Heart of the matter
In my other guise overseeing European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, I recently wrote about the way in which new drug formulations can sometimes be found from substances we have had around us for years. A case in point was a study from Edinburgh University that highlighted how discoveries about what helps bacteria thrive in soil could aid the search for new drugs to fight infections. Another was the revelation that the hormone oxytocin could be used to treat alcoholism.
It was interesting then to read that similar happenings are taking place in the medical device sector. Given the ongoing advances in devices and materials, Apple’s Healthkit launch –which has the potential to revolutionise the life science world – and new drug formulations demanding new drug delivery methods, going back to basics is something of a twist on the way the industry is progressing.
Women in Bolivia are putting traditional knitting and weaving skills to a different use – for a medical device that seals up holes in babies’ hearts. It takes around two hours for each woman to produce the Nit Occlud device in a cleanroom. It has been designed by cardiologist Franz Freudenthal who treats babies from his La Paz clinic. He uses the device to block the hole in the patient’s heart.
What’s really interesting about this device is that most devices like this – occluders – are produced on an industrial scale but due to the small and intricate design of this one, traditional craft knitters were a better fit.
"The most important thing is that we try to get really really simple solutions for complex problems," Dr Freudenthal told the BBC and it’s this statement that’s key. As we continue to move forward with science and technology, sometimes it pays off to look to more traditional methods to help us make progress. It’s a bit like trying to reinvent the wheel. Why bother? Of course we need to make scientific and technological advances in the life science sector but sometimes using methods that have been with us for years, can be just as much of a breakthrough.
As pressures increase upon medical device manufacturers – costs and skills for example – looking to more diverse methods of manufacture is interesting and shows that as we seek to improve and innovate we need also to examine tried and tested methods, adapting them to what we need today. It also highlights the need for us to retain old skills. In the healthcare environment, stitching is commonplace but now knitting? As more and more of us lose the ability to do anything other than via our computers, it’s almost refreshing to hear of what are considered to be traditional skills staking their claim in the bid to advance the medical device world.