ST. PAUL, Minn. (Jan. 25, 2023) — Intricon, developer and manufacturer of medical devices
powered by smart miniaturized electronics, announces that Len Desmond has joined the
company as an embedded wireless engineer, on its new Biosensor Center of Excellence, a
business dedicated to bringing medical biosensor devices to market. Desmond joins the Intricon
team as a subject matter expert on electrical, firmware, and PCB layout for the biosensors and
ear-worn device groups.
Desmond has 30 years of biosensor product design, development, and production experience. He
specializes in low battery powered wearable wireless biosensor devices and has extensive
experience designing products with a multitude of different sensors for both large OEMs and
startups. He is steeped in numerous certifications including FCC, CE, UL, ATEX, IECEx, and
CCC, which will contribute to Intricon’s consulting on requirements for the commercialization of
biosensor devices for medical applications.
Prior to joining Intricon, Desmond was director of engineering and system architect at
International ThermoDyne, working closely with contract developers on software and firmware.
He was also responsible for domestic and international supply chains, including international
sourcing and production management. He has been a principal hardware/firmware design
engineer and team leader, RF product engineer, with deep expertise in successful manufacturing
transfers of biosensor-driven devices.
“It’s an exciting time at Intricon and in the medical biosensor device sector,” said Scott Longval,
chief executive officer at Intricon. “Even though we have four decades of experience in body-
worn device development and manufacturing, we stay ahead of what’s coming next. Biosensors
is the hottest new med device category. The standards and requirements aren’t even established
yet, so it’s important for companies waiting to take advantage of this opportunity to partner with
us to guide them through the stages to market.”
Intricon recently announced its Biosensors Center of Excellence and new vice president of
operations who will manage the company’s global capacity to develop and manufacturer medical
biosensor devices.
About Intricon
For four decades, Intricon has improved and extended people’s lives by developing and
manufacturing sensor-driven micromedical devices. Intricon partners with medical device
companies, providing unique microelectronic expertise — including miniature molding through
final assembly – and regulatory guidance, supply chain optimization, and scalable production,
exclusively for the medical market. Intricon brings the world’s smallest, smartest new and next
generation devices to life.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Jan. 19, 2023) — Intricon, developer and manufacturer of medical devices powered by smart miniaturized electronics, has named Tim Deraney as vice president of global operations. Deraney replaces Dennis Gonsior, who retired from Intricon after 41 years with the company.
To Intricon, Deraney brings deep expertise in contract manufacturing in global, multi-site
management; change management; and supply chain, logistics and planning leadership. He is certified in Lean, Six Sigma, and specializes in innovating processes, structures, and employee engagement.
Deraney joins Intricon from Medtronic, where he held various leadership positions for 22 years in engineering, manufacturing, and process development, most recently as senior director of global contract manufacturing and OEM contract management.
“Tim’s leadership will be instrumental in meeting the dynamic and complex needs of customers in biosensors, electromagnetic sensors and navigation, and hearing health,” said Scott Longval, president and chief executive officer of Intricon. “He will orchestrate operations across our global footprint.”
Headquartered in Minnesota, the global epicenter of health innovation and care, Intricon has facilities in the U.S. and Asia Pacific, with nearly 250,000 square feet of manufacturing space, 1,000 employees globally, and produces more than 150 million device components and assemblies each year. It is recognized as a top supplier by two of the world’s 10 largest medical device companies.
About Intricon
For four decades, Intricon has improved and extended people’s lives by developing and
manufacturing sensor-driven micromedical devices. Intricon partners with medical device
companies, providing unique microelectronic expertise — including miniature molding through final assembly – and regulatory guidance, supply chain optimization, and scalable production, exclusively for the medical market. Intricon brings the world’s smallest, smartest new and next generation devices to life.
Media contact
Beth LaBreche
For Intricon
beth@labreche.com
612-578-2834
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Jan. 17, 2023) – Intricon, developer and manufacturer of medical devices powered by smart miniaturized electronics, today announced that it has launched a new Biosensors Center of Excellence (CoE). The new CoE combines Intricon’s biosensor device expertise and capabilities into a vertically integrated business unit focused exclusively on bringing Biosensor devices to the medical market.
“OEMs and start-ups need an approach like this because there are important intricacies in
creating medical biosensor devices vs. consumer biosensor products,” said Scott Longval,
Intricon CEO. “There’s a mass movement toward biosensors for medical applications, such as hospital at home and remote patient monitoring. Creating and commercializing first- and next-generation medical biosensor devices are more complex than ever and must happen at scale and cost profile to meet the demands of these exploding use cases.”
Longval adds that Intricon’s intensified focus on biosensors is a natural evolution for the
company, given its more than four decades of experience in wearable medical biosensor devices. Intricon was an early innovator of hearing aids — the precursor to today’s modern body-worn devices — and is the primary developer and manufacturer of wearable glucose monitoring devices for the world’s largest med device company.
