September 11, 2026
At a Glance
- Solvents used in manufacturing can have an effect on the performance of devices.
- Design engineers, R&D leaders, material engineers, and other teams should think about chemistries earlier during development.
- Sean Gallimore of MicroCare Medical will speak about “designing for cleanability" at MD&M Midwest.
As medical devices evolve, they often promise better performance in smaller packages, using newly available materials while trying to achieve sustainability or biocompatibility requirements. But one key aspect can sometimes surface too late in the process. And that is how the device will be cleaned. Design engineers must consider whether solvents used in the manufacturing process will affect the performance reliability of the product and whether previous methods of cleaning will be as effective.
“The earlier you have that in your conversation, in your thinking, it actually can accelerate your ability to get to market sooner,” said Sean Gallimore, chief operating officer at MicroCare Medical, in an interview with Design News.
Gallimore believes that challenges in choosing the proper cleaning chemistries will increase as new materials emerge, such as composite plastics, new combinations of plastics and metals, new molded materials, and 3D printed materials, as well as the push for sustainability.
“We think that the way things are being designed with miniaturization, tighter tolerances, newer technologies, newer materials, that it’s even more important to consider the chemical implementations sooner than later,” he said. “Thinking about it a little bit differently than traditional ways is what we're trying to focus on.”
Solvents used in manufacturing can also have an effect on the performance of devices, Gallimore said. For example, he cited the case of a company’s cardiac catheters and how they are manufactured to achieve the correct dimensions and tolerances. However, the processing oils can leave residue on the catheter materials. The cleaning solution the company used was not sufficient to remove all the residue and the hydrophilic coating did not adhere to the surface.
The coating issue also affected the dimensional tolerances and performance of the catheter. “We were approached just to figure out how to solve that, and we figured out that it was a different solvent that was needed,” Gallimore said. “We were able to help provide them a better solvent that basically navigated the geometry better, provided the cleaning, and then when it evaporated, it left the surface more holistically better,” he explained. “So, you actually had the coating adherence that was needed. But that required them to pause their development a bit, to go back and figure this point out, and then trust the change.”
Gallimore will address these important issues during an Oct. 28 session at MD&M Midwest, “Designing for Cleanability: The Hidden Key to Faster Launches and More Reliable Medical Devices.”
Gallimore said that he has seen other cases in which product developments were held back because they ran into manufacturing or design issues when the chemistries did not have the right compatibility, lubrication, or cleaning quotients. “What we've learned is that if you address these issues earlier in the process—design, manufacturability, sustainability, performance, all the way to once it becomes a clinical practice—if you do that earlier in the process, it can actually help you go faster in commercialization, and a better postmarket performance, if you do that planning in front,” he explained.
MicroCare Medical’s background in diversified industrial sectors (such as electronics, automotive, aerospace, as well as digital infrastructure areas including fiber optics, data centers, and hard disk drives) gives the company a unique perspective into emerging medical devices with the same types of tight geometries, for example.
“We also have disinfectants, so we can think about enzymatic or proven chemistries that do disinfection,” Gallimore said. “We have cleaning fluids that range from the manufacturing to the development, all the way to the clinical use of disinfections.”
When asked who should attend his session, Gallimore said people in various areas of medical device manufacturing could benefit from it. He mentioned design engineers, program managers for new products or re-engineering of new products, quality engineers, R&D leaders, material engineers, biocompatibility [engineers], and quality systems personnel specifically.
Gallimore said the most important message he hopes his attendees take away from his session is to think about chemistries earlier. “That's the key thing. And when you think about design, manufacturability, and sustainability—all those things are important, but we suggest that you're better served by partnering with a real good chemistry specialist,” he stressed.
No one should undertake an expert project like rebuilding a house without consulting experts, Gallimore opined. “We're saying you should do the same thing with chemistries, especially now with the precision devices that you're trying to bring to the market,” he concluded. “It behooves you to think about it a little bit differently than in the past, and our experience is that if you work with the right partners, you can get better and faster performance, and better results.”
Gallimore and co-panelists, Juan De Paz-Lavelle, chemist 1 at MicroCare Medical; and Matt Lingenfelter, national sales manager, healthcare at MicroCare Medical, will present “Designing for Cleanability: The Hidden Key to Faster Launches and More Reliable Medical Devices,” on Wednesday, October 28, from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m., in Room 101 F, at MD&M Midwest.
MD&M Midwest
Oct 28, 2026 TO Oct 29, 2026
|Minneapolis Convention Center | Minneapolis, MN
MD&M Midwest in Minneapolis is the midwest's largest annual end-to-end design and manufacturing event.