The medical device design services and product development team at GCMI facilitates medical product development through all phases – from initial concept generation through transfer to production manufacturing. We guide and execute along a strategic pathway, focusing on both product excellence and regulatory compliance. Our team works with a variety of innovators: individual physicians, researchers and engineers, start-up companies and publicly traded industry leaders.

FEATURED EVENT: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE U.S. FDA’S INVESTIGATIONAL DEVICE EXEMPTION (IDE): A GCMI WEBINAR, APRIL 14, 2022

Our Medical Device Design Services & Product Development Process

Project success is dependent on careful consideration of several intersecting aspects: technological, clinical, commercial and legal. We follow a structured, phase-gated process that allows for a disciplined medical device design and product development approach. Our medical device design services and development process encourages an early focus on clear problem definition and de-risking a wide variety of potential solutions. By later phases, the funnel of medical device design options narrows significantly, converging on a final product that has been thoroughly shown to meet the customer needs and is ready for distribution.

Medical Device Innovation: A one-on-one with ATDC Lead Entrepreneur in Residence Frank Tighe and GCMI CEO Tiffany Wilson

Tiffany Wilson, GCMI CEO, and Frank Tighe, Lead Entrepreneur in Residence at ATDC, discussed the medical product development process for early stage innovators. Learn from their experiences by watching.

Facilities: The Space and Tools Innovators Need for Medical Device Design and Development

GCMI has a 12,000 square foot medical device design and prototyping center where we help innovators, entrepreneurs and new-product teams bring their ideas from concept to reality. Within our space, we can go from a sketch to a design to a prototype quickly – sometimes in hours – allowing for faster iteration and speeding development.

Our Process Activities and Capabilities

  • Early Stage Product Strategy

    We call this “Phase 0.” During these early stages, we help guide products to the most efficient and effective pathway by using evidence-based decisions for product development.

  • Design History File Generation

    We have a staff that brings engineering skills, close attention to detail and a commitment to the development process. They have the insights to lead you down a more cost-efficient pathway to regulatory submission, manufacturing and commercialization.

  • Clinical Input and Review

    Our staff includes a Medical Affairs Liaison who provides and gathers initial voice of customer inputs at the earliest stages of a project, and adds guidance and perspective throughout the later stages.

  • Project Management

    Your success is our goal, so we treat your projects like our own. Our goal is to move through the development process in the right way. We guide our projects along a particular path because we know the risks.

  • Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering

    Our team is filled with biomedical and mechanical engineering talent, including professionals with biomedical and/or mechanical engineering degrees. We are well versed in the tools and methods to make a medical product.

Why Work with GCMI's Medical Device Design Services & Product Development Team?

Globally, medical product developers work in a highly regulated and uniquely constrained environment. The GCMI team works with you to realize your product while considering regulatory compliance, clinical practices, intellectual property, and healthcare economics. Our team contributes development expertise, clinical insights, medical device design skills, project management, and an ecosystem of experts to minimize risks and streamline the overall medical device design and development process.

As a non-profit affiliate of Georgia Tech, our goal is simple: your success.

When it comes to medtech innovation, our client’s success is always our top priority. We help find the right people for the task at any point on the commercialization pathway.

We have established a proven, capital-efficient pathway and process.

GCMI follows a structured, phase-gated process that allows for a disciplined, capital-efficient medical device design and product development approach that still leaves room for flexibility.

Medical Device Design Resources

MOVING BEYOND IMPROVISATION. SOLVING A HIGH VOLUME, HIGH VALUE UNMET CLINICAL NEED TO ADVANCE PATIENT CARE

As just one point of evidence of their commitment to innovation in pediatrics, the Children’s Mercy Kansas City Center for Pediatric Innovation identified the need for a more effective, standardized “Catheter Gripping Tool.” The team envisioned a better solution and GCMI is proudly supporting its design and development.

 

Check it out.

The 2022 State of Medtech Design and Development Landscape

Sensors, AI, regulatory shifts and more. What is the current state of medtech innovation? GCMI Chief Medical Officer Dr. Emily Blum and Interim Director of Research and Development Engineering, Saylan Lukas share their perspectives and insights.

