Norman Noble adds engineering design services for medical implants

Norman Noble, Inc., Highland Heights, Ohio, announced in February 2026 the addition of engineering design services to its medical-implant manufacturing portfolio. The new offering supports customers developing implantable devices that require advanced laser machining of nitinol, cobalt-chromium, titanium, and other high-performance alloys, and lets device makers partner with Norman Noble at the earliest stages of product development.

Through the engineering design service, Norman Noble’s team works with customers on drawing specifications, design for manufacturability, prototyping strategy, and process development with the goal of moving from concept to validated prototype faster than is typical with sequential outsourcing. The capability builds on the company’s existing offerings in laser machining, athermal Noble STEALTH laser processing, Noble SynchroFlash, and Noble DryEPolish surface finishing — all of which are already used across the cardiovascular, structural heart, neurovascular, and orthopedic implant markets.

By adding upfront design support, Norman Noble strengthens its position as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for complex implantable devices. The expansion reflects increasing customer demand for integrated end-to-end partners that can carry a device from early concept through validated production, particularly for nitinol implants where design choices and manufacturing methods are tightly coupled.

Norman Noble, Inc. is a privately held precision contract manufacturer headquartered in Highland Heights, Ohio. The company specializes in laser machining and finishing of nitinol and other implant-grade alloys, and supports the development and manufacture of finished medical implants for global medical device customers.

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Gore gains FDA approval for first deep venous stent indicated for the IVC and iliofemoral veins

W. L. Gore & Associates, Newark, Delaware, announced on January 6, 2026 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the GORE VIABAHN FORTEGRA Venous Stent for the treatment of deep venous disease in the inferior vena cava (IVC), iliac, and iliofemoral veins. The device is the first stent approved in the United States for the IVC and iliofemoral indication, and previously received FDA Breakthrough Device designation.

The FORTEGRA Venous Stent (formerly the GORE VIAFORT Vascular Stent) consists of an open-structure, self-expanding wire-wound nitinol frame and an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) polymer lattice. The combination is designed to balance conformability to the natural venous anatomy with compression resistance throughout the entire device length, while the wound nitinol architecture supports fracture resistance under the dynamic mechanical loading characteristic of large-vein anatomy.

Approval was supported by an international pivotal trial that evaluated 89 patients with deep venous disease across the IVC, iliac, and iliofemoral veins. The device met its primary safety and effectiveness endpoints and demonstrated patency, freedom from clinically driven reintervention, and safety performance consistent with a first-line venous stent indication.

W. L. Gore & Associates is a privately held global manufacturing company founded in 1958 and headquartered in Newark, Delaware. Its medical products division supplies cardiovascular, vascular, structural heart, and surgical solutions in more than 50 countries and has served the deep venous disease space through prior peripheral and arteriovenous platforms.

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One Minute Mentor: Type W1 Tool Steels

W1 steels are capable of hardening to high surface hardness and soft core, which is useful in some shock applications. They are low-cost tool steels with fair to good wear resistance as carbon content increases. As they are water quenched and have poor dimensional stability, their use is limited to fairly uniform sections with a minimum amount of stress risers; in other applications quench cracking can occur. Figure 1 shows an isothermal transformation diagram for a W1 steel.

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 1.Rafael Agnelli Mesquita; Reinhold Schneider; Cristiane Sales Gonçalves, *Heat Treating of Cold-Work Tool Steels — Low- and Un-Alloyed Water and Oil Hardening Steels*, ASM International, 2014 [https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005972](https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005972)

Winsert acquires Alloy Cast Products Inc.

Winsert, Marinette, Wisc., a global advanced manufacturer of critical metal parts for Fortune 500 OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, acquired Alloy Cast Products Inc., an investment casting and machining manufacturer of exotic cobalt alloys headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey.

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‘Robotic’ fabric changes shape, moves, supports loads

Yale University, Conn., researchers have developed robotic fabrics by integrating functional fibers into conventional textiles. Fabrics, with their interlocking fibers, tend to be breathable, lightweight, and highly compact materials. Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio and colleagues explored the design of independently functioning fabric machines and developed a standalone platform for robotic fabrics.

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Seisa Medical acquires ProtoQuick and Peridot

Seisa Medical, El Paso, Texas, has acquired Bay Area-based businesses ProtoQuick Inc. and Peridot Corporation. This will add expertise to Seisa’s plastics and metals capabilities while also expanding their global infrastructure for high-volume production of FDA Class II and Class III devices.

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Constellium to sponsor skilled trades scholarships

Constellium, Paris will sponsor ten new skilled trades scholarships at West Virginia University, Parkersburg. Now in its second year, the program provides financial assistance to selected high school graduates to help them earn an associate degree in Multi-Craft Technology or Reliability and Maintenance Technology.

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Nitrex supplies Alugen Aluminum with nitriding system

Nitrex Metal Inc., Montreal, has supplied the Turkish aluminum extrusion company, Alugen Aluminium, with a high-performance compact nitriding/nitrocarburizing system allowing the company to bring all manufacturing operations in-house for more optimal work planning and quality control. Founded in 2012, Alugen is a dynamic company and the only business of its kind in Turkey operating in a free trade zone, with customers in various European countries.

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Confluent Medical opens new catheter development center

Confluent Medical Technologies, Austin, Texas, has announced the opening of its new Complex Catheter Design and Development Center in Austin, Texas. The state-of-the-art facility expands Confluent’s ability to provide customers with electrophysiology and neurovascular catheters, as well as complex delivery systems for structural heart and vascular applications.

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