A blog about what is new (and old) in the world of active implantable medical devices

Category Archives: Greatbatch Medical (Power)

Implantable lithium batteries by Greatbatch

Algostim – Greatbatch’s Own Spinal Cord Stimulation System

Posted on by Posted in Greatbatch, Greatbatch Medical (Power), Pain, Spinal Cord Stimulation

 

Greatbatch Algostim System David Prutchi PhD www.implantable-device.comGreatbatch Medical, which moved its headquarters to the Dallas, TX area last year, announced that it has set a target of at least 5%/yr organic growth.  To accomplish this growth, the Company recently announced consolidating operations of its various divisions in order to create efficiency.

In addition however, Greatbatch is diversifying from being strictly a developer of implantable-grade components into a firm capable of developing complete medical devices.  Greatbatch’s CEO Thomas Hook announced in March 2013 that Greatbatch is internally developing its own spinal cord stimulation system.  The device, called Algostim, is nearing completion of development and will be moving into the commercialization phase.  The company is looking for a partner to take the Algostim device into the $1.4 billion spinal cord stimulation market, which has been growing at more than 10%/yr.

Click here for an extract describing Algostim from Greatbatch’s investor day of March 2013.

 

Greatbatch Reorganizes to Combine Greatbatch Medical and Electrochem Solutions

Posted on by Posted in Greatbatch Medical (Power), Implantable Components

Greatbatch logo www.implantable-device.comOn June 5, 2013 Greatbatch, Inc. announced  that it would combine Greatbatch Medical and Electrochem Solutions – which have been operating independent operations and sales & marketing groups – into singular sales & marketing and operations groups serving the entire Greatbatch organization.  According to the press release:

“We’ve spent the past eight years successfully integrating and consolidating our organization. With that mission accomplished, we can set our sights squarely on our growth target to achieve 5 percent organic growth or better,” said Greatbatch President & Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Hook. “As we shared with investors earlier this year, the company is progressing from strictly a developer of components and sub-assemblies to an organization capable of developing complete medical devices for OEM customers. Our realignment into a more unified Greatbatch will allow us to reinvest in both our core business as well as emerging platforms in pursuit of substantial growth.”

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Why Do So Many Novel Implantables Use a “Boxy” Enclosure?

Posted on by Posted in Enclosures, Greatbatch Medical (Power), Heraeus Medical Components, Hudson Technologies, National Manufacturing, Okay Industries

Deep drawn can for implantable medical devices

 

Active implantable medical devices are typically enclosed in a hermetically-sealed titanium housing which provides protection of the circuitry and other components.

Commonly, Grade 1 titanium is formed into the enclosure using stamping. The pretty, rounded shapes of modern pacemakers and ICDs are achieved by having two enclosure halves shallowly stamped from sheet stock material, and are then welded together to form the enclosure.

On the other hand, “boxy” enclosures that were popular in the 1970s are made by deeply drawing the titanium into a seamless can that is then capped by an ellipsoidal lid.  However, many modern start-up companies still develop their early-generation implantable devices in this format because a number of off-the-shelf  implantable-grade cells are available to fit in these deep-drawn enclosures, and the housings can be purchased off-the-shelf from various manufacturers.  In addition, these enclosures provide sufficient volume for electronic assemblies manufactured using off-the-shelf packaged components and printed-circuit-board technology instead of more aggressive manufacturing methods (e.g. bare IC die on ceramic substrates) used by more established companies to miniaturize their mature implantable devices. Continue reading→