Blog

12/1/17     Micro Engineering Solutions is a product development CMO specializing in the development of micro devices through Phase 1 Clinical trials. This article is an excellent resource explaining the FDA ruling on rules and efficiencies of developing drug delivery devices in non-aseptic and non- cGMP facilities through Phase 1.  MES is well suited and… Read More »

10/26/17     DoseOne is a patient friendly single dose inhaler. It is compact, simple and easy to use. It is actuated with a simple compressive snap and gives visual cues for ‘dose ready’ and ‘dose completed’. Just three easy steps, including inhalation! Just as attractive as its simplicity of use is its competitive performance at… Read More »

10/6/17     Pulmonary drug delivery has the potential to produce maximum therapeutic benefit to patients by directly targeting drugs to the lungs. The dry powder inhaler (DPI) is the preferred device for the treatment of an increasingly diverse range of diseases взять займ 10000 рублей срочно. Do to the fact that drug delivery from a… Read More »

9/20/17     This is a blog from isomicro.com: VALIDATION Picture this – your medical device is designed and you’re ready to validate the tiniest component – the technology piece that enables your intellectual property. You dive in head first, knowing your part has +/- 5 micron tolerances on a plastic part. You start like any… Read More »

9/8/17     Medtech notable Donna Bibber, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Isometric Micro Molding Inc. and President at Micro Engineering Solutions Inc., will be the keynote speaker at the medical extrusion conference. A University of Massachusetts-Lowell graduate with 25 years of experience in micro manufacturing, Bibber has published technical papers on micro and… Read More »

8/31/17     Researchers at the University of California San Diego have created micromotors to treat bacterial infections in the stomach. These micro sized vehicles (half the width of a human hair) swim rapidly through the stomach to release antibiotics at a desired pH. This micromotor-enabled delivery approach is a promising new method for treating… Read More »

8/16/17     DoseOne, LLC holds multiple patents and prepared to partner the most innovative DPIs available today, the DoseOne™ Single Dose Powder Inhaler. Below is an article in FiercePharma about the dry powder inhaler we have blogged about in the past. Development of the DoseOne™ single dose powder inhaler (US Patents #7,832,399 B2 and… Read More »

7/27/17     As product technology advances and the general demand for healthcare expands, the industry line between medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies are being blurred as innovative products continue to emerge. Manufacturers are exploring new technologies that adhere to better patient compliance, improve product safety and utilize unique drug delivery methods. These new… Read More »

7/20/17     Over 3 million Americans suffer with glaucoma and 75% of them administer their own drug treatment incorrectly. These “patient factors” include not being able to see clearly enough to pick up the right medication to use, the inability to successfully put droplets into the eye, and simple forgetfulness. Sustained delivery devices that… Read More »

7 reasons you need a Micro Molder vs. Conventional Molder Shot size is less than 30% of barrel capacity Your tooling source thinks it’s doable but “hasn’t made a mold quite that small before” Optimized runner systems in comparison to longer runner systems Your molding source doesn’t have metrology equipment with high resolution Highly complex… Read More »

7/6/17     Wearable sensors combine computers with our bodies. Companies like Google and Apple are focusing on self-health monitoring. We have already been introduced to things like Fitbit which offer wearable fitness trackers that record our footsteps and heart rate. In the near future these health sensors will evolve into items more complex yet smaller in… Read More »

6/29/17     Introducing DoseOne™, a single dose powder inhaler that is already prototyped, tested, recently benchmarked, and ready for pilot production and a partner to move it forward.  The design is SO simple it’s something that makes you say, “Darn, I wish I thought of that, it’s so simple!” Simple means inexpensive (~$0.30 USD in… Read More »

Researchers at the MIT have developed a wearable device that turns the user’s thumbnail into a miniature wireless track pad. This would allow users to control wireless devices when their hands are full, like answering the phone while carrying grocery bags. According to Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, an MIT graduate student in media arts and sciences… Read More »

6/15/17     Cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are major causes of loss of vision. Implants are generally used to help with these situations. Ophthalmic and intraocular implants are largely made up of many micro sized and highly precise components and assemblies. This glaucoma drain, commonly known as a shunt, is injection molded, spherically shaped with… Read More »

6/8/17     Smart pills are fairly new to the medical field. They do a variety of things from measuring the amount of a substance in your body to acting like a micro-submarine maneuvering throughout your body for a specific purpose. One of the more recent hopes of this device is to put a dent… Read More »

5/26/17     Do you remember the movie Fantastic Voyage from 1966 where a submarine crew was shrunk to a micro size and drove around inside of a body to repair brain damage? This technology is no longer the topic of Hollywood fantasies. We are using this cutting edge micro technology today! It’s called Radio Frequency… Read More »

5/11/17      People with diabetes have traditionally self-monitored their glucose levels by pricking their finger and putting a drop of blood onto a glucose monitor. Although this is an easy way to test your levels, most diabetics want a less painful testing method. A blood sample has been the common approach to this, but glucose… Read More »

5/3/17     What is micro moldings most important component? Is it the mold? Is it the material? Watch our video with Donna Bibber here to find out!

4/27/17     The search for improved routes of administration for therapeutic agents and the desire for noninvasive delivery methods for self-medication of chronic conditions have led to increased interest in pulmonary drug delivery systems. Recent developments, including ongoing research activity in powder formulations, advances in particle engineering, and novel device designs have positioned dry… Read More »

4/20/17     The technology Micro Engineering Solutions currently uses to inspect the tiny dust-sized components we work on is crucial to helping us understand the make up of the component as well as verify everything is within spec. We create the metrology by using a laser scanner vision system which takes a 3D scan… Read More »

4/13/17   Routine lab work to examine biological parameters usually depends on destroying cells to release their contents for measurement. This technique has been used for decades, but its downfall is any given cell can only be analyzed once in a snapshot-like manner. A new technique developed at Stanford University enables researchers to non-destructively sample a… Read More »

4/6/17     MES makes extremely small parts, some are the size of a speck of dust. When handling those micro sized parts, the natural static electricity in the air can….see the rest of this video on static electricity here.

3/29/17     When it comes to micro sized components in medical and pharmaceutical devices, the right tooling makes all the difference. Here is a portion of a video of Donna Bibber speaking about micro tooling consideration at a convention. Click the below image to see the video.

3/23/17     www.Dose-One.com The DoseOne™ dry powder inhaler is capsule based with a new needle technology that can pierce the capsule with no particles detaching from the capsule and the powder is delivered directly through the needle. The result is a disposable three piece molded device storing the capsule, which can be actuated and inhaled… Read More »

3/16/17   Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley developed a small device using micro components to deliver vaccines through the inside of the cheek without pain or the need for a professional. Its called a MucoJet and is the size of a pill. A patient would squeeze a bulb on the end of the mucojet… Read More »

3/2/17     Researchers at the University of Illinois used humidifier technology to create tiny silicone microspheres for targeted drug delivery. Scientists have struggled with making silicone into microspheres due to its tendency to adhere and produce large spheres. So why bother? Silicone is a useful material to use due to its unique combination of… Read More »

2/16/17     What is a microspouter you may ask? It is a micro component implant just 6mm in diameter. Its body is round and surrounds a silicone sponge containing magnetic carabonyl iron particles in the center. Liquid medication is injected into the sponge and the device is surgically implanted into the relevant part of… Read More »

2/9/17     Drug device combination products are therapeutic products made up of an active pharmaceutical ingredient and a medical device that are physically and/or chemically, combined to be produced as a single product (according to the US Food & Drug Administration). The pharmaceutical drug that is in the device may be surface coated or… Read More »

