Len Czuba, president of product design and development company Czuba Enterprises, is preparing to host a conference on the future of medical materials at the Medical Design and Manufacturing Show (MD & M) in Minneapolis. His company has also been working with medical device manufacturers such as OEMs to move products from concept to production. So the reporter conducted an in-depth interview with him, trying to understand the significant impact of plastics on the advancement of medical technology, and Len Czuba shared some of his insights with us.
Reporter: It is understood that the theme of the conference you are leading involves the advancement of medical innovation materials and technology. Can you give some examples to illustrate this point?
Len Czuba: I think everyone who is engaged in the production of medical equipment hopes to find the best biological materials at the lowest cost. There is no doubt that those expensive materials have performance advantages unmatched by cheap materials. Taking polyetheretherketone (PEEK) as an example, whether it is a bone needle, bone plate or bone nail, or other orthopedic materials, the sterilization effect can be achieved by the most common methods, and when exposed to solvents or body fluid It is also almost inert. These characteristics make it an ideal material for human implant devices. It is precisely these advantages that make various biological products made of ketone polymers also increase dramatically, and their application scope is also expanding.
Another material with new properties is absorbable polymers for non-permanent human implants, as well as drug delivery devices, sensors and even biodegradable materials. As the types and properties of materials increase, more and more new products will also be manufactured.
We also often cooperate with some organic material design companies to give full play to their advantages, which makes our products significantly increase the permeability.
With the explosive growth of sensors, telecommunications equipment, patient health monitoring and health maintenance equipment, there is a growing demand for high-quality, reliable materials.
Reporter: What are the common mistakes people make in the selection of medical device materials? In one of your articles, you mentioned that the function of the product determines the choice of materials, can you explain it to us in detail?
Czuba: I think the biggest mistake people make when choosing materials is that they are often satisfied with the "traditional" materials that companies' existing products or engineers are used to, rather than digging for new materials with better performance. I know that designers may not have the time and energy to find those new materials, but we are doing it for them.
Many times, medical product design engineers can search the materials they need online. Although this method may provide them with a lot of information, by talking face-to-face with companies engaged in the development of new materials, we can learn a lot of useful things more intuitively. Bringing suppliers and material users together so that they can communicate with each other at a distance, and can get an excellent experience and many novel ideas.
Reporter: In your opinion, what other needs in the field of medical technology have not been met and should be the attention of engineers and product manufacturers?
Czuba: I think replacing traditional PVC materials with other transparent, flexible, inexpensive, biocompatible materials and steam sterilizable materials is still a long-term goal in this field. Although we find that many polymers can possess the properties of PVC materials, the cost has always been high. Therefore, finding a material that can completely replace PVC is still the most urgent need in our industry.
Reporter: What useful information do you want participants to get?
Czuba: Well, as I mentioned above, many in our industry have overlooked the opportunity to learn from their peers. This conference will give attendees the opportunity to meet with experts from major healthcare companies and hear cutting-edge information and advice on the product market.