In the revolutionary world of healthcare, medical diagnostic assays help clinicians assess health status, detect diseases, and guide the management of patient care. These tests provide critical information that enables doctors to make rapid and accurate diagnoses. With billions of lab tests conducted annually, reliable diagnostic assays facilitate faster medical processes and improve patient outcomes. To improve medical diagnostic assays, Boyd offers high-quality medical diagnostic materials finely engineered into solutions for cost effective, accurate, and reliable diagnostic technologies.

What Are Medical Diagnostic Assays?

Medical diagnostic assays test clinical samples to identify biological markers or pathogens. Healthcare professionals use these tests to diagnose diseases, measure risks, and design treatment plans. Their accuracy is based on their specificity and sensitivity as well as their reliability, which means accurate detection and quantification of the target analytes.

Why Are Medical Diagnostic Assays Important?

Diagnostic tests are essential in detecting diseases early, monitoring their progression, and assessing responses to treatment. American Clinical Laboratory Association reports that healthcare professionals conduct more than 7 billion lab tests annually in the U.S., impacting nearly 70% of all medical decisions. These tests help doctors to make informed decisions, leading to better patient care and outcomes.

Types of Diagnostic Assays

Immunoassays

Molecular Diagnostic Assays

Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NAATs)

Point-of-Care (POC) Tests

Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)

Screening Assays

Components of a Diagnostic Test Assay

Gasket Layer (Silicone Sheet)

Vent Component (PTFE Membrane)

Cover Lid Layer (Silicon PSA Tape)

Molded Plastic Microfluidic Card

Optical Components (Precision Cut)

Heat-Sealed Foil Lid

Filter Component

Boyd’s Role in Enhancing Diagnostic Assay Systems

Boyd enhances the performance of diagnostic assay systems by providing superior-quality materials and precision-engineered solutions to meet the stringent requirements of medical systems. Our material science expertise and advanced manufacturing facilities assure each component, ranging from silicone gaskets to precision optical components, provides the highest reliability, durability, and accuracy for medical diagnostic assays. We work together with customers to create customized solutions that enhance the performance of diagnostic assays. By collaborating with our customers, we help them design and produce medical diagnostic assays that improve testing result accuracy when it matters most, making it convenient for healthcare practitioners to provide timely and effective patient care.

Utilize our extensive experience and innovative technology to optimize the performance of your diagnostic tests. Contact us today to find out how we can help you optimize your systems, deliver accurate results, and support healthcare professionals to deliver timely and effective treatment.

Silicone Molding: Driving Innovation Across Industries

Silicone molding is essential for industries that demand durability, flexibility, and reliability. Its versatile properties enable manufacturers to create application-specific solutions, from seals that endure extreme temperatures to tubes resistant to harsh chemicals. As industries push for higher performance and safety standards, silicone molding continues to drive innovation. Boyd supports this progress by delivering advanced silicone solutions across eMobility, Medical, Industrial, and Food and Beverage sectors, ensuring compliance with industry certifications and providing precision through global manufacturing capabilities.

Advanced Silicone Seals for EV Components

Boyd provides silicone solutions for motor coolant seals, battery housing seals, and charging port seals in the fast-evolving eMobility sector. Our battery housing seals absorb extreme mechanical energy, ensuring efficient assembly and leak-free performance. Boyd’s proprietary silicone polymers offer durable, long-lasting performance in EV applications by resisting oils, liquids, and harsh chemicals. Our charging port seals, engineered with UV and weather-resistant silicone compounds, ensure long flex life and reliable performance in challenging outdoor environments.

Precision Silicone for Medical Devices: Ensuring Patient Safety

Silicone Solutions for Industrial Durability

Boyd’s silicone molding solutions for industrial applications include silicone tubes, assemblies, and seals. We craft formulas and geometries designed to withstand harsh environments like extreme temperatures, high flex cycles, and chemical exposure. Our silicone seals deliver leak-free performance against oils, gases, and other liquids, while providing long-term mechanical damping. These solutions ensure superior protection and reliability, optimizing operational efficiency for industrial systems.

