Elixir (Volume 1, Issue 2)
Chilling for Recovery
One of the exciting, but also daunting, aspects of developing medical devices is that each new product has the potential to make a difference to untold numbers of patients, sometimes a life-or-death difference. For the last year, Nectar has been working closely with San Diego-based BeneChill to develop a device that could prove massively important, the new RhinoChill System, which has the potential to save lives and reduce or prevent brain damage for victims of cardiac arrest.
Simply put, the device reduces body temperature to 91 degrees Fahrenheit, inducing a chill — “therapeutic hypothermia” is the medical term — that has been proven to reduce mortality and brain damage resulting from cardiac emergencies and comas. Though other devices currently perform this function, the RhinoChill has several features that make it a major advance. It works through a nasal catheter, providing close proximity to the brain and thereby more efficiently cooling the body’s most important organ. Also, the RhinoChill is battery operated and does not require a refrigeration unit as other systems do. This means that it can be easily included in ambulances and other emergency/first-responder settings, including military rescue units.
This portable and non-invasive device is already in use in Europe and has investigational status in the United States. Clinical studies are underway as the product undergoes the various legally required leaps and hurdles before it is approved for clinical use in the U.S.
In the meantime, the staffs of both BeneChill and Nectar are hopeful the product will be widely used in the not too distant future. Our own Le Bui had this to say, “Since cardiac arrest touches so many, there’s every chance RhinoChill may end up saving the lives of untold numbers of people over time. That’s actually kind of mind blowing.”
3-D Printing from Scicon; From “Page” to Part
When we’re explaining what we do here at Nectar, visitors are often amazed to find out that many of our working prototypes are made from parts that have been, literally speaking, printed. Of course, most people think of printing as being a strictly two-dimensional process — ink on paper. Nectar’s frequent collaborator, Scicon Technologies , however, is able to manufacture high quality parts cheaply by copying them directly from a computer-generated, three-dimensional model, and actually printing segments of the model in extremely thin sheets, over and over again. It’s like Kinko’s…times a million. To put it extremely simply, stereolithography works by activating a laser over a vat of liquid photopolymer resin creating a basic pattern. Then, material is added around that, something like a sheet, which, little by little, literally copies the computer-generated design in three dimensions, creating a “printed” component for a prototype product.
Even though we know how they do it, we have to admit that we’re frequently amazed by the fine work our friends are Scicon are able to do when it comes to fashioning actual parts from virtual designs. They provide outstanding services not only in stereolithography (a.k.a. “SLA”) but also in Selective Laser Sintering (a similar process for creating components from CAD drawings), as well as CNC machining and converting 2-D files into 3-D. We really think they they’re capable of doing just about anything when it comes to making stuff materialize out of almost thin air. Now, if we could just get our hands on the complete 3-D design files of a Bugati Veyron . (Yes, we know, that would be wrong. But still….)
Artist in Residence
One of the things we at Nectar love about our hometown of Long Beach, California is its friendliness to the arts. Along with our outstanding local museums and art galleries, you never know where you’re going to bump into some truly talented and creative folks. Take our neighbor, John Sanders. By day, John runs the Marmel Inn, a “Bed and Breakfast for Dogs and Cats.” The rest of the time, he’s a respected fine artist and teacher whose workspace is adjacent to the lodgings of his furry guests.
John, like such artistic big names as Christo and Andy Goldsworthy, is a specialist in site-specific sculptures and environmental installations. He began his artistic career working in clay and ceramics, but during the last thirty years he has moved on to more heavy-duty building materials, including lumber. Past projects have included placing 1,300 shovels in a grid in an agricultural field next to a highway in Long Island, New York.
His current project is closer to home. Titled “49,” it involves arranging forty-nine large galvanized steel stars on the grounds of Marymount College, located in nearby Rancho Palos Verdes. John, who has taught sculpture at both UC Irvine and Cal State Los Angeles, is typical of the low-key city of Long Beach in that he is completely free of pretense. When asked about the “meaning” of “49” his only response was, “I just thought it would look kind of cool.”
If you’d like to get in touch with John about one of his sculptures or installations, or just want to have your pet watched over by someone with the sensitive and creative touch, you can reach him at the Marmel Inn at 562-439-2993.
July 14th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
[…] in our second issue, we discussed the fascinating and extremely useful technology of stereolithography for industrial […]