The OPENMIND project provides the first continuous and fully automated process chain for the on-demand manufacturing of entirely customised medical devices. The direct outcome from the project is a production system that will be able to manufacture endless micro-profiles with individual characteristics in a continuous process. The full implementation of the OPENMIND system is enabling highest possible individualisation in an endless production process and thus close the gap between efficient series production and on-demand customisation. The products (guide wires, catheters, micro-instruments) will be customisable by the end-users themselves and hence will be at the very front of current market developments. The OPENMIND system combines a highly customisable continuous process chain for very cost efficient fully automated production of medical devices with comprehensive data mining functionalities using similarity considerations based on formerly developed processes in order to accelerate process development times significantly. Due to this two-fold approach fast and reliable production of customised parts is guaranteed. In the end, this will give the physician the opportunity to tailor the device to her or his specific needs and will thus maximise the efficiency of minimally invasive surgery.
Thanks to the OPENMIND concept, combining highly flexible processes and intelligent data mining functionality, new perspectives for personalised medical devices will open. Improvements are expected in terms of reduction of lead-times for manufacturing of custom made parts (by 50%) due to continuous manufacturing, as well as reduction of process development time (by 50%) and costs (by 20%) due to data mining assisted parametrisation resulting in a reduced time to market (by 30%).
The development of new compatible devices and advancements in the MRI technology will be the next revolution in the field of minimally invasive surgery and will lead to completely new procedures grouped under the term interventional MRI (iMRI). The demonstrator devices of the OPENMIND project will be manufactured without any macroscopic metallic components and thus will be inherently MRI-safe. Therefore, they fully comply with the requirements of future iMRI procedures. This will perfectly fit into the upcoming trend of combining MRI and CT settings to new and powerful multi-modal imaging suites.
Due to the fact, that cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in the EU, this will have a strong social impact: regardless of the direct health care costs, the productivity loss due to CVD adds up to over 45 billion € per year only in Europe. With the help of customised minimally invasive medical devices physicians will be able to maximise the outcome of modern keyhole surgery reducing the time for recovery and the risk of medical complications. The added value of the project is that Openmind will develop a flexible technology, metal free, compatibility with diagnostic images, transforming MRI from a sophisticated diagnostic technology to a powerful therapeutic tool.
