InnerPulse to Utilize Realistic Simulation from Dassault Systèmes

Abaqus FEA Associative Integration with SolidWorks CAD Software Accelerates Medical Device Innovation.

Paris – Dassault Systèmes today announced that InnerPulse, a medical device company pioneering a novel technology for those patients with cardiac rhythm disorders, has selected Abaqus finite element analysis (FEA) software from SIMULIA to assist in development of their technology designed in SolidWorks CAD software.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) remains a major threat despite advances in medication and other treatments. According to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association, approximately one American life is lost every two minutes and it has been estimated that SCD claims more than 7,000,000 lives per year worldwide—the overwhelming majority of those deaths are caused by ventricular fibrillation, or rapid, uncoordinated contractions.

InnerPulse has developed a percutaneous implantable defibrillator (PICD) which enables physicians to implant the life-saving defibrillators within a patient’s vasculature using a catheter procedure – making the procedure minimally invasive and less expensive. Leveraging SolidWorks for design and the realistic simulation capabilities in Abaqus FEA software, the design engineers at InnerPulse are able to perform accurate analysis for concurrent device and tool design which is saving valuable development time and costs.

"It was important for us to be able to model the way Nitinol material in our PICD anchoring technology will behave throughout the complete manufacturing process. The powerful nonlinear material capabilities in Abaqus allowed us to meet those requirements," stated Cinnamon Larson, Ph.D., senior mechanical engineer, InnerPulse, Inc. "By using the Abaqus/CAE Associative Interface for SolidWorks, we were able to easily synchronize our SolidWorks design model and the Abaqus simulation model throughout the development process— this not only enhances collaboration between our designers and analysis experts, but it also improves our productivity and reduces design time significantly."

"SIMULIA has a specific focus on providing realistic simulation solutions that meet the demands of the medical device industry," stated Ken Short, VP, Strategy and Marketing, SIMULIA, Dassault Systèmes. "We are committed to developing innovative technology to meet our customer’s needs for both devices and biological tissue simulation."

The heavily regulated nature of the medical industry puts stringent demands on controlling the processes, quality, and reliability of the devices being manufactured. Physics-based computer modeling tools such as finite element analysis and fluid-structure interaction are playing an increasingly important role in the medical device development process. The 3D design and realistic simulation solutions from SolidWorks and SIMULIA make it possible to evaluate the realistic performance and safety of design concepts quickly and accurately, prior to committing to costly prototype development and physical testing.