The U.S. healthcare system is a $2 trillion industry ,” said Donald Styblo, VP of Technology of Valtronic Technologies (USA), Inc., at the recent Ohio Innovation Summit, which took place in Dayton. “That includes 5.3 million people in the U.S. with permanent brain injury , 60 million U.S. residents with chronic disease  and 1.3 million blind people .” Needless to say, the medical market has had a strong upward trend in the past quarter century, as Styblo pointed out.

“For Ohio biomedical companies, now, more than ever, commercialization success requires partnerships between entrepreneurs, mid-size and large manufacturers, research organizations and not-for-profit organizations,” said Styblo. He went on to depict a partnering model which included industry, academia, government, and funding/support organizations, all of which are present in Ohio. Styblo’s company, Valtronic Technologies, regularly participates in such partnerships.

“To miniaturize medical sensors and devices, which is what our company does, there can be many challenges,” states Styblo. For example, an optical digital signal processor (optical DSP) required high-density wire bonding to achieve the so-called “8-Terahertz” operating speed of 8 x 1012 operations per second. A gold-on-gold flip chip process was also developed for applications where space limitations and rugged conditions exist.  These miniaturized packages are capable of operating in 150°C range in high humidity environments and can withstand 1000 thermo cycles at temperatures ranging from -55°C to 125°C.

Electronics are being placed into skeletal implants which measure and record data. This data can be read by the physician through remotely powered unidirectional telemetry within the implant.

The Theken eDisc™ is a collaborative project originally funded by an Ohio Third Frontier grant.  Partners in the project included the University of Toledo Bioengineering Department, The Medical University of Ohio, and The University of Akron. “The resulting elastomer/metal disc could be an alternative to the spinal fusion procedure and could replace a damaged human disc,” says Styblo. This intervertebral replacement disc is designed for patients with degenerative disc disease. It restores disc height and relieves discogenic pain, while mimicking the natural motion of the human disc. “Embedded microelectronics package monitors dynamic loads imposed on the implant,” says Styblo, “and improves surgical placement and post-operative patient management through wireless telemetry data collection.”

“The eDisc is the first artificial disc to incorporate microelectronics – namely a flip-chip flex circuit,” says Styblo. “The three piezoelectric force transducers in the eDisc measure dynamic forces, linear responses, and transient motions that are of clinical interest,” he says. The device, which uses in vivo telemetry, has been tested on body phantom, cadaveric, and non-human primate tests.

Styblo expects miniaturized medical devices and sensors to one day be able to restore human body functions – everything from vision restoration (think Geordi La Forge in Star Trek Next Generation), to hearing aids (one recently won an R&D 100 and European Omega Award), to implantable urinary incontinence nerve stimulators (to prevent incontinence) to fluid pressure sensors for the brain and heart.

Another exciting development is continuous metabolic monitoring with iSMART Patch™ set in the body’s dermal layer. This sensor will transmit glucose oxidase levels and has a technology platform that is transferrable to monitoring everything from trauma to pH.

Through its collaborative relationships, Valtronic has developed miniaturized sensors so small that 24 of them could fit on a U.S. dime. “Such sensors incorporate an 8-bit CPU with memory and 16 additional SMT components; most of these are 01005-chip component packages,” says Styblo. “They are being used in a fish tracking study.”

A final example cited by Styblo is the advanced miniaturized tire pressure sensor Valtronic manufactures for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner™ Brake control & Monitoring System. “This device has triple-redundant sensing channels for high reliability and accuracy,” Styblo comments.

The medical device market continues to experience strong growth. A market with sales over $300 billion is driven by an aging population, active lifestyles, advances in technology and a growing world market.  Ohio’s Third Frontier has funded $1.6 billion in projects alone. Ohio collaborations such as the Genome Research Institute, The Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, and The Biomedical Structural, Functional and Molecular Imaging Enterprise are all testament to the commitment the state has to the biomedical industry.
 

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Valtronic Technologies is one of the world's leading experts in extreme miniaturization for electronic packaging and design for the medical device industry. They are a turn-key manufacturing partner of implantable and non-implantable medical products. Valtronic's miniaturization technologies enable customers to develop products in such areas as stimulation, diagnostics, imaging, monitoring, physical restoration, and drug delivery. Medical markets include neurostimulation, rhythm/respiratory, ophthalmology, auditory, and orthopedics.