 

Check it out.

FACULTY RESEARCHERS AND INNOVATORS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IRBS AND THE MEDTECH INNOVATION PROCESS – INSIGHTS & RECORDING

GCMI Director of Product Development Mike Fisher, joined Scott Hollister, Georgia Tech Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering Professor and Patsy and Alan Dorris Chair in Pediatric Technology, and Meredith Capasse, Human Protections Program and Research Regulatory Affairs for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to walk as through the required steps and, more importantly, why they’re required for academic researchers and innovators with novel medtech ideas or technologies.

Check out the insights and recording.

PRECLINICAL TESTING’S ROLE IN THE MEDICAL DEVICE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PHASE

Where does preclinical testing enter the design and development phase of new medical technologies and devices? GCMI Design and Development Director Mike Fisher and Preclinical Program Director Evan Goldberg share deep dive insights.

 

“At the end of the day, some testing requirements in the design and development phase simply cannot be done ‘on the bench,’ Evan says. “In design input requirements and confirmation activities within the design and development phase, only cadaveric or small scale in-vivo testing can determine if a device provides appropriate grip or traction for the user, or if it works as intended in a beating heart or vessels with blood flow. Read on.

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE READY FOR PRECLINICAL WORK? INSIGHTS AND RECORDING FROM OUR LATEST WEBINAR.

How can medtech, life science and biopharma innovators know their product is ready for preclinical testing? GCMI Design and Development Director Mike Fisher and Preclinical Program Director Evan Goldberg joined Renovo Biomedical’s Anna Fallon on January 14, 2021 to answer that question.

 

“How quickly can you get your feasibility study to look like your GLP study? When you’re doing any level of pre-GLP preclinical studies, you have to maximize the value of the information you are getting. You never want to go into verification and validation testing without knowing the answer to your questions.” Access the recording here.

CRITICAL PRECLINICAL CONSIDERATIONS TO INCLUDE IN THE PROJECT PLANNING PHASE OF A NEW MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Project planning is the beginning of formal product development process, wherein the identified team enters a design control process that complies with medical device regulatory requirements (in the United States, per the FDA) and business strategy. This phase is all about determining the resources, the timing, and the work that’s required for product success.

Where does preclinical work find its way into project planning for new medical technologies? What are the top considerations for preclinical work in this early development stage? GCMI Preclinical Program Director Evan Goldberg shares his insights in this Q&A.

HOW DOES OUR VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION PHASE OF MEDTECH DEVELOPMENT ‘TRANSLATE’ TO PRECLINICAL STUDIES?

Design validation ensures that you have made the “right” product – according to the customer’s needs. Design verification ensures that the team has made the product “right” – according to regulatory and engineering requirements.

How does verification and validation in the design and development process “translate” to preclinical?

Find the insights from GCMI / T3 Labs Preclinical Program Director Evan Goldberg tells us in this Q&A. Read more

ARE YOU WASTING CASH IN DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT?

Watch, listen and learn from the 2020 Southeast Life Sciences AdvanSE event:

  • Top ways innovators burn cash unnecessarily
  • How innovators can know they are wasting time and money prototyping
  • How to know when a medtech innovation is ready for preclinical work
  • The critical importance of activity sequencing in the medtech innovation pathway
  • Critical questions to ask prospective partners in regulatory, IP, engineering and reimbursement

Click here to access the post and recording.

DOES YOUR INNOVATION REALLY HAVE COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL IN HEALTHCARE?

Jackson Medical used GCMI’s “Phase Zero” to streamline their pathway from concept to commercialization for their novel medical device that reduces the potential for never events like burns and fires in operating rooms.

Watch and listen to Professor James Rains’ and Kamil Makhneija’s insights as shared with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Technology Center Chief Engineer Leanne West.

MEDTECH IP LEGALESE 101: WHAT IS A PATENT LANDSCAPE REVIEW, WHAT IS A PATENT, WHAT IS FREEDOM TO OPERATE?

