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DFM and engineering

Elos Medtech Memphis, USA

How we are creating a strong, global cross-site platform within orthopedics

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It has been three years since we acquired U.S.-based Onyx Medical as a way to intensify our commitment to the global orthopedic market. A lot has happened since 2015 and we are now merged into one; Elos Medtech Onyx. The orthopedic publication Bonezone recently interviewed Elos Medtech’s Orthopedic Business Director Jodie Gilmore about our ongoing efforts to meet the high demands of the industry.

A supplier to the orthopedic market that meets global demands while providing local service

Orthopedic companies want a supplier with technical expertise, high capacity and a global presence. Because our customers serve the global market, it is essential that we meet global market demands while providing local services. The acquisition of Onyx Medical has been an important part of our efforts to create a strong global cross-site platform within orthopedics. Today, we have orthopedic manufacturing sites in Asia, Europe and the United States. Each site has its specific competencies and capabilities, but they all have a common focus on working strategically with continuous improvements and innovation. In the Bonezone article, Jodie states that the global focus that Elos Medtech has had during recent years has provided us with a lot of new opportunities to meet customers’ needs. Also, we see an increased demand for drills, pins, wires and screws in both traditional trauma and robotically enabled surgery. As a result, Elos Medtech is in the process of a significant expansion of the U.S. facility. By nearly doubling our current manufacturing space and investing in new equipment and employees we will increase our capacity to support customers in the global orthopedic market. Read the full interview with Jodie Gilmore to learn more about Elos Medtech’s efforts and investments in the medical device market!  
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Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) increases automation and precision in orthopedic manufacturing

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When manufacturing products for the orthopedic market, precision is of the greatest importance. The right combination of technology and automation can ensure this precision, while reducing production costs and increasing capacity at the same time. At Onyx Medical, we believe it is important to develop our skills and knowledge in order to meet our customers’ needs. In this article, I’d like to share one way we are doing that with an EDM machine that enables us to create perfectly straight holes in our cannulated drills – faster, and at a lower cost, than other techniques.

Orthopedic instruments that require high-precision drilling

A cannulated drill is an example of an orthopedic product that requires extreme manufacturing precision. Used in fixation surgeries for fractured bones, the drill has small-diameter hole through which a guide wire is inserted, which is used to drill a small guide hole in the bone where a tunnel or screw hole is required.

The advantage of this process is that the guide wire can be repositioned without causing undue trauma to the bone. When the position is right, the cannulated drill is driven along the guide wire to drill the actual hole into the bone. This way of working makes for a more precise surgery, provided that the guide hole in the cannulated drill is perfectly straight. If it is not, the guide wire might move off of position while drilling.

Comparing gun drilling vs EDM for the creation of perfectly straight holes

One way of creating holes in orthopedic instruments is gun drilling. The gun drilling process uses a single fluent drill held stationary or slightly rotated. The drill has a high-pressure coolant that runs through the center and removes chips and lubricates the drill. A challenge with gun drilling is that when drilling long holes, the drill can drift somewhat sideways. So, as the drill exits the workpiece, it will come out slightly off center.

Another method of creating a perfectly straight hole in a cannulated drill is electrical discharge machining (EDM). This method uses the effects of rapidly recurring electrical discharges between electrodes and the drill. The discharges create sparks that erode small parts of the material from the item, in this case, the cannulated drill. The cannulated drill is positioned vertically to the EDM machine and the sparks from the electrode reach the center of the drill and erode a uniform diameter hole all the way through its center.

An EDM machine makes it possible to create smaller, longer and straighter holes than with gun drilling. The holes can be as small as 0.8 millimeters in diameter and up to 200 millimeters in length.

Automated manufacturing for reliable results and reduced production costs

The EDM machine is also highly automated. Once the cannulated drills are loaded, the machine does the rest, changing electrodes and positions automatically. This reduces human operator time and ensures more consistent and reliable results. The key role of the human operator is to position the cannulated drills correctly, and exactly vertical to the machine. Once that is accomplished, the EDM machine produces straight, centered holes every time.

Elos Medtech continuously seeks to drive innovation forward and enhance our technical knowledge and skills in order to meet the demands of the market. Onyx Medical’s investment in an EDM machine in 2017 contributes to this goal. During our process of validating the machine, we have developed solutions and routines that perfect its performance. We have also designed and tested a variety of different fixtures to make it easy to load the machine with cannulated drills.

We are closing in on a solution that makes it possible to load the machine at the beginning of the day, after which it will run smoothly on its own for the rest of the day. The operator then unloads the completed parts, loads the machine with new parts and presses “go” again. This process produces reliable and high-precision results, reduced production costs and higher capacity.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog article about our new EDM machine at Onyx Medical. Feel free to contact me with questions, or visit our website for more information. Also, don’t forget to visit Elos Medtech on social media and Elos Medtech’s knowledge blog for more interesting articles.

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“Elos Medtech is a supplier that lives up to our demands and makes suggestions for improvements”

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How does one meet the medtech market’s growing need for high-quality products and solutions? At Elos Medtech, we see that having a close dialogue with customers and taking full responsibility for the production process is a good way to go. The work that we do together with our customer Vitrolife is an example of that.  

Working closely with customers to create customized medical device solutions

As a development and production partner in the medtech industry, the main priority is to provide high-quality medical device products to customers. This requires a deep understanding of regulatory requirements, customers’ challenges and the product’s applications. Therefore, it is important to not only have expertise in the field but also have a close cooperation with customers throughout the entire production process. That way, we can create customized solutions that match their specific needs. In addition, it is important for us to take full responsibility for the different phases of the production process. We call this way of working Complete Performance and it includes all the stages from development and design to production and delivery of the finished product.

Connected to this, and equally important, is to continuously optimize our own organization’s internal processes. Identifying opportunities for continuous improvements enable us to maintain high levels of accuracy, capacity and innovation in everything we do.

Vitrolife – contributing products within the IVF field

Vitrolife is one of Elos Medtech’s customers and provides solutions and services for assisted reproduction. The dishes that are used when culturing embryos have been developed by Vitrolife and are produced by Elos Medtech at Elos Medtech Microplast. The culture dishes are made of the material Polystyrene and are injection moulded in an entirely hands-off production process. The risks of unwanted particles entering the containers and potentially disturb the cell cultivation are therefore minimized.

“Our vision is to fulfill the dream of having a child. This inspires us to develop medical device solutions for IVF treatment that increase the quality of life for couples worldwide. We want a long-term and close cooperation with our suppliers to make sure that our products always meet our requirements as well as those of the clinics and authorities. Elos Medtech is a supplier that lives up to our demands and that also makes suggestions for improvements on the product and the production process. Because we can trust that the products from Elos Medtech always meet the customers’ expectations, we can also be sure to help people across the world that are longing for a child“, says Göran Mellbin, responsible for production and quality of plastic parts for IVF at Vitrolife.

Elos Medtech’s commitment to the diagnostic market

The work that Elos Medtech does together with Vitrolife is a part of our commitment to the diagnostic segment. For more than 40 years, we have gained experience in this area and developed our expertise within injection moulding as well as design and manufacture of moulding tools of plastic products. Our vision of “Transforming Medical Technology and Advancing Quality of Life Worldwide” goes hand in hand with Vitrolife’s aim to make meaningful changes in people’s lives. We believe that Complete Performance, continuous improvements and having a close dialogue with customers are important parts of our operations to reach that vision.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog article about Elos Medtech’s way of working and our cooperation with Vitrolife. Feel free to contact us with any questions, visit our website for more information and our Knowledge blog to read more of our blog articles.