RMIT University’s Discovery to Device facility opens this September in Melbourne. Carole Goldsmith reports.
RMIT University’s exciting Discovery to Device (D2D) advanced manufacturing facility will open this September at its city campus in Melbourne. The $16.7m Victorian Medical Device Prototyping and Scale–Up facility will enable entrepreneur start-up manufacturers and researchers to work together to develop new medical technologies for healthcare and diagnostics.
Earlier this year, Victorian Minister for Higher Education, Gayle Tierney announced $12.7m in funding from the Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF) for RMIT’s new facility.
D2D Director, Professor Sharath Sriram says that this complex will be the first ISO-accredited prototyping facility in the Asia-Pacific to support rapid translation of partnered and industry-led research projects in wearable, nearable and flexible medical technologies. It will also follow the ISO 13485 standard used in the design and production of medical devices.
The facility will be available for universities and industry across Victoria for collaborations on wearables (wireless electronic devices that can be worn as accessories, embedded in clothing or implanted in the body), nearables (smart devices that can sense and send data but don’t need to be attached to a person) and point-of-care diagnostics (rapid screening for diseases).
“RMIT has core central facilities as well as the new D2D building,” advises Prof. Sriram. “At the existing core space, researchers conduct micro/nano-fabrication, additive/subtractive printing and materials characterisation. These were combined recently under a common ‘brand’ known as the Advanced Manufacturing Precinct.
“The existing facilities are for R&D in the early-stage discovery work. The Micro Nano Research Facility (MNRF) which opened in 2016, is where we test ideas and develop prototypes of different medical devices for our SMEs and start-up clients. When the D2D facility is operational, larger numbers of these prototypes will be made through manufacturing scale-up and we will be accelerating med-tech commercialisation. With fit out of the new facility completed in July, all equipment is being installed between July and September this year.”
“The three-core staff of the D2D Facility have already started work,” adds Prof. Sriram. “The Technical Coordinator handles facility operations and compliance with ISO accreditation documents. There are two technical officers, one is specialised in device fabrication and biosensing and the other is skilled in flexible electronics integration and packaging.
“Industry partners will be assisted by experienced research leaders. These key researchers will be supported by a group of 16 research fellows as well as PhD students to assist in problem-solving for industry clients.” He stresses that as well as working on medical devices’ R&D and commercialisation, they will be covering other industry sectors as well.
Discovery to device facility layout
Prof. Sriram describes some of the installations and advanced manufacturing equipment planned for the new 400sqmtr D2D facility. “There’ll be a Class 1,000 (ISO 6) cleanroom environment for fabrication of biosensors, nanoscale patterning and deposition of thin film coatings for functionalisation and electronic interfacing. We’ll also install specialised equipment to enable micro-machining of skin-mounted wearables and biocompatible materials for devices’ packaging.”
The D2D will house a class 10,000 (ISO 7) semiconductor clean room environment operating under ISO 13485 protocols (as required for medical devices’ manufacturing). This enables rapid throughput production of ultra-light flexible electronics’ circuits and advanced laser-based electronics prototyping. The facilities will also include state-of-the-art capabilities to characterise biosensors, which are systems or devices that can analyse biological samples.
Micro Nano Research Facility
Prof. Sriram invited AMT to view a range of the med-tech device prototypes being produced at the MNRF. These labs cover patterning of devices, ultra-thin and pure functional coatings and the creation of stretchable electronics and microfluidic devices.
“Here at the MNRF we make devices that use electronics, photons (light) or microfluids. Our researchers discuss the start-up client’s ideas for a device and we work together to develop the design and make the prototype.
“Interested larger manufacturers usually want a minimum order quantity, the cost of which start-ups and SMEs cannot bear. So, the D2D prototyping facility, where we can make a few thousand of the product, will bridge that gap and you can then run clinical trials and field trials. We will also connect start-ups with product design firms and regulatory experts. With a lot of start-ups, navigating the ecosystem to understand it all, is often very difficult for them, so our aim is to assist them to get their product to market.”
He points to a selection of devices in the display cabinet that have been developed at the MNRF. Prof. Sriram holds a gas-sensing capsule that looks like a vitamin capsule. He explains that it’s like a ‘pill cam’ which can be swallowed and an internal image taken.
This pill cam measures stomach gases and food intolerance. It started as a research project to study human stomach gases, however the first funding the MNRF received for its R&D was from the Department of Agriculture to measure the influence of the cow’s diet and their methane expulsion. A Melbourne-based start-up called Atmo Biosciences, is licensing the gas-sensing capsule technology from RMIT. They are doing late-stage clinical trials now and hopefully, this product can be commercialised in the near future.
Prof. Sriram displays a microfluidic device which is used for anti-platelet drug screening. He explains that the same fluid goes through the seven small channels on the plastic device and compares the differences in performance with seven different drugs.
“We are also working with the Melbourne company Sleeptite, which makes innovative products for aged care,” he says. “We adhere these electronic wires to bedding material, which can heat up the bed. It can also set up alerts to aged care personnel, if a person is on the edge of a bed, at risk of falling, or if they have stopped breathing.”
He adds that he and his team have been actively engaged with many manufacturers and product design firms. Together they are assisting smaller companies to develop their med tech ideas into products.
The D2D project consortium, which is led by RMIT University, includes universities, (Swinburne, Deakin and Monash), industry partners (Sleeptite, Nutromics, Soterius, Vlepis, nthalmic, Innovative Manufacturing CRC), quality management and design partners (Pharmalex/Brandwood CKC, Fluffy Spider Technologies, outerspace Design, Design +Industry) and peak bodies (Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, Cooperative Research Centre and MTP Connect).
“We are very excited about the future, bringing together researchers and start-ups, SMEs, larger manufacturers and designers to collaborate on R&D, prototype development, then later in field and clinical trials. Then we’ll move forward to regulatory certification and commercialisation of innovative medical devices,” Prof.Sriram says.