Instruments

Introduction to Research Area 1

Minimally Invasive Procedures (MIP) need small but powerful equipment, which can be operated through small artificial or natural orifices. New surgical approaches often cannot be sufficiently performed with conventional instruments and tools. Research Area 1 aims to solve these problems by developing novel surgical tools offering improved instrument control and thus significantly increasing the safety and quality of medical interventions in a variety of surgical applications.

We focus our R&D in this area on:

• Multi-functional tools
• Active and steerable surgical instruments
• Optimized drive train systems
• Instruments with integrated micro-fluidics

ACMIT Competence

In Research Area 1, "Surgical tools and instruments", ACMIT offers an experienced engineering team, skilled in latest CAD hard- and software and efficient problem solution competence, which allows to individually compile developer teams according to the particular tasks. The technical and scientific expert pool consists of members from knowledge fields as

• Mechanical engineering
• Medical engineering
• Microsystems technology
• Technical physics
• Material science
• Chemistry
• Simulation

For realization of functional samples and prototypes, facilities are available right at the ACMIT site. Additionally, a network of manufacturers for all relevant technologies and materials is standing by.

Benefits for industry and scientific partners

By introducing expertise in latest developments in material science and actuator technologies, Area 1 offers R&D abilities to develop novel instruments based on small effectors, solving prominent problems in surgical tools like friction and wear. Both by elaborate design and by application of novel functional materials with extreme durability or elasticity, we exhibit the basis for "one of a kind" surgical tools, which can excel known solutions in function and performance.
Technical scientific partners will have the chance to take part in attractive surgical oriented R&D work. And scientific partners from the medical area will extent their expertise of status and trends in research for tools for modern surgery. Instrument development in Research Area 1 offers a series of demanding and currently unsolved scientific challenges, especially in material science, tribology and simulation.

Contact person: For any question about the work in ACMIT Research Area 1 please contact the responsible area manager, Dipl.-Ing. Christoph Kment.