“We’re responding to the industry, which needs deep expertise in the many complex capabilities required to successfully compete in this quickly emerging device category,” said Dave Liebl, Intricon chief commercial and technology officer.
The Intricon Biosensor CoE team has deep expertise in high-density microelectronics,
miniaturization, ultra-low power, miniature molding, firmware development, and wireless
communication, including Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy technology. Intricon plans to expand its team of biosensors experts, with key hires in 2023.
Intricon’s other sensor-driven expertise is in developing and manufacturing medical devices that use electromagnetic (EM) navigation. The company has proprietary modeling and engineering systems to design and produce micro-coils that meet electromagnetic goals such as induction, resistance, sensitivity, and localization performance.
About Intricon
For four decades, Intricon has improved and extended people’s lives by developing and
manufacturing sensor-driven micromedical devices. Intricon partners with medical device
companies, providing unique microelectronic expertise — including miniature molding through final assembly – and regulatory guidance, supply chain optimization, and scalable production, exclusively for the medical market. Intricon brings the world’s smallest, smartest new and next generation devices to life.
MedTech Outlook media recently interviewed Intricon Chief Commercial and Technology Officer Dave Liebl about the biosensors medical market. Intricon is uniquely positioned to help companies accelerate medical device manufacturing and innovation given its four-plus decades of experience in body worn devices. Learn more about the considerations for commercializing biosensor devices as the market for their uses continues to grow. Read the article here (https://tinyurl.com/294dtsf4).
On behalf of Intricon, Todd Latterell, senior director of corporate accounts, recently accepted the 2022 Extraordinary Supplier Award from Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Medtech Company, at the most recent annual J&J Supplier Symposium. Julio Fiori, new product introduction sourcing manager for J&J’s Auris Health business, presented the award. Intricon teams from the U.S. and Singapore – including those from Customer Service, Manufacturing, Product Development, Supply Chain, and Quality – contributed to this achievement. Intricon was among only four companies throughout the world to be recognized by J&J, a company thatdrives breakthrough scientific innovation to address unmet needs and reimagine health in surgery, orthopedics, vision, and interventional solutions.
May 10, 2022
INTRICON R&D VP DAVE LIEBL SHARES ADVICE ON HOW OEMs CAN LEVERAGE OUTSOURCED PARTNERS FOR COMPLEX PRODUCTS IN CHALLENGING TIMES
Medical Products Outsourcing, a leading media authority in the med device industry, recently called on Dave Liebl, vice president of research and development at Intricon, for insight for its latest article on how outsourced partners like Intricon can meet the demanding design challenges from OEMs.
He highlights how trends will lead to less-invasive approaches for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and non-invasive technologies to help visualize and/or transmit key health data for analysis, and how Intricon is overcoming supply chain challenges for its customers.
“Lead times for raw materials required to prototype new product concepts have definitely increased—often two- or three-fold—from pre-pandemic levels,” he notes in the article. “Thus, companies that can find a way to prototype faster in the current environment will rise to the top.”
Other trends Dave touches on in the article include:
- Product design trending toward smaller, smarter devices that combine multiple technologies
- Speeding up product design and development by outsourcing to trusted and experienced contract manufacturers
- Electronics that are used to protect the health of patients and physicians, such as electromagnetic field (EF) generators and sensor technologies as alternatives to fluoroscopy
- More frequent use of FEA as product designs become smaller and more complicated, especially for the evaluation of complex assemblies
The article, posted online and in the May issue of Medical Product Outsourcing, ends with Dave’s observation that “Joint development manufacturers (JDMs) like Intricon have systems that are nimble and are ‘external eyes’ with deep category expertise to foresee both opportunities and challenges—now and down the road—during the manufacturing stage. As more OEMs experience this, they embrace the practice of third-party development for its efficiency and are able to leverage the resources and the expertise of the joint development manufacturer, that then becomes a valued extension of their team.”
Article in MP&O May, 2022 issue: https://bit.ly/3Nnu04R
April 11, 2022
INTRICON ENGINEERS MENTOR ROBOTICS COMPETITION TEAM
Intricon medical products engineer Austin Barrett has been a mentor to the Holy Family Catholic High School Robotics Team for the past five years. Austin dedicates approximately 200 hours each year to the team during the robotics build and competition season, from January through April. Austin works with students, teaching robotics building and development, along with teamwork and communication skills. This year, Intricon senior process development engineer Julia Rusciano joined Austin as another mentor from Intricon for the team.
On April 8 and 9, 2022, the robotics team competed in the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional Competition, presented by Medtronic. The team, called Pyrobotics, placed 15th out of 55 teams in the qualification rounds and went on to be the 7th seed in the quarter finals. While the team lost in the finals, its robot reached the highest level of traverse climbing in the competition.
