Confluent Medical Technologies, Fremont, Calif., a leading contract manufacturer of Nitinol-based medical devices, is partnering with the Colorado School of Mines and the Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies (ADAPT) program to advance additive manufacturing methods for Nitinol.
Confluent Medical Technologies has established the Confluent Medical Postdoctoral Fellowship at Mines toward developing these technologies by an initial $100,000 gift. The ADAPT team has hired a postdoctoral researcher to work on the project full time.
Confluent Medical is a market-. Innovations in the manufacturing and processing of Nitinol — a nickel-titanium alloy that exhibits the unique properties of shape memory and superelasticity — have led to a great expansion of Nitinol-based medical devices in a variety of therapeutic areas.
ADAPT is a new R&D consortium dedicated to developing next-generation data informatics and advanced characterization technologies for additive manufacturing. Headed by Aaron Stebner, a leader in additive manufacturing technologies, ADAPT is focusing its efforts on improving nickel-base and titanium-base alloy 3D printing. The organization is supported by a consortium of private companies and the state of Colorado — although members do not have to be from Colorado.
By leveraging public/private partnerships — such as the one with Confluent Medical — ADAPT aims to develop groundbreaking new technologies in additive manufacturing, which is the industrial version of 3D printing. The tools developed by the consortium will be used to help industry and government qualify, standardize, assess, and optimize advanced manufacturing processes and parts.
“Over the next few years, we expect additive manufacturing technologies to have a profound effect on the medical device industry,” saysTom Duerig, Founder and CTO of Confluent Medical. “The primary thrust of this specific program will be to optimize the superelastic properties of Nitinol synthesized by these methods.”
In 2015, Nitinol Devices & Components Inc., acquired Interface Catheter Solutions and formed Confluent Medical Technologies. Dr. Tom Duerig founded Confluent Medical, and is its Chief Technology Officer. He is also a founder and current member of the Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies Society, an Affiliate Society of ASM International. Dr. Aaron Stebner is president of Colorado School of Mines and the ASM Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies Society.
http://inside.mines.edu/ADAPT-Home
