Scope
CAE's clients prefer agreements that engage our holistic participation during R&D and non-clinical stages of device development. Within the scope of these agreements, CAE contributes to:
- Initial material selection,
- Material characterization and experiment validation,
- Selection of design parameters based on anatomical criteria,
- Synthesis of in-vitro testing methods, quantification, and validation,
- Device shape design supported by FE Analysis,
- Performance optimization using parametric FEA models,
- FE Analysis and simulation of manufacturing steps,
- FE Analysis of packaging steps,
- Thermal effects of sterilization and FE Analysis of processing,
- FE Analysis and straining during delivery through a catheter and intravascular passageway,
- FE Analysis and simulation of device interaction with tissue post-implantation,
- FE Analysis of structural and fatigue performance during simulated in-vivo operation,
- Preparation of material characterization reports, and
- Preparation of structural and fatigue performance reports.
Intricacies in the geometric features of some medical devices present challenges to generic CAD and meshing programs which occasionally fail to produce good FEA models. One of CAE's unique services has been the development of low-cost meshing tools with parametric features that allow the creation of healthy and contiguous meshes.
Some clients elect to make use of benefits afforded by CAE's VnV or “go-no-go” service. CAE is retained as a third party test lab rather than a participant in the R&D team. In this mode of interaction, CAE offers analysis services leading to the computation of structural and fatigue performance characterization of medical devices. Special customer needs have also lead to agreements that combined features of both of the above modes of collaboration.