From Dispensing to Packaging: Silicone for the Food and Beverage Industry

Trusted Partner for Regulated Applications: Boyd’s Silicone Molding

Boyd leverages global material innovation and decades of silicone molding expertise to lead in delivering critical silicone solutions for regulated applications. Our technical design and engineering teams provide support with material selection, design for manufacturing (DFM), and prototyping, while our global manufacturing footprint ensures efficient production and distribution. From clean room manufacturing to top silicone formulations, Boyd is your trusted partner for silicone molding solutions.

Whether in eMobility, Industrial, Medical, or Food and Beverage industries, Boyd engineers silicone molding applications for performance, safety, and reliability. Connect with us to explore how we can help innovate your next project.

PCR Testing: A Powerful Diagnostic Tool

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing is a highly accurate molecular diagnostic technique used to detect specific genetic material in a sample. It amplifies small segments of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) or Ribonucleic Acid (RNA), enabling the identification of pathogens like viruses or bacteria, genetic mutations, or other DNA sequences of interest. PCR testing is a cornerstone in fields like infectious disease diagnosis, genetic testing, and forensic science due to its precision and reliability. Boyd’s expertise in precision converting and medical material science plays a vital role in supporting the reliability and efficiency of PCR testing solutions.

The Power of PCR: Rapid and Accurate Detection

How Are PCR Test Results Used?

PCR test results hold significant importance in patient care and public health. Positive results confirm the presence of an infection or genetic condition, enabling healthcare providers to initiate appropriate treatments or interventions. In infectious disease management, PCR results track outbreaks, guide decisions on quarantine or treatment protocols, and inform public health responses. In genetic testing, these results direct decisions on preventive care or targeted therapies.

Boyd: A Partner in PCR Testing Excellence

Boyd supports PCR testing with advanced manufacturing capabilities and material expertise. We produce high-quality PCR test plates essential to manage and preserve small samples in diagnostic procedures. These plates ensure secure containment and contamination prevention, crucial for accurate and reliable results. Our precision converting expertise, combined with clean room environments certified from 100 to 100k and ISO 13485 quality management systems, enables us to produce PCR Plate Seals and Microfluidic Diagnostic Laminates to exacting standards. This setup supports rapid prototyping and mass production, helping clients quickly bring innovative diagnostic solutions to market.

With extensive medical material science expertise, Boyd works with various materials, including medical-grade adhesives, films, and foils, to create advanced diagnostic solutions. Our ability to integrate microelectronic components into diagnostic laminates enhances device functionality, making us a valuable partner to produce reliable and cost-effective PCR testing devices.

Boyd delivers precision and cost efficiency for PCR testing components. PCR components demand exacting precision for critical reliability. Our rotary or flatbed die cutting technology produces cleaner edges with precise tolerances compared to laser cutting, reducing material waste and boosting yield rates. Each cut maximizes material use, lowering costs and minimizing rework. Boyd ensures high-quality results and cost-effective production, making us the ideal partner for converting high-value materials.

Elevate PCR Testing with Boyd

Boyd’s strong heritage in precision converting, clean room manufacturing, and medical material science ensures that PCR testing solutions are reliable and efficient. We provide essential components for accurate and rapid diagnostics, guiding healthcare decisions effectively. Leveraging our capabilities ensures that your diagnostic solutions meet the highest standards and adapt to the evolving demands of the medical industry. Partner with Boyd to elevate your PCR testing solutions and achieve excellence in diagnostic innovation. To learn more about our PCR testing solutions or to discuss your project needs, schedule a consultation with our experts.

Wearable Tech’s Material Edge

Wearable medical technology, ranging from diagnostic and monitoring devices to drug delivery patches, is transforming healthcare and driving medical care innovation. Selecting the right materials is essential to ensure optimal performance and durability of these devices. By leveraging Boyd’s extensive fabrication services and industry-leading materials, medical device manufacturers enhance product quality, streamline production processes, improve patient safety and treatment, and accelerate time to market.

Material Selection for Optimal Wearable Device Performance

Boyd plays a crucial role in advancing various types of wearable medical devices, including continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), biosensors, ECG monitors, blood pressure monitors, drug delivery devices, and transdermal patches. Selecting materials for each device layer is critical for these devices to perform optimally and to enhance patient comfort. Starting from the outermost decorative protective layer to the innermost skin contact layer, Boyd ensures every component is meticulously engineered to meet the specific needs of the device while maximizing patient safety.

