Firefly visit Medtech hub of United States

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Martin McGeough outside Medtronic's HQ

Martin McGeough outside Medtronic’s HQ

This week Firefly Orthoses is visiting the mid-west of the United States.  Firefly’s Martin McGeough makes up part of an Irish delegation from 18 Irish life science companies who have travelled. Martin is representing one of a number of Irish medical device companies.

The Irish Minister for the Environment and Small Business, Pat Breen TD, is leading the travelling party for this Enterprise Ireland trade mission.

The group is visiting the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, one of the largest medtech clusters in the United States – home to approximately 700 companies in the field of medtech.

The mission aims to highlight Ireland as a key hub for innovative life sciences solutions and to explore business and research opportunities in the Twin Cities area.

Of the traveling companies, 13 fall into the sub-supply category who produce products and services that can be provided to the medical device manufacturing sector. While the remaining five provide finished devices.  As a provider of custom made foot orthoses, Firefly Orthoses makes up one of the finished devices companies.

According to Enterprise Ireland:

Despite the global recession, the Irish life sciences sector has continued to grow and has evolved into one of the leading global clusters with direct employment of 50,000 people and exports of more than €50 billion annually.

 

Enterprise Ireland Itinerary

0-02-01-541606385ef6230158d687b6871c1d51dea7212d31857d7f4e29f9ec9fa12904_fullToday (Monday) Martin and the group pay a site visit to Medtronic.  Medtronic is a global healthcare solutions company committed to improving the lives of people through our medical technologies, services, and solutions .

Tuesday sees the group visit the Mayo Clinic a nonprofit organisation committed to clinical practice, education and research, providing expert, whole-person care to everyone who needs healing.

While Wednesday sees the delegation visit Boston Scientific.

Speaking before the party departed for the US, Kevin Sherry, Executive Director Global Business Development, Enterprise Ireland said:

A priority for Enterprise Ireland is to ensure that companies start, scale and innovate, and Ireland’s life sciences sector truly reflects how well this is working. The triumph of the sector is not just down to the country being recognised globally as a leading manufacturing hub for medical technologies — it’s also down to the sector embracing innovation and collaboration as vital to its success. This Trade Mission to the Twin Cities is an enormous opportunity for further developing productive relationships and partnerships between indigenous and multinational enterprises that will enhance and grow this dynamic sector for the future.

To keep a breast of our visit to the US’s mid-west follow Firefly Orthoses on twitter.

 

Claire Forbes visits Firefly

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Claire Forbes, Jersey based podiatrist visits Firefly Orthoses where she picked up her new custom made foot orthoses.

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Delrin: the high strength shell for ultra thin orthoses

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Introducing DELRIN®

You want your patient to feel the benefits of the orthoses you prescribe and not to feel the orthoses in their shoes.  Firefly strive to produce the most discrete custom made foot orthoses on the market.

With this in mind, we are delighted to announce our latest shell material, DELRIN®. DELRIN® is a crystalline plastic engineered for strength, stiffness and wear resistance comparable to industrial metals.

The material is employed across multiple industries, including high load mechanical applications, such as gears, door systems, conveyor belts and health care delivery devices. The material combines low friction and high wear resistance which has seen it replace metals in many industrial scenarios in temperatures ranging from -40•C to 120•C.

But what does this mean for foot orthoses? As regards orthotic thickness, roughly half as much DELRIN® is required as that of a standard Polypropylene shell. Therefore, 2.5mm DELRIN® = 5mm Polypropylene to create the same level of support and can still be heat adjusted in the manner of a standard Polypropylene shell.

DELRIN® Applications

It is suitable for fabricating low-profile dress orthotics and orthoses for obese patients, and its compact density and high tensile strength facilitate ultra-thin orthotic production for any patient. A thin 2-mm composite shell can support over 200lbs and control ranges from semi-flexible to very rigid.

Limitations of DELRIN®

  • Heel cup must be less than 20mm
  • Arch cannot be higher then 22mm
  • Cannot have a full High Medial Flange
  • If you want a 50% Medial Flange the actual arch height and the Medial Flange together cannot be above 22mm.
  • The higher the arch height is the higher the flange will go.

DELRIN® (Acetal Homopolymer) Overview.

  • Good dimensional stability
  • Low moisture absorption [DELRIN® can work in wet environments with little effect on the performance or dimensions]
  • Excellent machinability
  • High fatigue endurance
  • High strength and stiffness properties
  • Superior creep and impact resistance
  • Chemical resistance to fuels and solvents
  • Natural grade is FDA, NSF and USDA compliant
  • Good wear and abrasion properties.

If you wish to find out more about using DELRIN® as a shell material in your Firefly prescriptions, contact us via email via email or telephone 00353 71 91 49494.

Podiatric Sports Medicine Conference 2016 | London

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Firefly Orthoses will be attending the forthcoming Podiatric Sports Medicine Conference at the Royal College of Surgeons, London, 2016.

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Northern Ireland public holiday disrupts Firefly lead times

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We wish to bring to your attention, the forthcoming public holiday in Northern Ireland will extend Firefly’s lead times for all items in transit during the period.

July 12th is recognised as a public holiday in Northern Ireland. As such, Royal Mail state there will be no postal service operating on both July 12th and 13th.
If you are sending casts or foam boxes to Firefly or, expecting delivery of Firefly devices, we wish to advise there may be a delay of two to three days due to Royal Mail’s cessation of services on the stated dates.
This is outside of the control of Firefly Orthoses. We appreciate your patience during this period.
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Podopaediatrics Conference 2016, Birmingham.

