At Occam Design we bring together highly experienced engineers, technicians, and machinists to develop, engineer, and manufacture high-quality medical devices.

Medical technology is already an advanced field that frequently incorporates new innovations, and new regulations, into industry standards. Medical devices are not just the domain of a lone engineer; professionals in medicine, business, regulation, design, manufacture, and more are needed on each design project to ensure a medical device is useful, usable, and market-ready.

The Necessity of Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Medical devices need to fill a medical need, meet regulatory standards, and be cost-effective to manufacture and market. One expert is not enough to fill these needs; a multidisciplinary team is the way forward.

Who should you turn to if your medical device will have cybersecurity concerns? How will you know if your medical device meets regulatory requirements? How will your device be manufactured and sold?

If you start with an interdisciplinary team for your medical device project, your device will be thoroughly reviewed before manufacture, before regulatory review, and before use. This early and consistent review by professionals who know their fields will catch any omissions, mistakes, or needs before they become a problem, saving time and expense by reducing the need for review and revision in the medical device creation process.

Who Are The Key Players in Collaborative Medical Device Development?

If you’re bringing together a collaborative team to develop your medical device, you’ll want a comprehensive array of expertise. Key players in a medical device development team include:

• Clinicians: Medical devices are first and foremost meant for patients, and clinicians can offer insights into both patient needs and the details that will make sure your device is compatible with the human body.
• Engineers: Experienced engineers will help translate your design ideas and clinical and regulatory requirements into an efficient, workable medical device.
• Regulatory Experts: Keeping up with regulations and industry standards ensures your medical device’s design process will meet or exceed requirements without extensive revision or approval delays.
• Marketers: The marketing team keeps up with cutting-edge developments in the medical device world, providing your team with up-to-date knowledge on the needs and wants of your customer base to ensure success once your device is brought to market.

How Occam Design Fosters Effective Partnerships

Occam Design knows that a strong working relationship with multiple teams, as well as an interdisciplinary in-house team for design work, offers opportunities to take medical device design from back-of-napkin to production.

The Porous Brain Infusion Catheter, or PBIC, is an excellent example of Occam’s interdisciplinary approach. Occam’s experts found a need for medical therapy delivery to the central nervous system and designed a delicate and precise catheter to allow safe drug delivery to brain tumors. This project brought together medical professionals with Occam’s team of engineers and machinists, as well as regulatory experts to interface with the FDA for future approval. Occam is also partnering with Duke University for human trials, which is the next step toward full approval and market readiness

The secret to Occam Design’s success in this type of teamwork lies in rigorous, consistent communication alongside robust project management. Our in-house experts are part of a work culture that encourages collaboration, both internally and externally, letting each expert take the lead on their particular segment of the project. Occam encourages each team member to provide support and assistance to experts in other segments, so the whole project can come together smoothly. Step by step, our whole team works together to make a medical device a reality.

The Innovation Process at Occam Design

The innovation process at Occam Design is a step-by-step process that keeps our team organized:

1. All designs start with a concept, then feasibility studies to ensure the concept is sound.
2. Occam then develops a design and prototypes it, soliciting input from all stakeholders.
3. That prototype is then put through iterative testing and feedback loops to find and resolve issues.
4. Alongside these steps, Occam develops a regulatory strategy and implements it to ensure the final medical device is fully compliant.
5. Once the device is finalized and the manufacturing process validated, it is transferred to manufacturing.
6. Ongoing production can begin, including continuous quality control.

This entire process is collaborative, and Occam makes use of project management software and digital platforms to make communication seamless between internal and external stakeholders. This connectivity allows the interdisciplinary team to work together no matter their location; everyone is kept up-to-date on progress through centralized and synchronized project management.

Challenges and Solutions in Collaborative Medical Device Design

There are a few common challenges that crop up with interdisciplinary collaboration, including:

1. Communication barriers include a lack of communication or disorganized communicationthat doesn’t include the whole team.
2. Differing priorities among stakeholders
3. Unclear roles and responsibilities
4. Work cultures that stifle collaboration
5. Disagreements on resource use and allocation

Occam Design anticipates challenges before they occur, and has developed a protocol that keeps projects on track and keeps collaborators engaged and informed. It includes:

1. Regular meetings and updates so all experts remain informed.
2. Laying out clear roles and responsibilities at the start, so everyone is familiar with their responsibilities and how others will take the lead in different parts of the process.
3. Emphasis on shared goals and outcomes. All stakeholders want a successful medical device development process, so pushing team members to collaborate with shared goals in mind helps keep a team focused and united.

Future Directions and Opportunities in Collaborative Innovation

As medical devices rapidly advance, Occam Design prioritizes keeping pace with new developments. Incorporating emerging trends in medical device collaboration is an important part of Occam Design’s overall philosophy when it comes to development and team creation.

Occam Design’s ongoing commitment to fostering innovation through collaboration incorporates:

1. Leveraging remote collaboration tools is integral to recruiting the most effective andrelevant interdisciplinary team possible.
2. Information-sharing tools help experts in different fields connect their work during thedevelopment process.
3. Coordination tools allow teams to work concurrently and stay in step with each otherthroughout the development process.
4. AI integration speeds up processes by helping with design innovation, and customizationof devices for patients, and is highly useful for theoretical testing to iron out any issues earlier in the development process.

Occam Design is always looking at ways to grow, expanding into new avenues to develop the most robust medical device development team possible. We are pursuing interoperability with other devices as a new frontier for development, investigating possibilities with biowearables, and expanding our capabilities around software as a medical device, all while keeping our eyes on the forefront of trends in the medical device arena.

Occam Design is Here to Make Your Device Dream a Reality With Interdisciplinary Expertise

At Occam Design, we know that having a multidisciplinary team with a wealth of experience means each project we collaborate on will be handled by a group that will deliver on efficiency and effectiveness for any medical device.

With active project management and ongoing recruitment of experts in multiple disciplines, Occam Design is a partner that you need on your side to bring your medical device ideas to fruition. If you’re a researcher, scientist, academic, or company looking to make a lateral move into medical device development, Occam Design is the ideal partner for a blockbuster interdisciplinary addition to your project.

Reach out to Occam Design today to get started with our interdisciplinary team of experts, or contact us for a free project analysis to see how our knowledge and experience can work for you.

If you want to learn more about what makes Occam Design the standout choice for medical device collaboration we have a suite of white papers available, as well as a blog with regular updates on our innovations and endeavors in medical device development.

OCCAM Design is ISO 13485:2016 Certified and FDA Registered. As a full-service development firm, OCCAM Design exclusively focuses on medical products and over 30 years of experience developing medical devices, combination products, and consumer healthcare products. OCCAM Design is an innovative leader in developing and manufacturing the highest quality medical devices. We are located in Louisville, Kentucky. You can contact our team at info@occamdesign.com or via phone at 502.714.7200 for more information on working with our team.