Johnson Medtech, the medical products group of Johnson Electric, has announced the opening of four new cleanrooms in Shajing, China.
These new facilities will increase Johnson Medtech's medical manufacturing capacity by one million additional Class II and Class III medical devices and subassemblies per year to accommodate increasing demand.
Johnson Medtech's state-of-the-art cleanrooms cover 14,000 square meters on three floors. The new facilities include an ISO 6 Class 1,000 cleanroom equipped with an air shower, three ISO 8 Class 100,000 cleanrooms, an engineering office, a testing lab and a document control room.
Construction will also begin in July 2008 on an additional control manufacturing area, which will provide an assembly line and plastic injection workshop. The site will offer increased medical design, engineering, prototyping, testing, manufacturing, supply chain and logistic management capabilities to help accelerate the time to market for the growing list of medical device manufacturers in Johnson Medtech's client roster.
"With these new cleanroom facilities, Johnson Medtech is able to deliver an unparalleled scale of vertical integration for hospital-grade, medical quality devices to medical device manufacturers," said Robert Hoctor, vice president of medical devices for Johnson Electric. "With the demand for our design and medical device contract manufacturing services continually increasing, these new cleanrooms will help us continue to deliver on our ongoing commitment to provide the highest quality medical devices with the fastest time to market."
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have UK patent (US pending) for a new low back pain management device (method). It is a simple and small 10x30x50cm frame that can be suspended from an over door chin-up bar. I am a medical doctor and a long-term back pain sufferer and have been using this device for years to control my pain. It is a traction method that works in upright vertical position, has only one contra-indication, is very cost-effective (as all the other treatments are gradually abandoned) and is effective in keeping young LBP patients capable to work (there is no absolute cure for herniated disc back pain). I am now assessing interest in this product and would like to know whether you would be interested to help in any way possible one of which is mutual business.
The email below is for a manufacturer. It will help you thoroughly understand the idea of this Method if you read HYS attached.
Re: Low Back Pain (“LBP”) to be managed at home
I am a medical doctor qualified back in the Former Soviet Union. In 1972 I started suffering from herniated L5-S1 disc after lifting a very heavy load. I spent long time in hospitals and was given drugs which caused my stomach ulcer. Acupuncture had no effect on my back pain. This experience forced me to develop my own Method to keep back pain under control. It is a traction method. I am now 78 years old and have been using this Method at home and living without hospitals and the drugs for more than 37 years already. If it were not for my Method I think I would be in a wheelchair by now as mine is a serious case. It does not cure my spine completely – back pain becomes severe and my body "crooked" if I do not use traction for several weeks, hence this is not a case of spontaneous recovery. My Method keeps me from becoming a back cripple. Furthermore, as a kind of physical exercise, it has, I think, a positive side effect of preventing osteoporosis in the bones of my spine, upper limbs and shoulder girdle. Besides, I noticed it prevents periodontal disorders.
I filed the patent application to protect the rights to my Method in the UK and the USA. In the UK the Patent has already been granted (see attached). You can find details at: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-find-publication.htm under publication number GB 2465386 and at: http://www.uspto gov with Publication № US-2010-0125232-A1 (or see HYS attached).
As a medical doctor using this Method for my low back pain management I can claim that:
1. this Method kept me, a young LBP patient, capable to work;
2. it was cost-effective as all the other treatments were gradually abandoned;
3. this Method keeps me, now an old LBP patient, from becoming a back cripple.
There are some other advantages of this Method that require further investigation:
1. using this method by patients with simple backache might prevent subsequent disc injury that is highly possible in this group;
2. it may be a helpful and cost-effective treatment for patients with neck pain;
3. it may be a helpful and cost-effective treatment for patients with ankylosing spondylitis;
4. it may be reasonable to use this Method for preventative measures by people in groups of risk: sedentary mode of life, drivers, porters, weight-lifters, oarsmen and some other sportsmen;
5. this Method can be used for spine curvature correction;
6.regular use of this Method might prevent osteoporosis development in the bones of spine, upper limbs and shoulder girdle (it is a positive side effect);
7. this Method might prevent periodontal disorders providing the gums' massage (it is another positive side effect of this method).
Therefore, this is a promising project. As far as LBP is concerned the proposed Method is a little bit of revolution in this pain management.
To develop the Method commercially, I need to manufacture the device used in this Method. The device is a simple (if you have drawings) and small (10X30X50cm) frame made of plastics or composites. The detailed drawings can be sent to you once you sign a non-disclosure agreement. However, I have limited financing available and it is quite difficult for me to finance the cost of manufacturing. There are several grant Programmes that are ready to fund my project if I apply. However, I am unable to apply because I am retired, came here only 3 years ago, and thus not affiliated with a UK university, NHS trust or other approved research organisation and therefore not eligible to be the principal applicant (please read Programme emails). The whole situation makes it all difficult.
The way out is to find a manufacturer willing to organise a company with me as the inventor and patent-holder to produce and sell devices on the basis of sharing profits and of course the manufacturer getting back the cost.
According to the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and National Collaborating Centre (NCC), low back pain affects around 1 in 3 adults in the UK each year with an estimated 2.6 million people seeking help from their GP every year (see attached 'NCC. lbp'). Therefore, potential market in the UK only is 2.6 million patients a year. Assuming the Device costs £200 each for the patients (that is substantially cheaper than for example acupuncture – because my Device, once bought, can be used for several years) and even if only 5% of the patients would find the Method helpful in managing their back pain, the size of the potential market is over £25 million a year in the UK alone. The Device will also in due course be sold worldwide and, with an appropriate marketing campaign, not only currently suffering LBP patients will use this Method, but it will also be used to treat some other diseases and to prevent LBP by people in groups of risk mentioned above.
This Device has potential of further developing as in future (or just now with the price increased) special devices will be developed for osteoporotic patients to show them the force they apply to their spine. At the moment, without special devices, osteoporosis is the only contra-indication for using this Method. Dental implant or denture is only a situation to be careful as mouth-guard is used in any case.
I am still working on the way of getting financing from a grant Programme, but not sure how much time it will take. An investment by a manufacturer or a licensing arrangement seems to be a more appropriate course of action. Please let me know whether you would be interested in this project.
Kind regards,
Ivan Fedyaev
PS: Please help the project in any way possible.
1. Help the Method to be studied in a clinic. (Using that strange expression "Help the Method to be studied…", I want to underline that you help not only me personally but as well people suffering back pain). To study my Method in a clinic is my dream as a medical doctor because I am sure of it, using it.
It is not easy to help in this way. NICE Guidelines state: "Do not recommend traction because of risk of aggravating symptoms". You can read about "risk of aggravating symptoms" in HYS attached. Now about the statement itself. I think it is said about existing traction methods, it cannot be said about those methods that do not yet exist. It does not say: "Do not study any new traction method" (because it would have meant nonsense if they had said so). Our academics take it as if it states exactly so – do not study any new traction method. That is why I cannot find an academic ready to be the lead applicant for the project (see "professor…" attached). So, to help in this way means to find an academic brave enough in this situation to become the lead applicant. Can you help?
2. The second way you can help is to find (or to be) a sponsor to pay so called inititial tooling using 3D CAD data (manufacturing files) to produce a prototype and working model of the device. It is about £30 – 35K depending on a design company. Much more is involved in advertisement.
3. The third very important possibility to help is to publish 'HYS' attached or advertise the Method.
4. It would be the best to establish mutual business on basis of sharing profits.
Kind regards
Ivan Fedyaev