Design engineers have long seen the benefits of leveraging flexible materials to facilitate repair or elicit a certain tissue response from the human body. Braided sutures, knitted cuffs on heart valves and woven vascular prostheses are some of the traditional ways that medical fabrics are used in medical devices. These days, implantable medical fabrics are being designed and used in ways not previously imagined. These advanced materials have a unique ability to undergo shape transformation — that is, to be fitted, expanded, or actuated once placed inside a structure. This is a huge advantage in medical treatments where surgeons have a limited space in which to operate within the body. Thanks to today's complex processing techniques, medical fabrics can be engineered for a specific purpose such as filtering emboli from the blood stream, to provide a scaffold for cellular in-growth or, conversely, as a barrier to prevent tissue from growing into or through the medical fabric material. Modern medical textile engineering is melding with innovative device design to offer unprecedented options in patient treatments.

The short answer: very closely. It is essential to begin this collaboration early in the design process where there is more latitude to incorporate the most desired properties of the device. Typically, the first step is an in-depth process of discovery and analysis regarding the desired purpose, functionality, and performance characteristics of the medical device in question. Once complete, a decision can be made regarding which "forming technology" to employ for the medical fabric, which physical and mechanical properties are most important for the finished device, and what materials will achieve design objectives. There are dozens of variables that can be modified to drive the performance closer to the needs of the device design engineer.

There are a few reasons. The nature of medical textile structures makes them excellent candidates for devices designed to be delivered with less trauma to a patient. Medical fabrics can be designed to have the ability to be compressed into a small catheter or cannula and then deployed by a surgeon during a procedure. The structure can even be imparted with a shape memory so that once deployed inside a space, it returns to its predetermined state and performs its function. When combined with the minimally invasive trends in a variety of medical fields, medical fabric technologies are helping to shape the next generation of medical devices.

Everything depends on treatment modality, desired device characteristics, and many other variables specific to the intended usage of the medical fabric. The inherent purity, chemical inertness, and enhanced mechanical properties of advanced medical polymers such as Polyarylretherketones and high-performance Polyethylenes are attracting a great deal of attention. However, innovations are certainly not limited to thermoplastics. One very exciting development is the ability to produce high performing, flexible, and soft medical fabric structures out of metals like stainless steel, Nitinol, platinum, and titanium. Such medical fabrics often exhibit superior mechanical properties for certain applications, when compared with polymeric-based medical fabrics, while retaining shape transformation properties due to newly developed medical textile forming techniques.

Our specialization in complex implantable medical fabrics, a culture oriented around stringent quality and development activities, and our strict confidentiality protocol, make Secant Medical a trusted source of innovative solutions. Few other companies have worked as hard as we have to tailor our capabilities, certifications, and other value-added features and processes to the requirements of the medical device industry. Key third-party certifications, such as ISO 13485:2003 certification, and a range of Quality-oriented, value-added services like process validation and risk analysis, also help separate us from the pack. Read more about our Qualifications.