All types of innovators need to carefully protect their intellectual property (IP) from those who may infringe on their ideas and products, and themselves from inadvertently infringing on others’. Medtech innovation is no exception and the landscape is rife with pitfalls.

Smith, Gambrell and Russell’s Matthew Warenzak shares his insights on patent landscape reviews, patents and freedom to operate in the following Q&A.

Read more here.

WHAT IS A 510(K)? MEDTECH REGULATORY EXPERT GRACE POWERS ANSWERS SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COMMON, BUT TRICKY, REGULATORY SUBMISSION AND CLEARANCE FOR NEW MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES

A significant number of innovative medical technologies fall into FDA’s Class II classification, the vast majority of which require an FDA 510(k) submission. What exactly is a 510(k)? What types of products fall into the Class II, 510(k) category?

Grace Powers, principal consultant with Powers Regulatory Consulting, has 20 years of industry experience in medical devices including research and development. GCMI leans on Grace’s regulatory expertise frequently and she graciously shared her insights on the FDA 510(k) clearance requirements in one of our recent blog posts. Read more here.

WHAT IS VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION IN MEDICAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT?

At the completion of the design phase, a product will have well-defined design inputs, plus fully described design features and manufacturing methods. Design verification and validation then takes this design output (product) and ensures that it meets all engineering requirements and user needs, respectively.

Have you made the right product? Have you made the product right? Read more about GCMI’s approach to medical device design verification and validation.

OUR PROCESS: WHAT IS THE DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT PHASE AT GCMI?

Medtech innovation is an exciting, yet risky enterprise. The vast majority of venture capital and strategic investors now want to see early investment in de-risking medical innovations. There is simply too much potential for failure in the pathway to commercialization, plus financial risk related to market forces and competitive products.

Too many medtech development projects are unsuccessful because innovators discover major roadblocks too late in the process. Here are some of the top ways to give your medtech innovation a better chance for successful commercialization.

AFTERMATH: THREE TOP REASONS NEW MEDTECH DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS FAIL AND WAYS TO AVOID THEM.

Medtech innovation is an exciting, yet risky enterprise. The vast majority of venture capital and strategic investors now want to see early investment in de-risking medical innovations. There is simply too much potential for failure in the pathway to commercialization, plus financial risk related to market forces and competitive products.

Too many medtech development projects are unsuccessful because innovators discover major roadblocks too late in the process. Here are some of the top ways to give your medtech innovation a better chance for successful commercialization.

PPE Face Shield Design Updates 4.13.2020

We have completed another revision of our design files for those wishing to produce face shields for healthcare providers

  • There are 2 design options
  • Contact GCMI if you are interested in manufacturing, assembling, or kitting and packaging components
  • We are seeking manufacturers with quality system certifications

Click here to learn more and access the updated design files.

Are You Wasting Time and Money with Too Many Prototypes?

Prototyping is an exciting and important part of the medical product innovation process. Prototypes can give you something tangible to touch and feel – a physical representation of your ideas coming to life.

Because prototyping is such a fun and exciting part of the development lifecycle, it is very easy to burn time and money unnecessarily.

We offer some of the top items to consider when deciding if a prototype is needed.

Medical Design & Outsourcing: FDA issues FAQ on 3D-printed equipment against coronavirus

Earlier today Medical Design & Outsourcing published the following from the FDA regarding 3D printed equipment intended to supplement PPE needs created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Read.

5 Things to Invest in Before Prototyping New Medical Devices

It’s crucial to maintain a capital efficient, yet flexible, process for medical device design services and product development process in order to have the greatest likelihood of arriving at your intended destination in the least amount of time.

“Best Practices for Transitioning from Design to Assembly in Medical Device Manufacturing.” - A recent feature from Assembly Magazine

Designing for manufacturability is a critical task. The effort to develop a component manufacturing process and an assembly process is just as critical. Making these two paths overlap as much as possible allows a development team time to improve on manufacturing methods prior to any pilot builds.

4 Key Compliance Issues for Medical Device Companies

From our colleagues at Greenlight Guru:

“The goal for most creators of new medical devices is to be able to get them to market as quickly as possible, right? So, what commonly puts roadblocks in the way?

