Obama Care: devices

Showing posts with label devices. Show all posts

Thursday, June 27, 2013

New Ultra-Thin Solar Cell Could Massively Boost Battery Life Of Personal Mobile Devices

Alta Devices CEO Christopher Norris

A Silicon Valley solar company has developed a method for manufacturing light, ultra-thin, flexible, and durable solar cells that manage to convert a record 30.8 percent of the energy in light into electricity. The company, Alta Devices, previously set a record of 28.8 percent conversion efficiency with another form of solar cell.

It hopes its latest creation could be adapted to fit small mobile devices such as smartphones and iPad tablets, which until now have only been able to fit conventional solar cells that are much less efficient and charge slowly.

Here’s the quick summary, via Energy Matters:

Alta Devices has announced a record 30.8 percent efficiency with its latest generation dual-junction thin-film solar cell, a breakthrough the company says has the potential to vastly improve the battery life of mobile systems.
The record efficiency has been verified by the USA’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the same body which last year confirmed Alta’s record of 28.8 percent efficiency for its single-junction solar cell.
Alta’s technology is based on flexible thin-film solar wafers made from gallium arsenide (GaAs). GaAs solar cells are far more expensive to manufacture than traditional PV cells, but with such high energy conversion levels, the new dual-junction cell allows for more energy to be generated over a smaller area, making them perfect for use in devices such as smartphones, tablets and other portable devices.

The gallium arsenide layer, while not the entirety of the completed cell, is incredibly then — approximately one micron, or one-fortieth the width of a human hair — reports the New York Times, which also has a more detailed description of the cells’ construction process.

Alta has already developed a prototype cover for a Samsung Galaxy phone and is working on designs for other smartphones. If it works out, the solar cells could vastly improve the battery life of most mobile devices for very little cost:

It wouldn’t do away with the battery. But depending on the light level where the device was carried, it could add 80 percent to the battery life. The main benefit would be outdoors or on a windowsill, because sunlight has about 100 times more energy than the light typically provided by fluorescent or incandescent lamps. Indoors, it might add only 10 to 15 percent. But the efficient type, gallium arsenide, is not only better overall at capturing energy; it is also better suited to capturing energy in low-light conditions that the ordinary silicon solar cells.…
A smartphone would probably take a patch of film with a peak output, in full sunlight, of 1.5 watts, he said, which is probably only about $3 worth of materials. (A cellphone plugged into a wall outlet generally draws 3 to 5 watts, [Christopher S. Norris, the chief executive of Alta Devices] said, and an iPad, about 10 watts.) “If you’re in full sun, a watt and a half for 10 minutes will give you an hour of talk time,” he said.

Alta has even posted a calculator online that can estimate the benefits of the cells in different types of light.

The technology remains in the development phase: Alta’s only actual customer so far is the military, which uses the cells to cut down on the batteries soldiers have to bring into the field, to reduce diesel fuel consumption at fixed bases, to power drones, and to sew into everything from backpacks to tents. But the company is already eying an advance into the automobile market: while the surface area of a car wouldn’t provide enough energy to power the motor, it could power additional functions like air conditioning, power steering or power brakes.

Alta already has a pilot manufacturing line to take care of the demand from the military, and a 40-megawatt factory on track to begin construction next year solar components for smartphones and other mobile devices. “[The 30.8 percent target is] also an important step toward our target of 38 percent efficient cells,” Norris said. “We continue to redefine the boundaries of what is possible with solar power.”

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Thursday, May 9, 2013

White House Policy for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices

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For Immediate Release February 26, 2013 White House Policy for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices

The President signed the White House Policy for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices today. The policy can be found here.

