ASM International and Granta Design have launched a materials database created specifically to support medical device design. At stake is the ability to radically reduce many aspects of R&D expenses and to accelerate the development of new devices. The all-new Materials for Medical Devices Database: Cardiovascular Module marks the first time that researchers and designers will have access to a comprehensive and authoritative source of mechanical, physical, biological response and drug compatibility properties for the materials and coatings used in cardiovascular device applications.
The Cardiovascular Module is the result of thousands of hours of data acquisition, peer-review, and verification by specialists. It includes a comprehensive presentation of interrelated information, all fully traceable to primary sources. This includes extensive expert reviews and thousands of citations to published literature, FDA device approvals information, manufacturers’ datasheets, standards and web sites.
Under the guidance of the expert steering committee, ASM of Materials Park, Ohio, and Granta of Cambridge, UK, collaborated to aggregate information from numerous diverse sources into a single fully relational knowledge resource, including literature citations that provide further details on evaluations done by researchers. The database is powered by Granta’s materials data management software, and companies or organizations licensing this system can optionally add and manage their own proprietary information.
The underlying materials data management software used to collate and publish the Medical Devices Database may also be used in-house by device manufacturers or regulatory agencies to manage their own proprietary data, to add new information in real-time and to publish data to their own users.
The Cardiovascular Module may be licensed for web access or for in-house server installation. The next module, covering Orthopedic applications, is under development.