Compliance issues. What are the common issues and what happens with these non-compliances?”

Greenlight Guru founder and VP of QA/QR shares his insights. We thank Greenlight Guru for including GCMI on its “Ulimate List of Medical Device Incubators and Accelerators”.

IEEE Completes Standards Family Intended to Provide Safe and Secure Medical Device Interoperability

IEEE 11073-20701™-2018 defines an architecture that binds the participant and communication model to the Web services data transport model defined in previous IEEE 11073™ standards.

PISCATAWAY, NJ, 14 Feb. 2019 – IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, and the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA), today announced the publishing and availability of IEEE 11073-20701-2018 – IEEE Approved Draft Standard for Service-Oriented Medical Device Exchange Architecture & Protocol Binding.

Read more.

Featured Medical Device Design Services & Product Development Content

2023 SPRING CAPSTONE SPOTLIGHT - CAN AN IMPLANTABLE REDUCE THE 90% GLIOMA RECURRENCE RATE?

“Testing always goes a bit different than you expect, especially when it involves two different types of fluids with different viscosities,” Victoria said. “How those properties impact seals and system materials create considerations and needs that are not always obvious or anticipated.”

Learn how GCMI’s medtech design, development and preclinical team supported Spring Capstone Team AdvanCED and their stem cell delivery implantable technology for glioblastoma procedures.

Check it out.

2023 SPRING CAPSTONE SPOTLIGHT - LEADLESS RIGHT ATRIUM PACING

For patients whose condition would benefit most from right atrium pacing, no leadless option exists, leaving them subject to lead-related complications that arise from traditional pacemakers. GCMI-supported GT 2023 Capstone team Phantom Lead developed a leadless pacing device that utilizes transcatheter delivery for placement in an unconventional location within the heart.

Check it out.

2023 SPRING CAPSTONE TEAM WRISTY BUSINESS TACKLES A PAINFUL 9.5% ORIF REOPERATION RATE WITH "ENGAGE" MEASUREMENT DEVICE.

With support provided by GCMI, and the unmet clinical need presented by Dr. Joyce Xu and Dr. Shelly Abramowicz, Team JAWWS created “enGAUGE, a new surgical depth gauge featuring a double hooking mechanism that hooks on to the bone for more stable insertion and effective engagement that utilizes single hand operation.”

Read on.

INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATION IN ACTION – 2022 FALL CAPSTONE TEAM WRISTY BUSINESS TACKLES A STANDARD OF CARE TREATMENT SUFFERING FROM A 40-70% FAILURE RATE

We proudly support Georgia Tech BME Capstone projects, including the Fall 2022 effort from Team Wristy Business, taking on an unmet need for scapholunate ligament tears.

Read on.

EARLY, CONSISTENT FOCUS ON THE UNMET NEED KEEPS AUGMENT HEALTH ON A SOLID COMMERCIALIZATION PATHWAY

“We founded Augment Health, Inc. to commercialize this invention so we can get it into people’s hands and help them to achieve improved peace of mind and quality of life,” Meyers said. “The technology seeks not only to limit, if not eliminate, embarrassing events that seem inevitable for those who require catheters and urine collection devices, but also to minimize directly associated urologic and urinary health concerns.”

CreateX and GCMI-supported “alumnus” keeps patient and user needs as its north star.

 

Read on.

PHASE ZERO AND PHASE ONE SERVICES ACCELERATING WEARABLE PEDIATRIC STETHOSCOPE PATH TO COMMERCIALIZATION

“I can say with confidence our journey toward commercialization of our new [wearable pediatric stethoscope] would have taken years longer without GCMI’s Phase Zero and Phase One services.”

The winner of the 2021 competition for their innovative wearable pediatric stethoscope activated GCMI’s Phase Zero analysis and Phase One medtech innovation services to advance the cause.

Read on to examine the ways these activities have advanced the technology’s pathway to commercialization.