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Firefly Orthoses will be attending Podopaediatrics on July 1st. The event takes place at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham City Centre. Claire Carr will be attending the event for Firefly.

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Firefly attend Foot Health 2016 | Kettering Conference Centre

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Yes, yes, we’re attending I-FAB 2016 in Berlin this week, but we’re also maintaining our presence locally too! Firefly Orthoses is attending Foot Health 2016 at Kettering Conference Centre this week. You’ll find us at stand 50. Make sure you stop by and say ‘hello’!

Foot Health is now well established as the largest independent conference for podiatrists in the UK.  FootHealth 2016 will return to centrally located Kettering Conference Centre.

Invited delegates will include Podiatrists, Physiotherapists, GPs and other interested health professionals.

Make Sure to visit stand 50 and say hello to Firefly’s Claire.

On hand will be Claire Carr, flying the flag for Firefly at the event. Claire will have a full selection of Firefly custom made orthoses samples, including OTCs and info on the Richie Brace AFOs.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Firefly Orthoses, make sure to leave your contact details with Claire and we’ll include you on our mailing list.  Claire will also give you an overview of the benefits of being a customer of Firefly Orthoses.

Foot Health 2016 has it’s own facebook page where you can keep up to date on any relevant information ahead of and during the conference. We look forward to seeing you there.

Firefly conference stand

Firefly Conference Stand – Foot Health 2016

FIREFLY attending i-FAB 2016, Berlin.

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This week Firefly Orthoses will be attending the i-FAB conference in Berlin. The conference runs as part of Foot International 2016.

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Podiatry at Plymouth University

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Firefly Orthoses recently partnered with Plymouth University’s School of Health Professions to help promote their BSc (Hons.) in Podiatry.

The Podiatry cohort from the University recently exhibited at the Royal Cornwall Show to promote the University’s undergraduate programme in Podiatry.

To display the scope and breadth of Podiatry as a profession, the University’s stand at the show presented a forensic crime scene. The public who attended the show were invited to solve the crime using forensic podiatric tools and techniques.

The stand proved hugely popular with younger visitors to the show, with many not just solving the crime but giving reasons why! Firefly Orthoses sponsored a prize that was given away at the stand on the day.

Firefly Orthoses is delighted to have played a role in helping Plymouth University promote the podiatry profession at the show.

About Plymouth University’s BSc (Hons.) Podiatry

The BSc (Hons.) Podiatry is a three year, full time degree. In the 2015 National Student Survey, 95% of  the programme’s graduates praised it for having staff that were available to students when needed and 90% graduated feeling confident in tackling unfamiliar problems and situations as a direct result of the degree.

The degree sees its students take part in 1,000 hours of practice learning across the three years.  This is an integral part of podiatry training.

For those interested in finding out more about the University’s Podiatry degree, the University’s open day takes place Wednesday, June 22nd.

Firefly Orthoses’ website has its own podiatry education portal where students and professionals alike can access a wealth of knowledge, free of charge.

 

Foot Health 2016 & other upcoming conferences

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Foot Health 2016 & Foot International Congress 2016

There’s  a number of events we are confirmed to attend for the second portion of the year, starting in June. Foot Health 2016 takes place in Kettering, Northamptonshire from June 21st to 22nd.  At Foot Health 2016 we will have a wide selection of Firefly Orthoses sample devices. Firefly podiatrist Claire Carr will be on-hand to answer any questions you have about our devices.

Three days later we’re in Berlin for the Foot International 2016 Congress.  At this event we’ll be presenting our exclusive range of Richie Brace® devices.  The Richie Brace® proves an excellent device for the conservative treatment of adult acquired flatfoot.

The congress runs from the 23rd until the 25th at the Urania centre. This event brings together a mix of surgeons, primary researchers, clinicians and industry partners to interact and exchange foot and ankle information.

For the first time, this year’s event sees the EFAS (European Foot and Ankle Society), DAF (German Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society) and i-FAB (International Foot and Ankle Biomechanics Society) all come together.

On July 1st we’re in Birmingham for the Podopaediatrics Conference. On September 16th we’re at the Royal College of Surgeons, London for the 5th Annual Podiatric Sports Medicine Conference.

Where Firefly have been in 2016

Already this year we’ve attended the British Association of Prosthetists & Orthotists Conference in Coventry. In April we attended events at both ends of the island of Ireland. The SCPI annual conference was held in Cork at the beginning of the month. Later in the month we attended the Erne Resort in County Fermanagh for the Northern Ireland College of Podiatry Conference.

Firefly at conferences

At Firefly Orthoses we view attending conferences and podiatric related expos as an important element in how we present our products and services. These events provide an excellent opportunity for us to interact face-to-face with your our customers.

At these events we find out what our customers are talking about, what is working for them and what opportunities are presenting themselves across the discipline of Podiatry.

Glasgow Symposium

We would also like to bring to your attention the ‘Bringing Legs to Life’ symposium taking place on June 7th at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. The symposium will focus on the topic of ‘promoting viability and preserving tissue in the lower limb‘.  Keynote speaker for the event is Prof. Ben Lipsky, visiting Professor, Teaching Associate, Green Templeton College, University of Oxford.

We look forward to seeing you at the many conferences, events and expos we are due to attend. Make sure you call over to our stand if you are attending any of the above events and say ‘hi’. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have about our products or services.