2/2/17    Here is one of the most popular blogs we have ever written, it deserves to be reposted for those who missed it the first time! More often than not, the smallest component in a medical or pharmaceutical implant or device is the enabling component.  Micro manufacturing (micro injection molding, micro machining, and micro… Read More »

1/13/17     Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a way to manufacture microscale-sized machines from biomaterials that can safely be implanted in the body. This new technique is called iMEMS, implantable microelectromechanical systems, and it stacks hydrogel in layers to make devices that have three-dimensional, freely moving parts. By working with the unique mechanical… Read More »

We write blogs every week to inform people about what we do, what our experience and expertise is in and we also share news about interesting “micro” advancements mainly in the pharma and medical fields. In reviewing all of the blogs read in 2016, the top ten read blogs were very interesting. We have attached… Read More »

12/29/16     Medical device, Electronics, and Biopharmaceutical manufactures need new products that create tinier, less invasive, fluid-induced, and/or space saving micro devices. These products require integrated, micro and automated solutions to ensure their success out of the gate. The tiniest parts in an assembly are the ones most likely to be a challenge and… Read More »

12/22/16     Researchers at Ohio State University have developed a pea-sized telescope that can implanted into the eye to magnify images for people with age-related macular degeneration. For patients who have lost their central vision due to AMD, this newly FDA approved telescope allows the opportunity to regain some of what they have lost… Read More »

12/16/16     Micro sized components are in pulmonary drug delivery systems which used to treat diseases like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic. Technological advancements, as seen in soft mist inhales, breath actuated inhalers and drug dose counter inhalers, have revolutionized how pulmonary drug delivery systems work. The non-invasive nature of administration,… Read More »

12/8/16     Scientists at the University of Texas created a micro component implantable capsule filled with medicine that uses 5,000 nanochannels to regulate the release of the medicine. This allows enough medicine to be in the human body to work on the ailment, while not being too much to make a person sick. This… Read More »

12/1/16     Drug delivery has remained a rapidly growing area of the medical device industry, that include medical devices that enable controlled internal release of drugs to targeted surgical sites presenting enormous opportunities. Researchers are using wet fiber extrusion in implantable textile structures for medical device applications. These fibers allow for improved device performance… Read More »

11/25/16     In a blog earlier this month we wrote about glucose monitoring contact lenses. “Hi-tech” contact lenses with micro-sized components are all the buzz these days. Scientists are excited about the wide array of applications that could be incorporated into a contact lens, things like detecting blood sugar levels, monitoring body levels, myopia… Read More »

11/17/16     A new drug delivery device that stays in the stomach and slowly releases its contents could replace daily pills with weekly or monthly ones. Typically once a pill is swallowed, it passes through our body within a day. A cardiologist from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a CSO from a MIT spinout… Read More »

11/11/16     Microfluidic devices are designed to control extremely tiny droplets of fluid such as blood, drugs, or gel-like fluids. Tiny channels, v-grooves, holes, and valves are accurately positioned on tiny chips and surfaces to push, pull, pressurize, or atomize these fluids in order to give the microfluidic device the required functionality. Key to the… Read More »

11/2/16 Oregon State University researchers have fabricated sensors using nanostructured transistors that can detect subtle glucose changes in the tear fluid in eyes. This device would transmit real-time glucose information to a wearable pump that delivers the hormones needed to regulate blood sugar: insulin and glucagon. Imagine type 1 diabetes patients being able to monitor… Read More »

10/27/16     Micro components for medical devices is where our expertise lies. An example of this is used in every day life for people who have respiratory diseases such as asthma, COPD and emphysema. People who have these ailments generally receive their medicine via an inhaler. One type of inhaler is a dry powder… Read More »

10/20/16     Micro component-based swallowable robot is able to remove foreign objects, patch wounds and deliver medicine. To see Insider Science’s amazing video of this, click here.

10/14/16      We have blogged a lot recently about micro component sized medical device implants. They are changing the way the medical field treats patients. We have been involved in many designs and production of these micro devices and continue to focus our attention in this fast growing area. Pancreatic cancer’s 5 year survival… Read More »

10/6/16     The 2016 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded for the development of the world’s smallest machines! Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir Fraser Stoddart and Bernard Feringa share the prize for the design and synthesis of machines on a micro scale. The machines are a thousand times thinner than a strand of hair. They… Read More »

9/29/16 Scaling devices from tens to hundreds of thousands or millions sometimes requires a tightrope balancing act of economies of scale and product and process robustness. Micro molding is a proven, scalable and economical process for thermoplastic micro-intraocular implants and devices. Recent developments and new to market intraocular devices and implants have led to the… Read More »

9/22/16     Endoscopes less than 20mm in size typically have between 10 and 20 very tiny, working (sliding, gear-meshing, and tight tolerance stack-up) components. Micro Engineering Solutions manufactures such devices in stages ensuring that the initial designs can be micro-machined until the assembly nuances are worked out. Surface and metrology data (and in-depth tolerance stack-up… Read More »

9/15/16     There was a recent article in Medical Physics Web that pertained to micro-bubbles being used to penetrate the difficult blood-brain barrier to get drugs delivered to a brain tumor. MES loves hearing about micro technology so we found this article very fascinating and we are excited at the technological advances that are… Read More »

9/8/16     Microfluidic studies involve the study of the behavior of fluids in micro-channels and deals with the manufacturing of microfluidics devices for applications. Microfluidic device systems help to reduce side effects and improve the efficacy of medical treatments. It has many applications including inkjet printers, chemical synthesis, blood-cell-separation equipment, electro-chromatography, surface micro machining, biochemical… Read More »

9/1/16      A study of 54,354 inhaler user from 1975 to 2014 shows 31% of patients with asthma or COPD use their inhalers correctly, 41% had acceptable use and 31 % had poor use technique. The inability to use the inhalers correctly came from bad coordination, incorrect preparation, speed and/or depth of inspiration and… Read More »

8/25/16 Batteries that can safely be swallowed and are designed to be safely in your body! Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created this and believe that digestible batteries could be used to power “edible electronics” that serve a variety of medical purposes, from diagnosis to treatment. These ingestible batteries were made with benign, endogenous materials instead of… Read More »

8/18/16     Having the ability to produce efficient and ever smaller devices that are cost-effective to produce, and that can be manufactured in volume and to strict time-to-market parameters is important for the medical device sector where OEMs are constantly searching for new and innovative solutions, key market drivers being. Also of vital concern is the… Read More »

8/11/16     Diseases like chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD) and asthma are on the rise, which is boosting revenues and opportunities for companies with micro component experience in this field. The markets for these drugs and inhalers are projected to grow rapidly over the next decade as the incidence of COPD and other diseases… Read More »

8/4/16     The ophthalmology drugs market is classified based on the type of drugs: treatment based drugs, over the counter drugs and ocular anesthetics. Ocular anesthetics are administered by surgeons during surgery. The treatment based drugs are provided based on the diagnosed conditions and are classified as retinal disorder drugs, anti-allergy/inflammatory/infective drugs, dry eye… Read More »

7/28/16 Using a microneedle, which punctures the outer layer of skin, researchers at the University of British Columbia have created a way to monitor drug levels in patients that is easier and less invasive. Currently, in order to monitor levels of powerful antibiotics, a doctor has to draw blood multiple times per day from a patient…. Read More »

