WILD supports its customers in integrating viral protection approaches into medical technology products.

Hospitals, medical practices, care homes. Institutions in which there is direct and close contact between medical staff and patients have been dealing with the topic of viral protection for a long time. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to the corresponding hygiene and protective equipment, there is now an increasing focus on the design of medical products themselves. ”We are seeing a change in the mindset and the purchasing behaviour of our customers, which has an impact on the product design“, says Business Developer Franz Aigner. Many medical technology companies are now asking themselves how they can adjust their products to make them more ”virus safe“.

A possible answer to this are remote control solutions. ”This makes perfect sense in the case of devices used in eye examination or in the clinical monitoring of skin diseases, so as to minimise the contagion risk as much as possible. ”The diagnostic devices are operated and controlled at a safe distance from the patient using remote control“, Aigner explains. The systems partner is also carefully following the latest developments regarding anti-microbial surfaces currently being tested worldwide. However, as Aigner qualifies, ”because coatings do not have a lasting germicidal effect, manufacturers are nevertheless taking other precautionary measures at the moment“.

A significantly more promising approach is the integration of a suction system for aerosols at or near to the potential source of viruses. In the case of dental interventions, it has been shown that most aerosols head in the direction of the patient‘s and dentist‘s chest, and toward the face of the dental staff. Therefore, an at-source capture system can contribute to significantly reducing the contamination risk. WILD co-developed a similar system some ten years ago, which captures the laser aerosol cloud generated during eye laser surgery as a result of the ablation of the corneal tissue. ”That is precisely the point: There are already several technical solutions on the market for the problem of viral protection. The objective now is to properly integrate these in medical technology products.

As a contract manufacturer, we see ourselves as initiators and partners in product development, who can contribute a decisive technological edge in many areas“, says Aigner. The fact that the WILD Group operates in several different sectors creates a fertile ground for cross engineering effects, resulting in exciting solution approaches.