SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Darcy Hart, KTS Director for Optics at Minnetronix Medical, was featured in a recent Medical Design & Development article titled How Conavi and Minnetronix Combined IVUS and OCT into One Dual-Beam Imaging System as a co-author alongside Conavi Medical’s Tom Looby.
The article covers Conavi and Minnetronix’s joint effort on the development of Conavi’s Novasight™ Hybrid System. The system combines IVUS and OCT interventional imaging modalities into one imaging “head” to capture images of the same part of the inside of a vessel from two different perspectives at the same time.
From the article:
…To do this, Conavi engineers collaborated with Minnetronix Medical engineers, who were tasked with bringing the original product to the next level.
- Imaging quality and speed: Working together, the team discovered a way to bring the 40 MHz IVUS frequency up to high-definition levels while taking into account the higher sensitivity and any additional artifacts and noise. They also improved the final images by paving the way for imaging signals to remain clear as they traveled throughout the system — from cameras in the catheter to the main console. It concentrated on setting a new standard for image quality by enabling the system’s motors, which used a slip ring, to rotate the two overlapping beams at a speed of 140 tiny rotations per second, speeding the capture and delivery of signals to the console, where they are clearly rendered onto a screen.
- Software and hardware features: The team enhanced the system’s software and hardware to make it able to be seamlessly integrated into the user’s workflow and improve its useability. For example, design enhancements now allow the Patient Interface Module (PIM) to be outside of the sterile field. The PIM, which was one of the most technically challenging parts of the new design, is now designed so that it doesn’t need to be put “on the table,” where it can get in the way and must be protected from fluids. It is now attached to the bed, with an extended catheter to reach the patient.
- Catheter deliverability: Conavi redesigned the catheter to reach deeper into the most challenging lesions, important for assessment of complex coronary diseases. To have the pushability and general deliverability improved, the catheter needed to be strengthened to improve reliability and protect against breakage while maintaining image quality.
- Design for manufacturability: The design stage, especially for second-generation complex medical devices, is the perfect time to review the manufacturing challenges of a gen-one build and find opportunities to redesign elements to make the product more manufacturable. The team discovered design enhancements and component selection changes that would reduce manufacturing variability of the next-gen Novasight which would increase its robustness and reliability. When variability is reduced, there are fewer costly stops and starts on the production line. One design for manufacturing (DFM) change example was swapping out fiber as a connector with a more reliable material which would reduce service calls about the product when it was out in the field. Minnetronix development and mechanical engineers made sure they understood all the requirements for the evolved product — increased mechanical stability, minimized rotational balance, noise reduction. and speed and quality of imaging — and derived tolerances from that knowledge. Typically, the development period between first and second generations is the greatest opportunity to not only find ways to add features, but also make changes and investment choices that will ease scalability and reduce costs down the line.
The full article can be found on the Medical Device and Development Website, here.
For 30 years, Minnetronix Medical has accelerated medical device breakthroughs as a design, development, and manufacturing partner to leading device companies around the world. Today, through full lifecycle support, flexible product entry points, and seamless integration, the company creates value in key technology segments that include optical systems, surgical energy, fluid and gas management, and stimulation and active wearables. From standalone design and development services to scaled manufacturing, Minnetronix has the expansive industry insight and focused technical experience to deliver better medical devices to market, faster.