7/21/16     Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created a nanogenerator that converts energy from body movement (muscle or water). As a body’s muscles move or fluid moves through the body, the nanongenerator produces electrical current through the bending and relaxing of zinc oxide nanowires. When these wires flex, it creates electricity. Due to zinc… Read More »

7/14/16     In previous blogs we have written about new targeted drug delivery development and how its possible using micro medical device components. There was a recent article by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) that we found interesting and the topic keeps in line with the blogging we have been doing. The… Read More »

7/7/16     Fueling the market for implantable drug delivery devices are the rising occurrence of cardiovascular diseases and the increasing number of interventional cardiologists. Implantable drug delivery devices provide many advantages over the traditional oral drug delivery method. They offer localized and site-specific delivery, which is extremely important in applications such as cardiology and… Read More »

063016     Researchers at MIT have developed a hydrogel-based bandage embedded with micro-electronics and drug-delivering reservoirs for a wound-care solution that can monitor vitals (such as temperature), release drugs if needed, and light up if the medication is running low. The material is stretchable making it more compatible with the body’s structure than traditional dressings, and… Read More »

6/24/16     Micro components have become a staple in medical devices and pharmaceutical drug delivery. Micro Engineering Solutions has been an integral part of many micro component projects, you can see some of our projects on our parts and projects pages. Scientists at the University of Sheffield are working on a project that is right up… Read More »

6/13/16    Dry Powder Inhaler: development of the DoseOne™ single dose powder inhaler (US Patent #7,832,399) required a multi-disciplinary team approach, as any such drug delivery device needs to combine not just design skills, but also software and mechanical engineering capabilities, and expertise in analytical science and industrialization. MES has the exclusive worldwide rights to sell… Read More »

6/9/16     Medical device, electronics, and biopharmaceutical manufactures need new products that create tinier, less invasive, fluid-induced, and/or space saving micro devices.  These products require integrated, micro and automated solutions to ensure their success out of the gate.  The tiniest parts in an assembly are the ones most likely to be a challenge and are also… Read More »

6/2/16   There are many illnesses that plague the eye. Below are a few examples and how micro-sized components aid in the treatment of these illnesses. Glaucoma affects many elderly, African Americans, and those with a family history.  It is considered the 2nd leading cause of blindness (after cataracts) and is principally caused by elevated… Read More »

5/25/16    Micro manufacturing has played and continues to plan a significant role in the worldwide growth of ophthalmic devices.  The enabling component is usually the smallest component in a medical or pharmaceutical implant or device.  This is due to the discomfort of something large being put into the eye. When it comes to our eyes,… Read More »

5/19/16     Micro Engineering Solutions has been in the forefront with intraocular devices at the micro level, you can see some of our work on our Micro Molding Parts page. Why is the ophthalmic world going micro sized? It is due to the rising demand for painless drug delivery options, which has fueled the… Read More »

05/11/2016   The first challenge encountered by processors of bio-resorbables is material handling, which is the single largest area for error. Today we will be discussing micro molding in bio-resorbable PLA and PGA materials.  There are many different compounds of PLA/PGA.  Most common is the 82/18 version (82% lactide, 18% glycolide).  A very high concentration of… Read More »

04/27/2016     MICRO MOLDING:  Although there is no standard definition of micro molded components in the industry, most micro manufactured components have one or more of the following attributes: • Fractions of a plastic pellet or weighing fractions of a gram • Having wall thickness of less than .005”(0.127mm) • Having tolerances of .0001” to .0002”(0.0025 to .0050mm) • Having… Read More »

4/20/16 Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of US cancer deaths. Researchers from MIT have created an implantable device that wraps around the pancreas and delivers drugs to fight pancreatic cancer cells. A study in mice has shown that this method is 12 times more effective than traditional intravenously injection chemo methods. The device… Read More »

04/14/16     The Houston Methodist Research Institute’s (HMRI) newly created Center of Space Nanomedicine is working with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) to send eight experiments to the International Space Station (ISS) over the next five years. HMRI is focusing on the development and testing of technologies in four areas –… Read More »

04/06/16     The term “micro molding” is a cutting edge niche in the medical and pharmaceutical fields these days, and at Micro Engineering Solutions (MES), we strive at keeping on top of all the new developments, and in many instances we are the fore runners leading the way!! Almost everything in every industry is now being… Read More »

03/30/16     Technology miniaturization has always been challenging for scientists. The concept of miniaturization has been studied and applied to life sciences and biotechnology with amazing results. Molecular behavior at the micro scale has proven to be substantially different than at the bulk scale. Microfludics technology allows researchers to achieve a more profound understanding of these… Read More »

3/22/16     A wireless system was developed that uses the same power as a cell phone to safely transmit energy to chips the size of a grain of rice. This technology paves the way for new “electroceutical” devices to treat illness or alleviate pain. This could alleviate bulky batteries and recharging systems that prevent medical devices… Read More »

3/15/16     Deaths due to child birth complications in India are decreasing! In less than 25 years, the number of women in India who died from complications due to pregnancy and childbirth has dropped significantly, from 152,000 to 45,000. That’s great news! But on the down side, that means that tens of thousands of women in… Read More »

3/8/16     Powder inhalers have been an increasingly popular choice to deliver drugs into the body due to its effectiveness  and ease of use. There is an amazing article about how using  powder inhalers is a solution for people to be able to administer drugs safely without the supervision of a medical professional. This article was… Read More »

03/02/16     The technology of shrinking or ‘micro-sizing’ things is very challenging but plays an extremely important role in todays world. Starting with microelectronics, the concept of miniaturization has been studied and applied to life sciences and biotechnology with prospective results. Molecular behavior at micro- and even nanoscale has demonstrated to be substantially different than at… Read More »

2/24/16    What a creative product!  We, as engineers creating micro molded parts and features, will be thrilled to take a photo with our phone and send it directly to our medical or drug delivery device customers instantly.  Tiny connectors, antennas, capsules, cannulas, insert micro molded drug delivery devices all have extremely small features, very difficult to… Read More »

2/16/16     When designing and fabricating micro molded devices and implants for the human eye, the physical characteristics and material consistency of the components of the eye are critical to understand. Understanding the body’s reaction to polymeric implants is complex. Not only is the natural response affected by the chemical properties of the polymer but also… Read More »

2/9/16     Scaling devices from tens to hundreds of thousands or millions sometimes requires a tightrope balancing act of economies of scale and product and process robustness. Micro molding is a proven, scalable and economical process for thermoplastic micro-intraocular implants and devices. Recent developments and new to market intraocular devices and implants have led to the… Read More »

02/03/16     Harsh drugs often produce powerful side effects, because the potent drug needed to the fight the illness can damage other cells in the body. For example, chemotherapy’s potent drugs used for treating cancer cells also damages other cells like hair follicles. Imagine a targeted drug delivery that only affects the intended area? Researchers from… Read More »

1/27/16     It took six years and 21 Harvard researchers to complete the model, but now they have the most detailed brain reconstruction to date. Even though it only represents a several billionths of a mouse brain! Even though the 3D model only represents a tiny fraction of the brain, it shows every branch of every… Read More »

1/13/16     Some skin wounds too large and difficult to treat, like burn wounds. Traditional treatment of a large burn wound often involve hydrogels (water-based dressings). They keep the wound hydrated and act as a barrier to infection, but they don’t provide the physical support for new skin. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles… Read More »

1/6/16     With 2015 in the rearview mirror we wanted to review the most popular blogs we wrote over the past year. They are full of useful information that deserve repeating! Please click on any of the below blog titles to see the blog:   DRY POWDER INHALER TOPICS: Powder Inhaler not Just for Respiratory Disease… Read More »