GCMI’S SHERRY FARRUGIA AND MIKE FISHER SHARE IN THE PRESIDENTS’ AWARD OF DISTINCTION FROM CTSA FOR TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH

Chief Executive Officer, Sherry Farrugia, and Director for Product Development Mike Fisher, were among those recently awarded the Presidents’ Award of Distinction for Team Science from the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance (Georgia CTSA).

 

This device has the opportunity to improve patient safety for those receiving IV therapy, especially children.

 

Read on. 

GEORGIA TECH RESEARCHERS PARTNER WITH GCMI TO MOVE THEIR INNOVATIVE IV SENSOR CLOSER TO CLINICAL TRIALS

In 2014, a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta nurse, Lynn Pogue, approached an engineer, Leanne West from Georgia Tech, to discuss the burden of IV monitoring. This is when Sherry Farrugia, the current Chief Executive Officer of GCMI, stepped in to help assemble the team that would begin the investigation into a new device capable of mitigating IV ‘infiltration’ or ‘leakage’ in pediatric patients.

Read on. 

FROM CAPSTONE THROUGH CREATE-X AND ON TO THE PRECIPICE OF COMMERCIALIZATION: ETHOS MEDICAL’S MEDTECH JOURNEY FOR ITS NOVEL SPINAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM

In 2018, GCMI chronicled one Georgia Tech Capstone team’s effort to end complications from epidural misplacement. Fast forward more than three years and the promising product dubbed Neuraline has evolved to become a new medtech startup: Ethos Medical. The Ethos team leveraged the supporting elements and mentors within the Georgia Tech CREATE-X program—with assistance from GCMI and T3 Labs—to advance development of its needle guidance system.

STRIDELINK WALKS QUICKLY INTO THE FUTURE OF PHYSICAL THERAPY THROUGH CREATE-X AND GCMI

“Don’t build first, listen,” Zea advises others with innovative ideas for new medical technologies. “This can be inherently difficult for engineers, designers and builders. But it’s immensely important. You’ll get it wrong if you don’t listen [closely to the customers’ or users’ needs first].”

WHY GCMI FOR YOUR MEDTECH DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT NEEDS? WE HAVE ESTABLISHED A PROVEN, CAPITAL-EFFICIENT PATHWAY AND PROCESS.

“If we worked with another design and development firm, we wouldn’t have had the flexibility to do what we needed to do in the time frame we set. GCMI is unique in that we were able to choose the services that we needed precisely at the time we needed them. The way GCMI engages with their customers is unlike any other firm.” Read on to learn more about our capital efficient, phase-gated medtech development process.

WHY GCMI FOR YOUR MEDTECH DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT NEEDS? AS A NON-PROFIT AFFILIATE OF GEORGIA TECH, OUR GOAL IS SIMPLE: YOUR SUCCESS.

As a non-profit affiliate of Georgia Tech, GCMI fills a specific role or roles for a period of time, allowing you to complete the work with no strings attached. Our team is here to help you design the right product, primed for manufacturing, then help you find the best way to get it to market – whether or not that means sticking with GCMI. Read on.

GEORGIA BIO NAMES GCMI, THE SALDANA RESEARCH GROUP AND GEORGIA TECH 2021 GOLDEN HELIX INNOVATION AWARD WINNER

Georgia Bio, the state’s life science trade association, named GCMI, the Saldana Research Group and Georgia Tech 2021 Golden Helix Innovation Award recipients for our fast-response PPE program. The Innovation Award recognizes the department, institution, company or individuals who are forging new ground by thinking outside traditional paradigms to create some unique technology.

Read more about the project and its impact.

RECORDING & TAKEAWAYS: LESSONS LEARNED FROM RAPID COMMERCIALIZATION AND COLLABORATION IN RESPONSE TO PPE SHORTAGES

Innovative medical technologies start with a great idea, novel science and an identified unmet clinical need. The process by which these technologies enter clinical care is as complicated as the science behind it. On October 7th, Georgia Tech Associate Professor of Engineering Christopher Saldana and the team at GCMI shared the impetus, idea, regulatory requirements and processes that moved Chris’ team’s engineering idea out of his lab and into the hands of frontline healthcare professionals all in the midst of a pandemic.

