Electronic devices continue to shrink in size to become more portable and convenient (cell phones, laptops, tablets, wireless devices, etc.) but now it’s medical devices that are shrinking in size as well. As technology advances, it is becoming increasingly possible to make miniature implantable devices that are less likely to disrupt patients’ daily lives. However, this remarkable trend has presented new challenges to manufacturers who now have to fit lifesaving technologies into a micro-sized space where the greatest issue is often getting enough processing power or battery capacity.
The growing popularity of minimally invasive surgery has also helped to push micro devices into the spotlight. Patients want less cost and recovery time than traditional surgeries can give them, so surgeons have developed new procedures to drastically reduce incision size and tissue damage, often requiring smaller devices. Innovations in the medical field have made it possible for some intense open surgeries to transform into outpatient procedures. Medical manufacturing has now become a challenging and exciting field as designers, researchers, and scientists come up with new ways to take complex technologies and shrink them down as much as possible, with no room for error! Another challenge is keeping these innovations cost effective. Proper tools, equipment, and experience are absolutely necessary in order to make a precisely designed, lightweight, miniature medical device that people can actually afford to buy.
Keeping up with the micro medical industry requires constant innovation and new approaches to a cost-effective and successful solution. Electro-Spec has the solution in its SBE (Spouted Bed Electrode) plating process. Precision plating of miniature components demands unique equipment and capabilities and Electro-Spec is a leader in this technology.