12/30/15     Seven teams of researchers have begun work on an Electrical Prescription program in hopes of developing a closed-loop system that treats diseases by modulating the activity of peripheral nerves. This research is aimed to help conditions like inflammatory disease, chronic pain and post traumatic stress. The body’s peripheral nervous system communicates an  array of… Read More »

12/22/15     A micro medication capsule could be life-changing for people with large intestine ailments like Crohn’s disease and irritable bobwel syndrome. Most medications are absorbed into the body through the stomach and small intestine before they make it to the large intestine, this micro capsule will open at a specific location in the GI tract, according to researchers at… Read More »

12/15/15     A new chip-based technology that can quickly isolate drug-carrying nanoparticles from the blood has been developed by a team of engineers at the University of California. Nanoparticles are difficult to separate from the blood component because of their extreme low density and small size in comparison to blood plasma. Scientists generally separate them from… Read More »

11/24/15     The DoseOne™ dry powder inhaler is capsule based with a new needle technology that can pierce the capsule with no particles detaching from the capsule and the powder is delivered directly through the needle. The result is a disposable three piece molded device storing the capsule, which can be actuated and inhaled by the patient… Read More »

11/18/15     Thinking back to the late 1960s when scientific researchers were envisioning using a tube made out of metal (stent) to open up an artery, they would never have imagined we are on the verge of stents that dissolve in the body over time! For decades metal has been the main source used in stents. But… Read More »

11/4/15     A remote control device may be implanted in the brain and with a push button could deliver drugs. This latest innovation was designed by experts at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is currently being tested on mice and was based on prior work… Read More »

10/28/15      Micro manufacturing is a major component in new cutting edge medical and pharmaceutical technology. Usually the smallest component in a medical or pharmaceutical implant or device is the enabling component. One popular field for micro is ophthalmic due to age related eye diseases (cataracts, diabetes, glaucoma, etc). Ophthalmic and intraocular implants are largely made… Read More »

10/21/15     Stanford scientists have developed a pressure sensor that could be turned into artificial skin that would go over prosthetics, allowing people to feel objects as they touch them. The sensors send pulses to the brain that are interpreted as “touching”. It mimics our biological system. The skin is made of plastic, imprinted with a… Read More »

10/15/15   Micro molded Needles and Sharps are very advantageous in the following areas: disposability, recyclability, ease of use, and cost effectiveness.  They are being used in applications such as cost-effective vaccine delivery, glucose monitoring and insulin delivery devices, transdermal wearable drug patches, and automatic blister or capsule drug puncturing just to name a few.  They… Read More »

10/8/15     Both micro manufacturing techniques and materials advancements are constantly driving innovation in pharmaceutical devices, combination devices, and drug delivery. The medical device sector is constantly pushing the drive towards miniaturization. In the medical device industry, the usual advantages of making smaller parts are exacerbated by the requirement for less invasive treatments. In addition, the opportunities for diagnosis and… Read More »

9/30/15     Here’s something that always causes a few eyebrows to be raised, and which exemplifies the progress that has been made in micro molding in recent years. Micro molding is an established technology, and we at Micro Engineering Solutions have been involved with hundreds of successful projects with numerous OEMs over the years. But sometimes… Read More »

9/23/15     Inhaled medication can be administered through inhaler devices. Inhaler devices are usually put into 3 categorizes: breath actuated inhalers (BAIs), pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) and dry powder inhalers (DPIs). When inhalers are given to patients the following considerations must be taken into account: condition being treated, patients age, lifestyle, dexterity and preference. PATIENTS:… Read More »

9/16/15    Researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have developed contact lenses that have micro-sized telescopic lenses built in to boost vision. They are controlled by smart glasses and react to the winking of the eye, which allows the wearer to zoom in on objects with a magnification up to 2.8 times that… Read More »

09/09/15     Microneedles are used in transdermal delivery and is increasingly gaining traction as one of the more promising drug delivery technologies. Microneedles, on average about a few hundred microns in size, are capable of creating transient pores across the skin by penetrating the stratum corneum layer to deliver molecules. These needles are not big enough… Read More »

09/02/15     The process of combining technical and biologic components in a medical process or device is called biologization. It is a growing trend in the orthopedic field. In the past, orthopedic implants were mechanical and biological aspects were only considered in the process of attaching the device to the surrounding bone or soft tissue. More… Read More »

082615     Combination inhalers for upper airway diseases – oral inhalers containing two drugs that compliment the therapeutic actions of one another – have seen a significant increase in development activity and product proliferation in the past five years. This growth is due to improved patient experience from improved ease-of use (fewer devices/medications to administer) and… Read More »

8/19/15     Micro components continue to shrink in size demanding ever greater precision and improved handling of parts with sub-micron-sized features. New approaches in micro-machining technology include higher precision systems from traditional micro-machining developers, as well as techniques using additive manufacturing processes semiconductor wafer scale technology on the smallest of micro-parts. With micro-machining in molding techniques,… Read More »

08/12/15     DRIVING FORCE BEHIND GROWTH: More often than not, the smallest component in a medical or pharmaceutical implant or device is the enabling component.  Micro manufacturing (micro injection molding, micro machining, and micro automation) has blazed the trail for many new developments, implants, micro surgery, and robotic surgeries today.  We will explore one such market… Read More »

8/5/15     Nowadays drug delivery and micro devices go hand in hand. Research is currently being done to delivery drugs directly to a problem area without the drug having to move through the entire body to hopefully get to its intended target. Researchers at MIT have created a 3mm long device, that can hold 16 different… Read More »

7/29/15     Micro sized biomedical devices that are implanted into the body for drug delivery, tissue engineering, or sensing helps improve treatment for many diseases. But these devices are susceptible to being attacked by the immune system. MIT researchers have developed a way to reduce this immune-system rejection. In a study that appeared in the May… Read More »

7/21/15   A single dose powder inhaler is pilot-production and ripe for an active partner to bring it to market.  Introducing DoseOne™, a single dose powder inhaler that is already prototyped, tested, recently benchmarked, and ready for pilot production and a partner to move it forward.  The design is SO simple it’s something that makes you… Read More »

7/15/15     A recently developed smart patch covered with mico needles can detect sugar levels in the blood and secrete insulin as needed. An article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science talks in depth about this research. The smart patch is smaller than a penny and is covered with one hundred micro… Read More »

7/8/15     In yesterdays world the procedure we followed was “diagnose, then treat” the problem with medical devices that were administered by a medical professional. Patients could self administer some medications in a pill form but other medications were administered as injectables by medical professionals. In todays world we still practice “diagnose, then treat” but we… Read More »

06/16/15     Micro sized medical devices are not only the way of the future, they’re in the here and now! Gizmag put out an amazing article about a pill sized laser that images the esophagus using micro sized components. This device was created by a team at the Harvard University affiliated Wellman Center for Photomedicine at… Read More »

6/4/15     We came across an article posted on the Univ of Michigan’s website that we found interesting. It was written by Nicole Casal Moore, a Michigan Univ Engineer and we’d like to share it with you. A 9-cubic millimeter solar-powered sensor system developed at the University of Michigan is the smallest that can harvest energy… Read More »

05/27/15     A micro sized microscope has been developed by researchers at Stanford University, weighing only 2 grams. This microscope is small enough to sit on top of a rats head and the rat is able to move around and do it’s normal daily activities. This fluorescent scope captures the activity of up to 200 individual… Read More »

