ElectriPlast: Let’s Hear it for Hippocrates!

Still Disruptive

After All

These Years



By Vince S.
ElectriPlast Blog Editor



Father of Modern Medicine

The Greek physician, Hippocrates, 460-377 BCE, is generally acknowledged as the father of medicine. So pervasive was his reputation that, twenty-four centuries after he saw his last patient, the medical profession still honors him by administering his eponymous oath to new physicians. After many translations from ancient Greek to Latin and the European languages, including three iterations of English, the Hippocratic Oath has come to mean first, do no harm. Although there is controversy as to whether Hippocrates actually said those words, his enduring philosophy becomes even more prophetic as technology moves the science of medicine forward, while ensuring physician and patient alike of quality results.

Given the genesis of Integral Technologies, which initially focused on antenna systems, the medical technology field has been little more than a speck on the radar of most who follow this company. Not so for a recent visitor to the Consumer Electronics Show, a physician who appears to be visionary for his insight regarding the application of new technology to medicine. In fact, the inspiration for this article resulted from perusing his website and contemplating the role ElectriPlast might play as a biomaterial in the field of medical technology.


Enter ElectriPlast

Electrosurgical tools such as graspers, scissors, hooks and probes are routinely used in laparoscopic as well as open surgical procedures. Precision made and finely balanced, electrosurgical tools are typically made of metal with an insulating cover. With them, the surgeon cuts, cauterizes and coagulates tissue using radio-frequency electrical energy. However, over time, metal tools become problematic as the insulation wears down, putting the patient at risk of receiving internal burns. Also, since metal core instruments are relatively heavy, there is the risk that physician hand fatigue could lead to imprecise movements and inadvertent cuts. (Remember the Hippocratic Oath: First, do no harm.)

Metal core tools also present other challenges in terms of their physical characteristics, shape and durability. So, here is the bottom line. Metal core electrosurgical instruments, cabling, housing and motor components for the generator are candidates for ElectriPlast. Our IP should exceed the standards of the current equipment by combining conductivity (RF electrical energy) with the strength of titanium instruments, while combining lasting insulating capabilities with malleability and durability.


Innovation: the Only Constant

According to Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry, a medical device magazine,

“medical device designers are increasingly driven by the same trends that influence the consumer product designers.”

Given that innovation is the only constant in the consumer products world, there is every reason to expect that our disruptive intellectual property, ElectriPlast, will catch on in the medical device design studios. One Integral patent, low cost electrical stimulation and shock devices manufactured from conductive loaded resin-based materials, has enormous potential in this sector. (It also has potential as a stun gun, cattle prod and security crowd control device. Remember, each patent has numerous applications!)

Over a year ago, a manufacturer of pacemakers, defibrillators and similar cardiovascular devices contacted Integral. They wanted to know if a certain plastic they use in their product line had been tested with ElectriPlast. The answer was affirmative, and we gave them the specifications. As a result, that company initiated research and development testing using our IP, but not before signing the obligatory nondisclosure agreement. Two huge factors drive the potential of the cardiovascular market: Aging and obesity, both growing health concerns in the United States. As a result, the medical industry sees many opportunities at the intersection of biomaterials and new technology. Integral will surely be there.


ElectriPlast: the New Biomaterial?

Just so you know, there are over 60 leading players in the field of cardiovascular devices (pacemakers, defibrillators and stents) worldwide. And who might some of them be? For a start, try Abbott, Boston Scientific, Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic and St. Jude Medical among others. All small fry, huh?

But there are others knocking at Integral’s door. For instance, a blood transfusion device manufacturer asked if ElectriPlast could improve their product. After much discussion, it was agreed that ElectriPlast would make their device more efficacious than the model they had on the market. Bingo, another NDA!

According to several credible sources, over 100 companies are working under NDA arrangements with Integral Technologies to incorporate ElectriPlast into their research and development strategies. It is an article of faith that once an entity reaches the R&D phase, it is a foregone conclusion that they have already planned to move to the license agreement phase. And by definition, companies who sign license agreements anticipate production. Looks like those medical device design studios will be working overtime.


And What About Hippocrates?

How would Hippocrates be evaluated, if he were alive today? Well, let’s look at his record. Basically, his medical practice was very different from that of his colleagues. His contemporaries diagnosed illness based on superstition, evil spirits and capricious gods. Not Hippocrates. He based his diagnoses on observations and on his studies of the human body. Other physicians and intellectuals believed thoughts, ideas and feelings came from the heart. Not Hippocrates. He argued that the brain, not the heart, was the center for such activities. He was the first physician to accurately describe the symptoms of pneumonia, as well as epilepsy in children. And among his many other innovative and disruptive ideas, he believed in the natural healing process of rest, good diet, fresh air and cleanliness. Sounds like an innovative and disruptive kind of guy to me.

In fact, I’m nominating him as an honorary member of the Integral Technologies Board of Directors! After all, what else would you expect from a physician who was "Hip" centuries before it became popular.