The outset of a new project is like the start of a new year, a time rich with possibility. The beginning of any project is the most crucial period: The process you follow from the start will determine your likelihood of a successful outcome. In the...
If you keep your design simple, you can build a prototype almost as fast as you can do the math to predict how it's going to work. For that reason, it's important to get a functioning model in-hand as quickly as possible. That means identifying which...
In a simple world, medical consumables are made of plastic and plastic only. Electronic components would remain separate in the durable device. In the real world, though, that's rarely the case. You might want to install fluid pumping mechanisms in a plastic tubing set, or design...
Because most medical devices include both a durable instrument and a consumable, product developers often face a pivotal question during the early design process: What stays on the instrument itself, and what belongs on the consumable? There is no simple answer to that question. Every product...
Albert Einstein is reported to have said that if he had one hour to solve a problem, he'd spend 55 minutes defining the problem and five minutes crafting the solution. I've always loved that quote because it underscores exactly what doesn't happen in product design all...
It’s best to ask the toughest questions early in the process of developing diagnostic systems when assay and detection technologies are developed in parallel with use case definition. But which questions should you be asking? Below are just a few examples. These questions help identify product features...
Faced with a tough engineering design challenge? A similar problem may have already been solved. And not by someone who owns IP on the idea. I’m talking about Mother Nature....
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to speak at the Defense Materials, Manufacturing and Infrastructure (DMMI) Committee’s workshop on Low Volume Manufacturing at the National Academies in Washington DC. ...
Flexible circuits are all around us - in cell phones, cameras, and laptops – and also in us – in pacemakers, cochlear implants, and defibrillators. Over the years, as devices have become smaller and wearable and implantable medical devices have become more prevalent, the flex...
Here at Key Tech, we often use physical prototypes in our design process to literally get a feel for the part. While 3D computer models can be helpful, there is simply no substitute for actually holding a part in your hands and feeling it....