05/19/15    An innovative technique using micro technology to deliver drugs into a person without piercing the skin is called needle free drug delivery technology. This is accomplished via a variety of avenues: transdermal patches, jet injectors, micro needles and oral & inhalation drug delivery. At MES we have worked on many of these projects including transdermal… Read More »

5/14/15     Bioprinting is not just 3D printing, it is printing with live cells in various constructs. The challenge is keeping the living cells alive throughout the process. As of today we aren’t able to bioprint fully functioning whole organs, but researchers are working on bioprinting things that function in a similar manner. Ibrahim Ozbolat at… Read More »

5/6/15     There is a huge amount of interest focused on the medical use of marijuana these days. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects, and changes behaviour by binding to receptors on nerve cells, which then respond with a change in activity. Cannabinoid receptors are concentrated in certain areas of… Read More »

4/28/15     Microfluidic devices are designed to control extremely tiny droplets of fluid such as blood, drugs, or gel-like fluids. Tiny channels, v-grooves, holes, and valves are accurately positioned on tiny chips and surfaces to push, pull, pressurize, or atomize these fluids in order to give the microfluidic device the required functionality. Key to the efficient… Read More »

The words “micro molding” are in the news on a daily basis these days, and at MES, we strive at keeping on top of all the new developments, and in many instances we are the ones making the news!! Everything being developed nowadays is getting smaller and smaller. This increases the demand to decrease the… Read More »

4/15/15     Researchers have been successful in trial studies on mice using a wi-fi drug delivery procedure. They have developed a resorbable electronic implant that eliminates bacterial infection. It is a wireless heating device that consists of a serpentine resistor and a power-receiving coil made of magnesium deposited onto a silk protein layer. The device was… Read More »

4/7/15     Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences researchers have invented a liquid-infused polymer, which is a slippery surface coating that can be applied to implants to repel bacteria build-up. More than 80% of microbial infections are caused by a build-up of bacteria on implants such as urinary catheters and heart valves. This new coating… Read More »

3/31/15     We have blogged in the past about swallowable dissolvable micro devices that target specific areas of the body, do their work and then dissolve; there are also micro sized swallowable devices that send us images of what is going on in our body; now we are going to talk about a swallowable capsule that… Read More »

3/24/15   Researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland have improved on their micro telescopic lenses that were first released in 2013. The latest prototype was unveiled at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. This contact lens has micro telescopic lenses that respond to the blink of an eye… Read More »

3/11/15     Microfluidic devices are designed to control extremely tiny droplets of fluid. Micro channels, holes and valves are accurately positioned to push, pull or pressurize fluids (like blood or drugs) to enable the device to perofrm properly. There is an article in TheScientist magazine about microfluidics. Researchers at Stanford University designed a microfluidic device that… Read More »

3/3/15   There has been a lot of buzz in the news lately about inhaled drugs using micro component inhalers to help with a plethora of illnesses. Inhaling drugs is becoming a preferred method of getting medicine into the lungs quickly and successfully. The characteristics, size and nature of this drug delivery technology makes powder inhalers… Read More »

2/25/15     Much ado is being talked about in the micro world about micro factories.  One such system was recently seen as a fully functioning cell that fit in a briefcase.  These systems, small and compact all work on the premise of AVOIDING handling the micro parts too often or not at all.  Micro parts that… Read More »

2/18/15     The use of bioresorbable materials in the medical device sector is growing fast. Due to the advances in material technology and design and manufacturing techniques, resorbable devices are used throughout healthcare, especially in the area of orthopedics, controlled drug delivery, and vascular closure devices. Typically the devices made from such materials are inert, such… Read More »

2/10/15     Dublin Research and Markets has released a microfluidic device system market forecast. The global microfluidic device market was valued at $1,531.2M USD in 2013. It is likely to grow at a CAGR of 22.8% during 2013 to 2019 to reach USD $5,246.4M in 2019. “Microfluidics is an evolving scientific field with numerous analytical applications… Read More »

2/4/15    Micro advances is combating the uncomfortable needle pricking used to control diabetes. Diabetes affects over 29 million people in the United States and that number keeps increasing at a rate of 1.7 million new diagnoses per year. People who have diabetes have to monitor their glucose levels multiple times a day. This involves pricking the… Read More »

01/28/15     Micro molding uses a set of fabrication techniques to produce tiny components or extremely small features on larger plastic products. These components have high tolerances with extremely accurate dimensions. Digital journal released an article this month about micro molding living tissue structures which is an amazing concept. Here is an overview of that article:… Read More »

1/12/15     Counterfeit drugs, which generally contain wrong doses and can be toxic, are believed to kill more than 700,000 people per year. This is a huge problem in the developing world where as much as a third of the available medicine is fake. Researchers at U-M and in South Korea have been working on a… Read More »

1/6/15     In the vast hemisphere of manufacturers left in the industry, there are a select few that can truly call themselves micro manufacturers and even less that can call themselves micro solution providers.  Micro subcontractors may have prototype capabilities but not high volume production capacity.  They may micro machine metals but not thermoplastic.  They may… Read More »

12/30/14     There was a very interesting article in MIT News involving “micro” that we wanted to share with you. It is about a new material that bends like hair. Article: MIT engineers have fabricated a new elastic material coated with microscopic, hairlike structures that tilt in response to a magnetic field. Depending on the field’s… Read More »

12/22/14     Fascinating article recently released by DARPA regarding neuromodulation. Their release is below: Many chronic inflammatory diseases and mental health conditions affecting military Service members and veterans involve abnormal activity in the peripheral nervous system, which plays a key role in organ function. Monitoring and targeted regulation of peripheral nerve signals offer great promise to help… Read More »

12/16/14     Micro molding refers to a set of fabrication techniques that produce tiny speck-sized components or extremely small features on larger plastic products. As technology has advanced, it is now possible to use equipment customized to micro molding rather than attempting to scale down part size on standard molding machines. MES is expert in the… Read More »

12/10/14     QMed published an article recently listing 6 important material advances in the micro medical device field that are changing how we do things today. 1. Synthetic Collagen Fibers – Researchers at Rice University have been working on better understanding collagen fibers and how they can self-assemble with their sticky ends. The study explains how… Read More »

12/3/14     A few Hollywood blockbusters over the years (and quite a few more that could be termed “non-Blockbusters”) have been fascinated by the idea of miniaturizing the lead actors so that they operate in a super-sized world. I guess we all remember Dennis Quaid, captain of the mini-submarine injected into an unsuspecting host in the… Read More »

11/19/14     When it comes to medical interventions in the eye, miniaturization is obviously key, especially when the device in question is to be permanently or temporarily implanted. Micro Engineering Solutions (MES) is dealing with more and more inquiries from medical device OEMs working in the area of intraocular lenses (IOLs) and drug delivery devices for… Read More »

11/12/14   Here is a blog we posted a few months ago that had a lot of interest, so we are reposting it again for those who might have missed it. We have also included more images showing the fly plates. Micro Engineering Solutions micro molded fly plates for one of our customers and we came… Read More »

11/3/14    “In orbit or on Earth, implantable device will be commanded to release therapeutic drugs remotely” is the title of a fascinating article written about research being done at the Houston Methodist Research Institute. They have created the nDS (nanochannel delivery system). It is an 18mm wide squat cylinder that contains a drug reservoir and… Read More »

10/28/14   The market for neuromodulation devices is divided into three broad segments: internal neurostimulation, which involves implanting an electrical pulse generator; external neurostimulation where the mild electrical impulses are provided from outside the body; and drug delivery devices such as pumps. The former market is subdivided into spinal cord stimulation, deep brain stimulation, sacral nerve… Read More »

