We were looking to Nelson Labs (they advise the FDA on med ISO testing standards) for this type of testing, though their equipment is geared toward various solvents, not blood. It is definitely the type of testing we want to do, though testing a broken x-series is not what we were wanting to explore it for.
We have relationships with high end electronics assembly houses that offer 6 axis x-ray inspection equipment that can do real time inspection of components at nearly microscopic levels. The thing is amazing to watch… you can literally zoom in on a specific trace or single wirebond connection on an electronic component in real time, in x-ray. Cracks in bioglass is not generally a problem, for transponder implants that contain ferrite rods, we have only one or two reports of breaks at this point;
Unfortunately we do have a number of reports of our xG3 v1 (axial magnet) breaking, specifically the end cap of the glass gets sheered off, likely due to the fact the axially magnetized magnet is pulling objects directly toward the end cap;
We have just released an updated xG3 v1 that uses a new material we’ve been working on for over a year now - biocompatible resin. This is primarily why I’m interested in ICP-MS, because any result of metals in the saline would indicate ion movement through the material. We’ve done a ton of internal lab tests to build a body of evidence that there is no leeching through the material, but an ICP-MS test would have a very big impact on that body of evidence. As I said, I am confident enough in our testing regimen that we’ve begun releasing products using this material, but I will always pursue more testing data if given the opportunity.
Is there any way we could discuss the possibility of running some tests on these samples? Nelson Labs is always an option for us, but they are the insanely expensive option, and my entire R&D budget is still going to other R&D projects.