Blog posts on this issue February 27, 2013 3:23 PM ESTRosa Parks has a Permanent Place in the U.S. Capitol

President Obama is on hand for the unveiling of the new Rosa Parks statue in the U.S. Capitol

February 27, 2013 12:00 PM ESTCatching Up with the Curator: Watch Meeting--Dec. 31st 1862--Waiting for the Hour

To mark African American History Month, as well as the 150th anniversary of the year the Emancipation Proclamation, we talked with White House Curator Bill Allman about a painting called Watch Meeting--Dec. 31st 1862--Waiting for the Hour that hangs near the Oval Office in the West Wing.

February 26, 2013 3:00 PM ESTPresident Obama Calls for a Responsible Approach to Deficit Reduction

President Obama strongly believes we need to replace the arbitrary cuts known as the sequester with balanced deficit reduction, and today he was at a shipyard in Newport News, VA to talk about what failing to do so will mean for middle class families.

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Industry and EU clash over medical devices regulation

* Europe revisits rules after breast, hip implant scandals

* Manufacturers fear new regulations will delay approvals

* Debate centres on overhauling decentralised EU system

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - One year on from a breast implant scandal that shook confidence in Europe's light-touch system for regulating medical devices, lawmakers and manufacturers are at loggerheads on ways to protect patients from shoddy products.

Companies that make implantable devices such as new hips and heart stents accept the need for change to the current set-up but oppose a radical overhaul, arguing that would delay the launch of new devices by years and stifle innovation.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, has proposed a new level of scrutiny, and some members of the European Parliament want a whole new system of pre-market approval that would raise the bar still further.

National governments also take differing positions, with France arguing EU laws must be "radically redrafted", while Britain opposes big changes.

The issue will come to a head at a European Parliament committee on Feb. 26, where officials, industry leaders and doctors' representatives will argue over the way forward.

Dagmar Roth-Behrendt, the German lawmaker chairing the panel, is convinced Europe needs a more rigorous system for testing medical devices before they are approved.

"We absolutely need that," she told Reuters. "We don't need it for every medical device, but for certain medical devices, without any doubt, we need a more stringent prior authorisation system."

Like some top doctors, she believes the current system built on around 80 Notified Bodies - mainly private firms scattered across Europe - is simply not up to the job.

Panos Vardas, president of the European Society of Cardiology, said there were "major deficiencies" in the current system and a more coordinated approach was vital. Cardiologists are big users of medical devices, ranging from stents that prop open arteries to pacemakers and artificial heart valves.

The negotiation process between governments, parliament and the Commission is likely to be lengthy, and new legislation may not come into force across the EU until as late as 2019.

NEEDLE IN HAYSTACK

Critics say Europe's weak regulation is partly to blame for allowing France's Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) to manufacture for up to a decade substandard silicone breast implants that were used by hundreds of thousands of women around the world.

But EU trade group Eucomed, representing some 22,500 device companies, argues no system could stop a fraud like PIP. It also questions whether a different regime would have stopped risky metal-on-metal hip implants reaching the market, given such hips were also approved under the more stringent U.S. system.

A key debate is whether Europe should shift to a centralised system as in the United States, potentially by folding devices regulation into the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

EMA boss Guido Rasi, who will address the Feb. 26 meeting, said in an interview last year there was an "urgent need" to regulate devices as tightly as drugs, although whether the EMA should play a role was up to politicians.

That notion alarms Eucomed's CEO Serge Bernasconi.

"If Europe were to switch to a centralised system, we expect that, once the new system is up and running, patients will experience a 3-5 year unnecessary delay in receiving medical devices compared to today's situation," he said.

And getting such a system up to speed could cause an additional delay of one or two years, he added, undermining Europe's leading position in devices innovation.

An analysis by Boston Consulting Group last year found high-tech medical devices were, on average, made available in Europe 43 months before reaching the U.S. market.

The European Commission's answer is to reform the current decentralised system by allowing a new Medical Device Coordination Group to request additional assessments - such as longer or larger clinical trials - for some so-called "Class III", or high-risk, devices.

Manufacturers, however, fear this approach will be random and akin to looking for "a needle in a haystack", with little chance of picking up problems.