10/22/14   One area in the medical arena is attracting unprecedented interest at the moment. Not only is this because of the dramatic predicted revenue growth rates in the particular sector, but — from a less commercially-minded point of view — because of the huge positive impact it could have on patient treatment and standard of… Read More »

HIGHLIGHTS FROM BOSTON, 2014 10/15/14     A wicked good conference was held in Boston this week with several hot products/technologies in drug delivery.   Dr. Barbara Lueckel of Roche led off the event and her overview of the Partnering in the industry was extremely promising for 2014-2015 that the need for micro devices will continue to be… Read More »

10/07/14   The Partnership in Drug Delivery Conference (PODD) will be held next week on Boston, MA. Donna Bibber from Micro Engineering Solutions (MES) will be attending. She will be networking with companies and meeting new businesses to inform them of how MES can help with their micro projects as well as look for partners for… Read More »

9/29/14   The annual Partnership Opportunities in Drug Delivery (PODD) is a perfect place to network with other companies in the medical and pharmaceutical industries as well as listen to some innovative speakers. This year the event will be held on October 14-15, 2014 at the Renaissance Boston Harbor Hotel 606 Congress St in Boston. The… Read More »

9/24/14   No-one could ever accuse the medical device sector of standing still when it comes to innovative product development, and as manufacturers grapple with the demands of designing and manufacturing “traditional” bioresorbable devices, the drive is on to add power to implantable resorbable devices, which opens up the potential for implantable or ingested products that… Read More »

9/16/14   Controlled release drug delivery employs drug-encapsulating devices from which therapeutic agents may be released ranging from days to months. Such systems offer numerous advantages over traditional methods of drug delivery, including tailoring of drug release rates, protection of fragile drugs and increased patient comfort and compliance. Polymeric micro features and devices are ideal vessels… Read More »

9/10/14    MES has reported before on such developments which open up massive potential for medical device OEMs, and could truly revolutionize countless area of existing treatment, and open up new areas of medical intervention. Edible electronics are made from basic edible materials and naturally occurring precursors that are consumed in common diets. Using such techniques,… Read More »

9/3/14     Ultra Precision Manufacturing Drives Medical Advances & Innovation. In niches of industry where ground-breaking technological developments seem to occur every other week, it is always tempting to focus on what’s next rather than the potential of what is available now. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the area of micro manufacturing, where with… Read More »

8/28/14    The study of fruit fly brains is popular with many neuromodulation laboratories because the fruit fly has fewer neuro connections than a human brain, thus enabling the understanding of the human brain on a much smaller scale.  This study was conducted at the University of Sheffield’s Department of Biomedical Science. The study resulted in gained… Read More »

8/19/14    Having the ability to produce efficient and ever smaller devices that are cost-effective to produce, and that can be manufactured in volume and to strict time-to-market parameters is important for the medical device sector where OEMs are constantly searching for new and innovative solutions, key market drivers being. Also of vital concern is the… Read More »

8/5/14   Due to popular demand, we are reposting a blog we posted in June about pharma and drug delivery. So in case you missed it, here it is…. Advances in micro manufacturing techniques and materials are constantly driving innovation in the area of pharmaceutical devices, combination devices, and drug delivery. Without a doubt, it is… Read More »

7/28/14     Micro and nano are making waves in the medical field. We came across an interesting article online published by Nano Letters Publication. Artificial nanomotors in blood opens the door in the medical industry from microsurgeyr to targeted drug delivery. Nanomotors have been successful in the past in liquids such as water, but the chemistry in blood… Read More »

7/16/14     Dry Powder Inhalers. Development of the DoseOne™ single dose powder inhaler (US Patent #7,832,399) required a multi-disciplinary team approach, as any such drug delivery device needs to combine not just design skills, but also software and mechanical engineering capabilities, and expertise in analytical science and industrialization. MES has the exclusive worldwide rights to sell… Read More »

7/10/14   In the early days of the commercialization of micro manufacturing technologies, there was a lot of discussion about what constituted “micro” manufacturing. There was (and indeed still is) a recognized continuum from small to precision, micro, and then nano scale components and features. In general, it is safe to say that with every week… Read More »

6/24/14   Advances in micro manufacturing techniques and materials are constantly driving innovation in the area of pharmaceutical devices, combination devices, and drug delivery. Without a doubt, it is the medical device sector that is constantly pushing the drive towards miniaturization. In the medical device industry, the usual advantages of making smaller parts (such as reduced… Read More »

6/11/14  It is the combination of micro manufacturing technologies and techniques along with material developments that drive much recent product innovation, especially in the medical device sector. When materials in medical devices are designed to come into contact with — or be implanted — in the body, there are numerous biocompatibility issues to consider. To… Read More »

5/28/14   A single dose powder inhaler is pilot-production and ripe for an active partner to bring it to market.  It’s called DoseOne™,  and it is a single dose powder inhaler that is prototyped, tested, and ready for production just waiting on a partner to move it forward! The design is simple and inexpensive, approximately $0.30… Read More »

5/14/14   Animal testing has always been a controversial subject and alternatives to date have not been promising. A team at the Wyss Institute has found a solution! Using microfabrication techniques, they have engineered functional human organs-on-chips that provide a great alternative to conventional animal testing. In 2010 a functioning Lung-on-a-Chip was developed. It combines modern… Read More »

4/18/14   Medical devices are getting so small some of their components are hard to see with the naked eye. This allows for medical procedures that are less invasive and are more comfortable for the body to tolerate. This micro science has been booming and is spreading to other areas of technology. Here are a few new… Read More »

4/11/14    More often than not, the smallest component in a medical or pharmaceutical implant or device is the enabling component.  Micro manufacturing (micro injection molding, micro machining, and micro automation) has blazed the trail for many new developments, implants, micro surgery, and robotic surgeries today.  This article explores one such market segment of which micro… Read More »

3/31/14   Micro Engineering Solutions has been involved with hundreds of successful projects with numerous OEMs over the years. Most of our work is so cutting edge that we are amazed with the outcome! The picture above is a silicone microfluidic device with injection molded features that are 3 microns deep. 84 million of these structures… Read More »

3/19/14    Cardiovascular disease kills 1 in 3 people around the world, that is why cutting edge micro technology research is so crucial to saving the lives of millions in the future. Research is being done in this field on everything from using nanosensors to detect a heart attack before it happens to pillsized leadless pacemakers…. Read More »

2/26/14  Micro manufacturing is right in the middle of new cutting edge technology. Usually the smallest component in a medical or pharmaceutical implant or device is the enabling component. One popular field for micro is ophthalmic due to age related eye diseases (cataracts, diabetes, glaucoma, etc). Ophthalmic and intraocular implants are largely made up of many micro… Read More »

2/5/14     Each of the below high growth areas requires some level of micro component, assembly, automation and/or ultra high precision. According to a recent research report article in QMed there are 10 medical device technologies with significant growth potential that are valued at $454 billion. 1. Diagnostic imaging, interventional radiology and capsule endoscopy 2. Drug delivery technologies… Read More »

11/21/13   The Medical Design Magazines October 2013 has an article in it written by Donna Bibber. “As demand for implantable and bioresorbable molded parts approach micro, or nano proportions grows, micromolding challenges such as small gate sizes for these shear- and moisture-sensitive materials are being addressed. With raw material costs for bioresorbables running between $3,000… Read More »

