.

Lubricants are the most common type, and they do the important job of keeping devices from causing patients too much comfort. Lubricants reduce the friction a device causes when it is inserted into biological material. Lubricants must be applied in a process similar to vacuum metallization, which allows an extremely thin film that avoids expansion.

Antimicrobial coatings are an important line of defense against infections. These devices tend to come into contact with a patient’s blood, and typically near an open wound of some sort. These important chemicals must be manufactured with inorganic materials, so it’s crucial that manufacturers go to great lengths to avoid introducing unwanted compounds.

Hydrophilic coatings are the final type of coating, and they allow devices to mimic wetness. This can have a variety of applications, from binding water onto a material to conducting fluids from one surface to another. It’s important that these devices get certified as “bio-compatible,” which ensures they can be used inside of a patient’s body with minimal impact.