A Medical Device Daily

Adept Technology (Livermore, California), a provider of vision-guided robotics and global robotics services, reported a medical device automation program with Insulet (Bedford, Massachusetts) for the OmniPod Insulet Management System, a technology for insulin delivery in diabetes management.

The OmniPod system integrates insulin infusion and blood glucose monitoring in a two-part system. Insulet's medical device production will use Adept Cobra SCARA robots and Adept Viper 6-Axis articulated robots under coordinated Smart SERVO control.

Kevin Schmid, vice president of manufacturing, said, “We continuously expand our OmniPod production capability in order to satisfy the tremendous demand for this product. We need Adept's advanced robotics based on their flexibility, speed and dependability for our assembly operations.“

Insulet's OmniPod is being assembled in the U.S.

In other agreements news:

• Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, New York), the nation's oldest technological university, said they are collaborating on research in several areas including nano-medicine, nano-bio materials, smart orthopedic implants, biomolecular imaging, biocomputation and bioinformatics, bio-MEMS and the development of drug delivery devices.

Together they will develop joint research proposals and secure funding from federal and non-federal funding sources, such as corporations, foundations and private philanthropists.

The collaborating institutions will also establish a visiting scientist program and a summer internship program for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, the Lerner Research Institute and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute plan to hold joint research retreats, fund a joint seed grant program, offer joint seminars and workshops, and facilitate joint proposals and briefings to the National Institutes of Health in areas of mutual interest.

The Lerner Research Institute is home to all laboratory-based research at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.