ATW Companies Inc. displayed its engineered metal solutions for medical devices at the MD&M West Exposition in February at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The company displayed prototypes of unique suturing devices made using metal injection molding, manual surgical instruments for surgeon interactive technology, and an award-winning mechanical introducer device for obstetrical/gynecological surgery.
New orthopedic curved needle suturing devices, featuring several small and intricate moving parts made using MIM at ATW’s MIM facilities in Rhode Island and California, were on display. These intricate devices will be combined with tube cannulas made at their tube fabrication facility in Pennsylvania.
Prototypes of manual surgical instruments used in new surgeon-interactive hip and knee robotic arm technology were also displayed. The advanced technology offers a new level of precision and accuracy in aligning and placing implants, important factors that may improve surgical outcomes.
Also exhibited was a mechanical introducer device used in minimally invasive obstetrical/gynecological surgery, for which ATW’s Parmatech subsidiary was awarded the grand prize in the medical/dental category of the 2012 Powder Metallurgy Design Excellence Awards Competition, sponsored by the Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF). Using the metal injection molding process provided a 70 percent cost savings over equivalent machined parts.
