Medical Design Briefs - August 2023 - 5

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EXPERT Insight
Leveraging Customization to Decrease Device Complexity and Reduce Costs
The collaborative process can foster the kind of creativity and ingenuity that leads to the most innovative medical technology. In this Expert
Insight, Nadia Hajjar, Category Manager for Life Sciences at Porex, provides perspective on the ins and outs of designing custom components,
including leveraging customization to decrease device complexity and reduce component costs. Hajjar spoke with Medical Design Briefs about
how the company focuses on innovation by identifying new materials even within their traditional material platforms and how deeper relationships
with suppliers reduces the complexity and adds speed to the design process.
MDB: What are the main design considerations that go into
customizing components, and how does Porex select the right
material and technology?
Nadia Hajjar: Typically, we'll pair the right
engineer who has the right specialty and
expertise with a project based on those
parameters. In terms of design considerations,
you can get it right the first time
rather than having to go through iteration
after iteration. And, where we do need to
take additional steps to tweak a tool or a
component, we have specialized programs
to accelerate device design and component development so that it
doesn't slow you down.
We anticipate the stage in terms of the right material and
technology. We prep on our end 100 percent of the time to
answer those questions. We are always transparent with our
considerations, which might include working with a formula,
what kind of medication is being delivered, what kind of pH
and viscosity it has, or what potential changes might be down
the road.
Additional considerations on a design level would include flow
rate - how fast the liquid is getting from one place to another,
and potentially flowing to your device - and then we always
think about pressure - whether it's back pressure or otherwise,
what is the intended pressure in the device that affects how the
media is being moved outside of it. Purity requirements are so
important in life sciences, and we have a team that specializes
on material based on application. We've built a program around
that with testing and data, and it streamlines the process for
our customers so that they don't have to worry or face complex
regulatory questions.
MDB: What are ways to leverage customization to lower device
complexity and cost?
NH: One of the benefits of having specialties and concentrations
in different applications is that we know our markets well and
deeply. A lot of times there's an opportunity to truly understand
the value in the part in terms of lowering the cost of devices.
Oftentimes additional steps to remove a component can jeopardize
the safety of the device or create additional steps not only
for the user but for the design later. Looking down the line, are
you adding value to your customer that way, or are you creating
more expense later with user complexity or even jeopardizing
some safety measures in the device that are that are necessary to
create easy use and safe use of the device? To me the most value
we can add is being able to reduce complexity and reduce overall
cost of the design.
Medical Design Briefs, August 2023
MDB: Given that, how do you balance innovation with design
time, or are custom components slower to design and include
in the device?
NH: Whenever you do anything custom, the first thing you think
of is complexity. We spend a lot of time educating the team and
getting talent who focus on the markets we are targeting. We're not
trying to be everything to everyone. That's the great thing about
Porex. We have a niche in the market, and we've built additional
education for our customers. We have a pool of knowledge that our
engineers can pull from to streamline processes. We adapt to you.
We don't make you adapt to us.
MDB: How does the Porex design team keep up with the device
trends?
NH: The fun part of the job is innovation. We're always identifying
new materials even within our traditional material platforms. These
can come in the form of additives or even hybrid materials. Really
the sky is the limit, and no question is impossible. I've seen a lot of
our MacGyvers do some creative things in a short amount of time
because we are constantly building a pool of possibilities. Moving
to biologics - mixtures of smaller and larger particles or just small
particle molecules - we've adapted our core sizes and our materials
to align with that. And we've even gone so far as to understand
what the ideal flow rates are for different device designs on the
market. We also add different functionality as it relates to trends,
such as micro and nano filtration, different metered dosing technologies,
or the ability to absorb oxygen in different applications.
We're constantly innovating around custom components.
Watch the full interview with Nadia Hajjar.
www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
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Medical Design Briefs - August 2023

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