Watch and listen.

MORE HEALTHCARE SHORTAGES LEAD TO ANOTHER POWERFUL GEORGIA TECH, GCMI COLLABORATION: REDEFINING HAND SANITIZER AND DONATING 7,000 GALLONS TO FIGHT COVID-19 VIA GT RESEARCH HORIZONS

Following closely on the heels of GCMI’s work with Georgia Tech and others to design, produce and deliver hundreds of thousands of PPE face shields to frontline health workers, Georgia Tech and GCMI have combined their resources to help solve another critical shortage in healthcare: hand sanitizer.

“Georgia Tech is about the power to convene. Companies and stakeholders are eager to come to the table here to make things happen,” said Dr. George White, Interim Vice President of Georgia Tech’s Office of Industry Collaboration.

Read more.

WHAT DOES THE PROJECT PLANNING PROCESS FOR MEDTECH INNOVATION LOOK LIKE?

Project planning, also referred to as “Phase 1” at GCMI, follows directly after the feasibility phase, “Phase Zero.”  Phase 1 is the beginning of the formal product development process that complies with medical device regulatory requirements and with business strategy. This phase is all about determining the resources, the timing, and the work that’s required for product success.

Read more about our planning process: where it fits with product development and why it’s important.

COLLABORATION IN ACTION: HOW GEORGIA TECH FACULTY AND THE FLOWERS INVENTION STUDIO USED GCMI AND THE ATLANTA MEDTECH ECOSYSTEM TO BRING DESPERATELY NEEDED PPE TO FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS.

In mid-March 2020, the shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare providers responding to the COVID-19 outbreak had become a national emergency. By March 13 Christopher Saldana, Ph.D., associate professor of manufacturing at Georgia Tech and his mechanical engineering students and colleagues were already working on challenges and solutions for desperately needed protective personal equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers.

Read more about how this collaboration produced and delivered more than 250,000 PPE face shields by April 7.

DELTA FLIGHT PRODUCTS BEGINS MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF GCMI-DESIGNED PPE

From the Delta News Hub: April 2, 2020: Delta Flight Products, the airline’s wholly owned subsidiary, is collaborating with Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), a non-profit affiliate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, to manufacture face shields to protect hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using materials and designs provided by GCMI, Delta Flight Products is leveraging its best-in-class manufacturing facilities to quickly deliver an initial order of 2,000 shields to aid workers in New York by Friday, and an additional 4,000 for Atlanta-area hospitals in the following days.

Read more from the Delta News Hub.

What Do You Get Out of GCMI's Phase Zero for Medical Device Design?

When an innovator has identified a medical problem, taking an efficient approach to minimize risk and identify the viability of potential solutions is key. Our Phase Zero focuses on evaluating critical product elements early, minimizing risk, cost and effort.

Key questions:

  • What is the clinical need or problem to be solved?
  • How will the product’s critical features address clinical need?
  • What is the product’s regulatory pathway?
  • Can the innovator’s intellectual property be protected?
  • Is there a market for the product?
  • Who are the competitors?

Answering these questions validates the project direction and anticipates your resource requirements, timeline and team needs. What, then, should medical technology innovators with a ‘napkin sketch’ or research idea expect to get out of GCMI’s Phase Zero service offering?

INITIAL DESIGNS FOR PROTOTYPING PPE FACE SHIELDS AVAILABLE

GCMI, in partnership with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Georgia Tech Pediatric Technology Center, has completed our first design files for those wishing to prototype Face Shields for healthcare providers, the first in what we hope will be a series of designs for badly needed PPE items.

Engaging a flexible third party medical product development firm to help you tackle an inflexible medical device design and development process

“GCMI is unique in that we were able to choose the services that we needed precisely at the time we needed them. The way GCMI engages with their customers is unlike any other firm.” – Lou Malice, nFant CEO

Shifting indications can accelerate a medical devices’ original intention

“We would be quite naive about what’s next if not for GCMI. It’s a bootcamp on medical technology commercialization for academic researchers.” – Darren Roblyer, Ph.D., Boston University

Recent Medical Device Design News