Medical Devices

Recent innovations of the use of Silk in medical devices. Sutures made of silk have been used by humans for centuries. This article looks at some recent innovations that show the many diverse applications of silk in a medical context. There are many factors to consider when designing a medical device, and in the case… Read more »

An interdisciplinary team of researchers based in Austin, Texas have developed a handheld device that accurately analyses tissue samples in vivo enabling real-time cancer diagnosis during surgery. When treating cancer, surgeons often remove the whole tumour with a margin of healthy tissue. If the margin is too big then healthy tissue will have been removed… Read more »

Attorneys Marianne Privett and Chris Burnett from our Medical Devices team attended the inaugural Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI) parliamentary reception at Westminster last night. Joined by 170 delegates, including MPs and Lords, ABHI CEO Peter Ellingworth and Health Select Committee member Maggie Throup MP delivered speeches praising the significant contribution made to the… Read more »

Engineering and electronics manufacturer Bosch recently set out details of how its products are helping hospitals to become ‘smarter’ in the way they provide their services and manage their valuable medical equipment [www.bosch-presse.de/pressportal/de/en/bosch-is-making-hospitals-smart-128448.html]. A longstanding client of A.A. Thornton & Co., Bosch is a household name for consumers in the areas of power tools and… Read more »

Recent governmental report on the UK Life Sciences Sector A report (The Bell Report) to the UK government[1] has recently published, with the aim of bringing into focus the next 20 years of UK government policy in the ‘health life sciences’ sector. In the context of the report, ‘health life sciences’ refers to the application… Read more »

Patent Attorney Chris Burnett has recently had cause to investigate Atrial Septal Defect Closure Devices and became interested in the history of their development and what the future may hold for these devices. An Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) is a hole in the septum between the top two chambers of the heart. ASDs are the… Read more »

US approval for an inhaler monitoring device Patent Attorney and member of our Medical Devices Industry Team, Alex Bone, reflects on a decision by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve an adherence monitoring inhalation device for use in the US. “During previous employment at Novartis I looked at various medical devices for… Read more »

Two new EU regulations were recently adopted to help regulate the over 500,000 types of medical devices and in-vitro diagnostic medical devices currently available in the EU. The medical devices regulation applies to the huge range of medical devices available – from relatively simple first aid technology such as sticking plasters, through drug delivery devices such as… Read more »