Major makers of medical devices include Johnson & Johnson , Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott , Allergan and Smith & Nephew.

The industry backs the Commission's goal of improving standards at Notified Bodies, but would rather this was done by selecting only the best ones to approve higher risk devices, rather than introducing an extra layer of scrutiny.

More than 500,000 medical devices are sold in the EU, ranging from bandages, dentures and wheelchairs to pacemakers.

They are regulated under the Conformite Europeenne system, which is also used for gadgets like toasters, though getting a "CE mark" for a medical device is tougher than for such household appliances.

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Healthcare reform tax on medical devices is a mistake

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Healthcare reform tax on medical devices is a mistakeBy Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio)-01/08/13 11:15 AM ET !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

During a time when our nation’s economy struggles to stabilize and manufacturing jobs continue to diminish there has been one industry within the manufacturing sector that has ascended as a global leader – America’s medical device industry. This industry, described as an American success story, has brought us lifesaving technologies such as pacemakers, CT scanners, artificial joints, defibrillators, and cardiac stents; as well as many jobs here at home.

The medical device industry employs over 400,000 Americans directly and is indirectly accountable for roughly 2 million high-skilled manufacturing jobs. According to a 2012 Battelle Technology Partnership Practice report, over 14,000 people are directly employed in Ohio by the medical technology industry. Further, from a Lewin Group report, for every medical technology job an additional 1.9 positions are created in the state.

While Americans are currently experiencing a decrease in wages, the average annual salary within the medical device industry is 40 percent above the national average, according to the Medical Device Manufacturers Association. In Ohio, the average medical technology employee earns 12.8 percent more than the average employee earnings in the state.

Unfortunately, the future of this growing and innovative industry is confronted with much uncertainty as it prepares for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare), specifically a 2.3 percent excise tax on the sale of any medical device. A 2.3 percent excise tax will be devastating to the medical device industry, threatening to stifle innovation and the creation of American jobs. Once estimated to be a $20 billion excise tax, but now is estimated to collect over $30 billion in taxes, this ObamaCare pay-for went into effect January 1, 2013.

Combined with a 35 percent corporate tax rate, state and local taxes, and the 2.3 percent tax on its sales, not profits, many medical device manufacturers are faced with a severe tax hike. As a result, companies are looking at a host of options to offset this tax in order to remain competitive and profitable, including increased consumer prices, relocating business to overseas where tax rates are much lower, and layoffs. In a recent Reuters report, publicly traded medical technology companies have cut approximately 7,000 American jobs in 2012, and according to an AdvaMed survey conducted in late December of last year, 62 percent of companies surveyed said they are planning layoffs or reduced hiring to help offset the tax.

Along with the loss of domestic jobs, budgets for research and development have been slashed. A report from the Pacific Research Institute shows that it is estimated that the medical device tax will reduce industry research and development investment by $2 billion annually. Ultimately, medical devices will be produced outside of the United States and our national health care quality hindered.

While we move forward to spur our economic growth, we cannot afford burdensome tax policies, such as the medical device tax that create a hostile business environment and hamper job retention and creation. With a strong manufacturing presence and numerous innovative, world-class hospitals and medical centers, Ohio stands to lose on jobs and economic growth should this tax not be repealed. In addition to jobs in Ohio, full repeal of this tax will save up to 47,000 jobs nationally, support medical innovation, and provide American families with more choices and flexibility.

Congress must act to repeal the medical device tax before the policy becomes irreversible. In June of last year, a bill of which I am a cosponsor, H.R. 436 sponsored by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), to repeal the medical device tax, passed the U.S. House; however, it was not taken up in the Senate, despite its growing bipartisan support.

There are few industries that have had such positive growth over the past several years as the medical device industry, and in this fragile economy, these jobs are more important than ever. The medical device tax is one of the most onerous taxes contained in the health care law, and must be repealed.

Latta, a Republican from Ohio, serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

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