10/31/13    News on refinements to and new applications of micro molding hit the headlines daily these days, and at MES, we keep abreast of all these developments, and in many instances we are the ones making the news!! Although by no means a new technology, many OEMs (and it has to be said many service suppliers… Read More »

10/01/13       The use of bio-resorbable materials in the medical device sector is growing fast. Very early examples of such devices have a history that goes back some 40 years or so in the area of wound closure. Today, however, due to the advances in material technology and design and manufacturing techniques, resorbable devices… Read More »

9/19/13     Here’s something that always causes a few eyebrows to be raised, and which exemplifies the progress that has been made in micro molding in recent months and years. Micro molding per se is now obviously an established technology, and we at Micro Engineering Solutions have been involved with hundreds of successful projects with… Read More »

  9/10/13   An opportunity exists for a device / pharmaceutical manufacturer to partner with us to bring to market a revolutionary new singe-dose powder inhaler. DoseOne™ has been prototyped, tested, benchmarked, and is ready for pilot production and the support of a qualified partner to realize market potential. DoseOne™ is simple, inexpensive, and can… Read More »

8/27/13  Automated micro assembly has to be considered when looking at any micro manufacturing project, as no micro project can be successful commercially unless there are reliable and cost-effective assembly technologies that can handle products and components on a micro scale. Technologies required to facilitate micro assembly are vision systems, micro positioners, micro grippers, high… Read More »

8/8/13     Micro molding refers to a set of fabrication techniques that produce tiny speck-sized components or extremely small features on larger plastic products. As technology has advanced, it is now possible to use equipment customized to micro molding rather than attempting to scale down part size on standard molding machines. MES is expert in… Read More »

7/31/13   The definition of micro machining varies from OEM to OEM. Some see it as machining down to the size of a micron, while for others it is introducing a level of precision previously impossible. Either way, as the name implies, micro machining means tiny tolerances and tiny features on parts. Used throughout industry, micro… Read More »

Micro Engineering Solutions has the exclusive worldwide rights to sell the Dose One Single Dose Disposable powder Inhaler.  This inhaler is currently being used in testing and is available to be used with a wide range of drugs. Please read the article below about some of the testing that is being done. Powder inhalers have… Read More »

7/2/13     Some of the micro machined PEEK components that Micro Engineering Solutions has made are literally dust-speck-sized parts machined from rod stock. They require careful planning of material waste from rod or sheet stock and utilizing every square millimeter of material. Raw material implant grade PEEK cost ranges from $70-$400/lb so it is… Read More »

6/26/13     Micro Engineering Solution’s expertise in many aspects of micro manufacturing enables the success of any scale project; from initial concept to high volume manufacturing. Key areas include micro assembly, micro machining, and micro molding. From napkin sketch to full CAD models, MES designs, manufactures, and assembles state of the art dust-specked sized… Read More »

6/19/13:  The use of micro machining and micro molding in the manufacturing of drug delivery devices is the way of the future! With new cutting-edge technology and the need for smaller and smaller less-invasive medical devices, Micro Engineering Solutions is the solution. We help develop and manufacture state of the art disposable point of care… Read More »

6/12/13    Micro Engineering Solutions has a high level of expertise in micro machining. Micro machining encompasses R&D for products, high production growth and mature products. Components we have worked on in these categories include resorbable polymer implants, ophthalmic implants and lenses, suture devices, implantable clips, inkjet components and hearing aid components. We are capable… Read More »

6/4/13    An exciting new technology was unveiled by Stanford University earlier this month.  They created a tiny heart monitor that uses a few micron diameter pyramid bumps (the size of a human red blood cell) similar to those seen here.   Engineers at Stanford University were able to combine layers of flexible material into… Read More »

5/28/13   Micro machining encompasses R&D for products, high production growth and mature products. One of the fastest ways to get micro parts in our customer’s hands has traditionally been micro machining. Many applications can be justified to spend capital on tooling up for micro molding, however, if the design has been made iteration-friendly (steel safe,… Read More »

 05/20/13      Our organization, MES, is located near Boston MA and we always have our eyes open looking for partnerships in drug delivery. Drug delivery and medical devices are requiring new products that create tinier, less invasive, fluid-induced, and/or space saving micro devices.  The tiniest parts in an assembly are the enabling components to… Read More »

5/15/13      Micro Engineering Solution’s expertise in the micro manufacturing field enables us to be successful with any scale project, from initial concept to high volume manufacturing. Key areas include micro machining, micro molding and micro assembly. One of the fastest ways to get micro parts in our customer’s hands has traditionally been micro… Read More »

5/14/13    Bio-Resorbable Polymer Micro Molding Presentation in Massachusetts 5/14/13. Drug Delivery Using Slow and Controlled Release Polymers. Reservations required, please eamil John Lamont with SME at JLamont.hsmg@comcast.net. See you there! ~ Donna Bibber                     Dust Speck Sized Micro Molded Parts and Features are true Disruptive… Read More »

5/1/13    Micro tooling enables micro molding, and machining is extremely critical. Since we don’t currently have a “micro” industry standard to go by, we had to create a rough ASTM standard when we make tooling. Example: the industry standard uses an 8” tensile bar, which doesn’t help us in the MICRO world so we… Read More »

4/24/13    iMicronews has a fascinating article about a micro laboratory that sits directly under the skin! Scientists have developed a prototype micro lab that is embedded under the skin to analyze concentrations of substances in the blood and transmit this information to a receiver which a doctor can view. This could take the place… Read More »

4/10/13   Donna Bibber will be speaking about micro molding thin walled devices at the SME Micro Mfg Conference on April 17, 2013 at 11:30am, followed up with a panel discussion at 1pm. This conference will be at the Hilton Minneapolis at 1001 Marquette Avenue South in Minneapolis, MN. This conference is all about Going Beyond Micro. It… Read More »

4/2/13    Tooling challenges in micro mold making: Parting line match – when putting two halves of a mold together to make a molded part, the parting lines have to be prestine. You can’t have a mismatch creating a “step” in the part. Surface finish – surface finish is extremely important to micro machined components,… Read More »

3/26/13   Donna Bibber will be speaking about micro molding thin walled devices at the SME Micro Mfg Conference on April 17, 2013 at 11:30am, followed up with a panel discussion at 1pm. This conference will be at the Hilton Minneapolis at 1001 Marquette Avenue South in Minneapolis, MN. This conference is all about Going Beyond Micro. It… Read More »

3/19/13   How small can you go with tooling when it comes to micro tooling? When thinking about the design of a tool you need to ask yourself “What does the tool have to look like in order to make the part?”             In micro machining we can make an… Read More »

3/5/13     Of the products that we have in micro machining, some are machined and some are molded using a micro-machined tool. There is a life cycle curve for these processes. Right at the beginning of this lifecycle curve we have tens of thousands of parts in the R&D stage; in the next cycle the… Read More »

02/13/2013    Manufacturing Engineering Magazine Interview with Donna Bibber, January 2013 issue: Micro components continue to shrink in size demanding ever greater precision and improved handling of parts with sub-micron-sized features. New approaches in micro-machining technology include higher precision systems from traditional micro-machining developers, as well as techniques using additive manufacturing processes semiconductor wafer scale… Read More »

1/28/2013   Below is an article in the Medical Design Magazine October 2012 edition written by Donna Bibber. The body thinks in terms of nanometers and so must drug-delivery devices as nanopositioning advancements redefine this product segment. ARTICLE FOCUS • Methods • Challenges • Global importance Figure 1. MES photo showing wireless devices of the future using… Read More »

1/22/13    An alarming statistic I heard on the radio the other day…… We, as Americans consume nearly 60 BILLION batteries a year. 60 BILLION! If that doesn’t deserve a “there’s gotta be a better way”, I don’t know what does. In our micro manufacturing world of electronics, micro molded medical devices that monitor, measure,… Read More »

1/16/13      Micro Engineering Solutions is an expert in the field of micro machining. Our product development has included silicone valves, transdermal patches, insulin delivery pump assemblies and a variety of micro implants. View our micro machining video for more details.

