Monday, October 13, 2008

Key Points from Peer2Peer Discussion Group

We met last week to discuss how best to work with contract service providers in our AZBio Peer-2-Peer luncheon. The session took two perspectives – utilizing services and providing services. The following outline captures some of the key points that were brought out in the discussion.

  • What important factors do you consider when selecting a service provider?
    • Clear needs?
    • Good capability match?
    • Cost competitive?
    • Delivery speed?
    • Total service offering (i.e. "package")?
    • Partnership opportunity?
    • Culture match?
  • How do you maintain good communication with a contract service provider?
    • Verbal communications (face-to-face where possible)
    • Frequent communication
    • Open and transparent with issues
    • Multilevel communication
    • Taylor to match personal style/preferences
    • Be flexible with communication approach
  • How do you ensure that service providers deliver on schedule?
    • Establish series of deadlines/milestones
    • Document expected deliverables
    • Do a good job defining the scope of work
    • Establish clear specifications
    • Document agreements
    • Use tools (online and email) to keep schedule visible
    • Establish contingencies
  • How do you ensure service providers satisfy your quality expectations?
    • Set expectations at the outset
    • Keep Quality Control people in the loop
    • Perform audits along the way
    • Utilize certifications
    • Establish a quality agreement
    • Work with first with a good reputation
  • How do you build long-term relationships with service providers?
    • …. Ran out of time.

Many of these ideas are common sense but it's good to be reminded of them. Feel free to add your comments to this list.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Simulating Your Next Back Surgery

The day is coming when your spine surgery will be performed virtually using advanced computer simulation to practice and plan for the real thing. PADT Medical is currently working with Neil Crawford, PhD at the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) to develop the Virtual Spine Surgeon software system. The program, which is funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging And Bioengineering (NIBIB), has the ultimate goal to "improve the outcome of surgery, shorten the time under anesthesia, and improve the confidence of the patient and surgeon". PADT is providing software development, finite element modeling, and rapid prototyping expertise to help construct a system that will convert pre-operative images (CT or MRI) into a patient specific model that can be used to suggest refinements to the surgery and ultimately create templates and drill guides for intraoperative use.

Screen Grab from Virtual Spine Surgeon program.

Increasingly, finite element modeling is being used to predict surgical outcomes and device performance. Contact us If you are interested learning more about how we can help you accelerate your medical device development program using finite element modeling.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Join Our Team

Interested in joining the PADT Medical team? We are looking to build our local network of medical device development engineers. Click Here if you're interested in learning more.