Improving an innovative medical device through additive manufacturing
Customer Company Size
SME
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Coapt COMPLETE CONTROL system
- Carbon® Digital Light Synthesis (DLS)
- HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF)
Tech Stack
- Additive Manufacturing
- 3D Printing
- Rapid Prototyping
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Productivity Improvements
- Innovation Output
Technology Category
- Other - Additive Manufacturing
- Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Additive Manufacturing
- Rapid Prototyping
- Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing
Services
- Hardware Design & Engineering Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
About The Customer
Coapt is a Chicago-based company that produces myoelectric pattern recognition systems for upper limb prostheses. Their product, the Coapt COMPLETE CONTROL system, is an FDA class II medical device that enables people who have lost their upper limbs to fully control movement in their prosthetic arms. It does this through an electrical pattern recognition system that captures coordinated muscle signals sent through the brain, decodes the patterns in real time, and translates those patterns into the wearer’s intended movement. Coapt has been producing this product for five years and in 2018, they began production on the second generation of COMPLETE CONTROL.
The Challenge
Coapt, a Chicago-based company that produces myoelectric pattern recognition systems for upper limb prostheses, was looking to produce the second generation of their product, COMPLETE CONTROL. This required not only retooling the system’s software, but redesigning the hardware components as well. They needed a manufacturing partner that could move quickly to meet their product release timeline. They also wanted to test and make many parts differently in the next wave of COMPLETE CONTROL, including the geometries, textures, and aesthetics of the parts. With so many variables to consider, it didn’t make sense for Coapt’s engineering team to prototype using legacy processes like injection molding.
The Solution
Coapt partnered with Fast Radius, a company that specializes in additive manufacturing. Over the course of twelve weeks, Fast Radius was able to print 36 unique designs yielding 195 parts for the Coapt team to evaluate. This rapid prototyping helped Coapt get to an end-product much faster than they anticipated, and it also gave them the opportunity to test a wide variety of factors at a rapid pace. Fast Radius also provided Coapt with expertise in additive technology and materials, guiding them in the right direction based on their requirements and giving them feedback on how to improve their designs for 3D printing. Instead of heavily investing in on-site 3D printing technology for prototyping, Coapt tapped into Fast Radius’s technology infrastructure to make rapid iterations as needed.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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