1/4/13   With 2012 behind us we wanted to review the interesting and informative blogs we have written over the past year. They are full of useful information and videos and deserve repeating! Please click on any of the below blog titles to see the blog. MICRO MOLDING: – Micro Computational Analysis – Micro Tooling – Micro Molding Intraocular Implants… Read More »

1/2/13   When it comes to bioengineering, microfeatures in polymer parts are used to control the biological activity of cells, letting us analyze their mechanical behavior with its surround environment. Cells can turn a mechanical cue into an internal chemical signal to initiate migration. We are able to provide cell therapy due to this control on… Read More »

12/26/12   Micro Engineering Solutions has expertise in micro machining, micro molding and micro assembly. Today we will focus on micro machining. Micro machining encompasses R&D for products, high production growth and mature products. Some of the components we have worked on in these categories include resorbable polymer implants, ophthalmic implants and lenses, suture devices, implantable… Read More »

12-17-12   Below is an article from SmallBizLabs.com that we as a small company found very interesting. Even though Micro Engineering Solutions doesn’t have a large number of employees, we bring great expertise to the table. Being small enables us to act quickly and turn things around in a timely manner. There is no red… Read More »

12/4/12     Checkout this interesting write-up by the Optical Society regarding a micro fabrication tool that can move microscopic particles- down to the cellular level!   The future looks fabulous when we can see the technology moving from our current top down methods of micro machining to bottom up methods such as described in this article. … Read More »

11/26/12     Micro molding is an exciting field to work in. You are working with cutting edge technology to create products that have never been made before! The medical field is one of the major fields that is using this technology to increase human comfort and speed up recovery time. Some examples of Micro… Read More »

11/19/12   Ct Scanning (X-Ray Scanning) has come a long way in the last few years. This technology was originally developed for use in healthcare facilities whereby a person lays flat on a table while a CT scans specific parts of the body, however CT scanning is now being used for inspecting ultra-high precision micro… Read More »

11/12/12:    Micro Molding in bio-resorbable PLA and PGA materials creates challenges with small gate sizes for these highly shear sensitive and highly moisture sensitive materials, such as shear stress through small gates, humidity control for extremely small shot sizes, and integrating macro to micro technologies to produce near micron level geometry in precision, micro… Read More »

10/29/12    It is amazing the technology we have nowadays in the medical field. MES has been involved with engineering and machining a part that is used in cartilage repair. These silicone molded valves are smaller than a piece of dust! We are able to put 84 million parts on 1 microscope slide! To the… Read More »

10/23/12:   Who would think that micro devices being developed today would enable: • A visually impaired person to see • A paralyzed person to feed herself • A deaf toddler to hear his mother’s voice for the first time These devices are here and now and are all possible due to the neurological implants… Read More »

10/9/12     What a phenomenal conference with several interesting topics of interest in drug delivery.   Dr. Bob Langer of M.I.T. led off the event and from my perspective his overview of the industry was loaded with micro components and assemblies, hitting delivery mechanisms such as: Transdermal Delivery- Needles, Drug Arrays Ocular Delivery- Nano particles… Read More »

9/24/12:   PolyLactic Acid (PLA) Polymers and poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) copolymers are quickly becoming popular materials that carry, deliver, or implant devices into the body.   These materials are creating tiny sized camera cases, drug delivery vessels, and dissolving components in a critically controlled timely manner for the treatment of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, glaucoma, COPD, pain… Read More »

9/17/12:   A single dose powder inhaler is pilot-production and ripe for an active partner to bring it to market.  Introducing DoseOne™, a single dose powder inhaler that is already prototyped, tested, recently benchmarked, and ready for pilot production and a partner to move it forward.  The design is SO simple it’s something that makes… Read More »

9/10/12   Pharmaceutical and medical device companies are expanding into microelectronics for drug delivery and implantable therapies. The value in micro devices are far reaching to treat many chronic debilitating conditions such as muscle stimulation for overworked muscles, transcranial stimulation  to alter brain activity, and nerve stimulation for pain management. Micro molding, micro machining, and micro assembly are… Read More »

9/4/12:     Micro molded Needles and Sharps are getting attention these days due to their many advantages including; disposability, recyclability, ease of use, and cost effectiveness. They are being used in applications such as cost-effective vaccine delivery, glucose monitoring and insulin delivery devices, transdermal wearable drug patches, and automatic blister or capsule drug puncturing… Read More »

8/27/12:  Throw caution to the wind on your old machining cost models when it comes to micro machining PEEK polymers.  PEEK machined parts require careful planning of material waste from rod or sheet stock and utilizing every square millimeter of material.   Raw material implant grade PEEK costs range from $70–$400/lb (much higher if processed with… Read More »

8/20/12: Drug Delivery Devices are getting smaller and smaller and micro molding and micro machining are useful processes to produce state of the art disposable point of care and wearable devices.  These products include transdermal patches, infusion pumps, powder inhalers, intraocular implants, and bio-resorbable polymer devices; slow or quick release. These devices, most microfluidic in… Read More »

8/13/12:   Micro Molding in bio-resorbable PLA and PGA materials creates challenges with small gate sizes for these highly shear sensitive and highly moisture sensitive materials.  Donna Bibber wrote an article which dives into some of these challenges such as shear stress through small gates, humidity control for extremely small shot sizes, and integrating macro to… Read More »

8/6/12: In today’s world smaller is better, in the medical world small (or better yet – micro) is cutting edge technology that is less intrusive and more accurate and precise. Micro Engineering Solutions plays a vital role in aiding the medical field with its micro machining and micro molding expertise. The UK is also using… Read More »

7/31/12: In previous papers we have discussed micro molding and micro machining in a variety of materials (thermoplastic, glass, metal, silicone). These molded, machined, etched, lasered, EDMed or formed components may be stand alone tiny parts but most times they are not stand alone, they are part of a micro device requiring some micro assembly…. Read More »

7/24/12: Micro Molding is exciting as it is enabling many new medical and pharmaceutical devices of the future. Because of our ultra precision surface finish abilities, we have a particular expertise and interest in ophthalmic and intraocular implants but we don’t get a chance to work on all of them of course. Restoring sight- is… Read More »

05/14/2012: The preparation done to micro components at the design stage carries through all the way to automated assembly.  Because the tolerances are critical and diminishing to microns and sub-microns, the stack-up tolerances of the micro components and their design criteria are scrutinized and their method of manufacturing are also considered for long-term production.  The… Read More »

05/01/2012: When the design and material is nailed down to the point of spending capital to test the components, put them in the hands of investors, customers, and surgeons, it’s time for a micro mold to be made.  With any micro molding technology (thermoplastic, silicone, or metal), the tooling is THE most critical component to… Read More »

4/16/2012: A first look at device and assemblies of this critical nature, we must first take a long look at the solid models and perform computational analysis on their design.  Because micro molds and initial parts can be costly in their development cycle, micro mold flow analysis provides an insurance policy that a particular design… Read More »