Intricon supports Austin, Julia, and the members of the Holy Family robotics team as a team sponsor.
FIRST® Robotics Competition teams design, program, and build a robot, starting with a standard kit of parts and common set of rules, to play in themed, head-to-head challenges. Teams also build a brand, develop community partnerships for support, and work to promote STEM in their local community as part of their role in the program.
Under strict rules and limited time and resources, students are challenged to build industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game in alliance with other teams. Students at all skill levels participate — technical or non-technical. The robotics competition gives high school students and their adult mentors the opportunity to work and create together to solve a common problem.
April 20, 2022
INTRICON RANKS HIGH IN GENDER DIVERSITY
Intricon was recognized as an Honor Roll company in the 2021 Minnesota Census of Women in Corporate Leadership. The census is the results of an annual study, conducted by St. Catherine University, which tracks how public companies are diversifying their boards and executive leadership teams by adding more women.
Intricon was one of only 15 other companies in Minnesota to earn Honor Roll status, which requires adding or diversifying board members and executives to achieve a minimum of 20% of corporate directors and/or a minimum of 20% of executive officers who are women. Intricon was recognized for its pursuit of gender parity at the top levels of the company.
An Intricon team attended the presentation of the research results by the university and Twin Cities Business Monthly, which publishes the research. CEO Scott Longval accepted an honorarium at the event and was featured in the publication of the results, commenting “We knew we needed greater diversity and more women in management and leadership roles. We were more conscious about how we thought about that as we were filling roles within the organization.” In addition to filling its CHRO and interim CFO executive positions with women leaders, Scott and the board also welcomed director Heather Rider, a global human resources specialist with 30 years of experience at medical technology companies, and Kathleen Pepski, former CFO of Hawkins industrial company, as directors.
All leaders at Intricon plan to continue to cultivate a culture of diversity and inclusion as the company grows. According to Scott, “The best way to solve complex problems is to have diverse views and experiences at the table. Looking at issues from all perspectives provides greater outcomes for Intricon.”
November 14, 2022
Intricon’s Dr. David Akbari Receives Prestigious Hearing Industry Leadership Award
The Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA), a leading national audiology association, selected David Akbari, Au.D., senior medical science, clinical, and regulatory affairs liaison at Intricon, to receive its prestigious annual ADA Hearing Industry Leadership Award for 2022. The award recognizes an individual or organization for outstanding achievements that elevate or advance the hearing industry. Dr. Akbari was recognized at the 2022 ADA AuDacity Conference in Dallas in October.
Dr. Akbari is the first and only individual to win the award. The 2022 award is significant in that the ADA has not given an award in the past 10 years, and it does not take nominations for the award.
The ADA chose Dr. Akbari because of his vision for and significant contributions to the hearing health industry throughout his career. One of those contributions included serving as a member of the ADA Over the Counter (OTC) Hearing Aid Working Group, through which Dr. Akbari provided invaluable technical and scientific expertise to help formulate the ADA’s recommendations to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in response to its Proposed Rule Establishing Over the Counter Hearing Aids, many of which were adopted by the agency.
The FDA ruling on OTC hearing aids was passed and, on October 17, 2022, for the first time, adults with mild to moderate hearing loss in the U.S. were able to buy hearing aids at retailers and online, without a prescription. The development will provide greater access to hearing aids for millions of people.
Dr. Akbari is a national authority on hearing health and leader at Intricon, which has a 45-year legacy of improving people’s lives with sensor-enabled micromedical devices.
October 6, 2022
This comprehensive podcast, produced by The Hearing Journal, the premier publication for hearing health professionals, features Intricon’s senior medical science, clinical, and regulatory affairs liaison, Dr. David Akbari. Dr. Akbari discusses his predictions on the impact of the recent FDA ruling that allows hearing aids to be sold over the counter, without the need for an audiologist.
The FDA decision ends five years of commentary and speculation on how OTC hearing aids will impact on people with mild to moderate hearing loss and hearing health practitioners.
The podcast is part of a four-part series examining the game-changing transformation of the industry. In this episode, Dr. Akbari and other guests review the FDA OTC rule and:
- Defining an OTC device – how it’s different than prescriptive hearing aids
- Quality control and standards, including performance criteria – higher threshold of performance rigor to be marketed and labeled as OTC hearing aids
- Holistic care model for OTC hearing aids
- Role of the audiologist
- Benefits of OTC to audiology model
- Distribution at the state level
- Fitting hearing aids
Dr. Akbari has been very active in hearing health industry professional associations involved in setting standards for objective measurement of quality and performance of OTC hearing aids.
The podcast is available at https://journals.lww.com/thehearingjournal/pages/podcastepisodes.aspx?podcastid=4 and on Stitcher, Apple podcasts, and Spotify.