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Medical Devices |
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BEAR engineering expertise has been applied to the development and improvement of several life-saving and life-enhancing medical devices. Following are a few examples. |
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Hip Implant |
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BEAR engineers have developed a sophisticated biomechanical model of the human musculoskeletal system for use of hip implant failures. Hip implants can fail in numerous ways as can bee seen in the images below. |
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Spinal Implant |
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BEAR has inspected and analyzed numerous spinal implant components including, screws, rods, and plates. Fractures of rods, backing out of screws, and design of plates have all been investigated, and for some, detailed stress analyses have been performed. To the left is an example of a spinal plate implant stress analysis focusing on the screw retention design. 2D and 3D finite element models have been used for this and other implants. |
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Bear engineers worked on the development of a new electrosurgical ball electrode, which uses radiofrequency (RF) energy to fuse biological and other materials to tissue surfaces. This device was designed for use in pulmonary surgery to seal air leaks and in solid abdominal organ surgeries to provide ahemostatic tamponade. |
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Electrosurgical Forceps |
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Electrosurgical forceps are expensive and easily stick and tear tissue during use. The BEAR engineering team was asked to develop a better design. After several prototypes and extensive testing at BEAR, specialized materials were developed to control heat transfer. Advanced electrical circuits to eliminate micro-sporting were added. The result was a new cauterizing forcep that significantly reduces sticking and tearing tissue during surgery. |
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Angioplasty Balloon |
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Angioplasty balloons are life-saving tools used to insert stents in failing blood vessels. BEAR engineers have worked on these amazing pieces of hardware in an effort to quantify their mechanical properties. These data would then be used to better model angioplasty balloons using modern computer software. On this project BEAR engineers needed to design an experiment that provided meaningful information on very small specimens (1.5 mm to 5 mm in diameter). Pictured at right is a finite element contour plot used to validate the analysis methodology. Basically, the model shown was used to verify that the stresses in the base material would be less than those seen by the balloon. Through investigations like this one and others, BEAR Engineers were able to design an apparatus that satisfied the client's needs. |
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Blood Vessel Connector |
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BEAR has performed design review and mechanical analysis for numerous biomechanical devices. One device was a blood vessel connection device. The device was manufactured from an extremely ductile shape memory alloy. The fabrication of this device was a complicated multistep process, and required detailed knowledge of the strains present in the component during each step. BEAR performed a 3D dynamic finite element analysis and closed form solutions to this process. |
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Aortic Implant |
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Another anlaysis involved an aortic implant. The metallic components of the implant were exposed to repeated loadings, and a full stress, fatigue, and fracture analysis was performed to demonstrate and determine the expected life of the implant under various loading conditions. |
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