OPN: How would you describe your position within the company?
DB: I’m an Innovations Manager for Xiros, working within the Research and Development department.

OPN: Tell me about your R&D facilities?
DB: Our R&D team comprises post-graduate bio-engineers providing a wide skills and knowledge base including design, biomechanics, biomaterials, engineering, textile manufacture, project management and marketing. The team is committed to creating cutting edge patentable products that satisfy the client and ultimately the end users.

We have on a single site all the design, analysis, manufacturing and testing equipment that is required to provide an in-house solution to product research and development. We can, therefore, provide a fast track facility, enabling a concept to be turned into a marketable product in the shortest possible time.

OPN: How does Xiros go about developing new projects?
DB: The concepts for new products stem from many sources, including surgeons, universities and other medical companies, together with ideas generated internally at Xiros. But whoever it may be, we work closely with our clients to determine the features and characteristics that are required from the product concept before generating a detailed specification.

Whether it’s for a “hard” implant or instrument, or a “soft” textile device, brain-storming techniques are used where appropriate to generate and refine solutions to concepts that are proposed.

Appropriate digital media is then utilised to generate three-dimensional representations of the concept. Surface reflections, colours, textures and materials can be added to these virtual objects to produce near-photographic representations. This provides the opportunity of visualising a prototype of the concept on a computer, which is often as good as holding the finished product in your hand.

The concept is therefore easily communicated to the client so that constructive feedback on the visual aesthetics and design prior to its manufacture and testing can be realised. Such visual information can be discussed in face to face meetings, or emailed directly to the client enabling frequent contact and feedback. Such three-dimensional images and animation capabilities of Xiros can also be used by the client to support functions such as marketing and sales.

Analysis and optimisation of “hard” concepts can also be performed at this virtual stage by use of finite element analysis (FEA) techniques. The material properties and forces on the concept can be applied to the virtual prototype to simulate real-world conditions. Consequently it is possible to determine whether the design will bend, buckle or fail under such conditions. The shape of the concept can be optimised to ensure that it performs within the defined operating parameters ensuring product quality. Such analysis also helps to shorten the development time and reduce the amount of physical testing, so reducing costs and time to market.

The R&D manufacturing facilities include a full CNC machine shop in which “hard” prototypes and small batch runs of such product can be produced. Prototypes for medical textile fabrics are also produced in-house. We believe our capabilities are second to none, being able to manufacture a wide variety of fabric structures including narrow woven flat and tubular tapes, braids, continuous loop winding, as well as offering low temperature gas plasma surface modification at a molecular level. Such prototypes can then be compression or tensile tested to failure or cyclically loaded on our materials testing machines.

We can also pool in other skills such as regulatory affairs, microbiology and marketing from the business development staff at Xiros to provide a complete range of skills to allow the concept to be taken through to the point of sale.

OPN: How do you meet customer ordering and delivery requirements?
DB: An Innovations Manager takes direct responsibility for a concept. They act as a focal point for all communications with the client and co-ordinate the Xiros R&D project team to ensure that the client’s requirements are met within the agreed deadlines. The projects are run within design and manufacturing systems accredited by BSI to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 13485:2003.

They also comply with the US FDA’s Quality System Regulation (21 CFR part 820). Many of our clients comment on our fast service, something that we pride ourselves in being able to offer.

Xiros also houses a full cleanroom production and packaging facility so that the concept can be supplied directly to the client as a boxed, labelled, sterile and fully CE marked product ready for sale.

OPN: What are Xiros plans for expansion in the future?
DB: We understand that the medical device market is in a state of perpetual technological advancement and hence we continually develop our expertise at Xiros in order to provide the best service to our clients. We have recently expanded our range of textile machinery so that we can provide an even wider portfolio of capabilities.

Xiros can be contacted on +44 (0)133 238 7202