Decorative Protective Layer: Sealing, Aesthetics, and Branding

Cushioning Layer: Impact Protection and Comfort

Skin Contact Layer: Adhesion, Comfort, and Safety

Enhanced Patient Outcomes with Boyd’s Material Solutions

With the combined expertise of Boyd’s engineers and material specialists, we expertly guide medical material selection and optimize wearable device design. Our comprehensive solutions address every aspect of wearable medical devices, from housing layers that protect internal components to cushioning layers that provide impact protection and user comfort, printed flex circuit layers for electronic connectivity, skin contact layers for patient safety, and delivery liners for efficient application. These innovations ensure reliable device performance, improved patient treatment and safety, and accelerated time to market. Choose Boyd for your material selection needs in medical wearables to benefit from our expertise. Contact us today to discuss your project or schedule a consultation with our experts.

Wearable Innovations: Transformative Impact in Healthcare

Social Impact

The integration of health apps and preventative care wearables is revolutionizing healthcare, with an expected annual reduction of nearly $7 billion in system costs, and enhances health quality and cost-effective treatment. Pioneering this transformation, top companies in digital health technologies drive development of new generations of medical wearable devices that prioritize affordability, safety, and user-friendliness. These devices feature digitally connected capabilities and reliable body sensors, setting a new standard in healthcare technology and promising a profound social impact on the accessibility and effectiveness of healthcare services.

Environmental Impact

The healthcare industry prioritizes sustainability in wearable medical device production, emphasizing eco-friendly materials. Companies are engaged in active research on biodegradable plastics, recycled materials, and low-impact manufacturing to reduce the total environmental footprint. Wearable devices are meticulously engineered for energy efficiency, resulting in extended battery life and a decreased replacement rate. With optimized power consumption and rechargeable batteries, this industry actively promotes energy conservation and reduces electronic waste.

Boyd Leads the Charge in Sustainable Medical Wearables

Boyd takes the lead in medical wearable innovation, championing social and environmental responsibility through streamlined manufacturing and strategic material partnerships. From product inception to launch, we offer expert design and material selection support, ensuring each component is chosen for optimal performance and cost efficiency. Our efficient assembly process produces FDA-compliant wearable devices that prioritize patient comfort and healthcare provider efficiency with unwavering reliability and comprehensive cost management. We aim to inspire industry-wide adoption of similar practices for a more sustainable future.

Learn more about Boyd’s Environmental Responsibility and our commitment to Sustainability.

Evolving Innovations across Diverse Industries

Boyd Connects Innovations between Industries

Learn more about the industries we serve in our Connecting Innovations 3D Tool:

Cool, Seal, Insulate, and Shield the Latest Technologies

Human Machine Interfaces and Displays

Environmental Sealing and Protection

Innovate with Boyd

With decades of invaluable experience and expertise, Boyd is at the forefront of innovation, designing, manufacturing, and fabricating cutting-edge thermal and engineered material solutions across innovative industries. Our engineering, manufacturing, and testing capabilities supported by extensive data and cutting-edge technology enable innovative solutions for specific applications, whether it is a cooling solution for ADAS systems or data centers, or HMI and display solutions for medical equipment.

We leverage our extensive material science expertise to identify the materials and components necessary to craft innovative solutions that prioritize performance, reliability, and energy efficiency. To explore the full spectrum of Boyd’s thermal and engineered material solutions or to discuss your project requirements in detail, visit boydcorp.com visit our website or talk with our team consultation with our experts.

Transdermal patches are efficient and non-invasive wearable medicine delivery systems, but how do these unique medical wearables work?

What is a Transdermal Patch?

Transdermal patches are a wearable medication delivery system where an adhesive patch delivers a pre-prescribed dose of medication that is absorbed through the patient’s skin. While transdermal patches have been around since the late 1970’s, adoption has become increasingly widespread as an efficient and non-invasive way to administer courses of medication. Transdermal patches are used for pain medication, birth control, vitamin delivery, nootropics, sleep aids, and other applications where drugs can safely be administered through skin.

Transdermal patches solve several challenges faced by other medication delivery systems. Because they offer sustained drug delivery over the course of days or weeks, they remove the need for patients to remember strict medication schedules, enhancing patient adherence. Transdermal patches also lower administration error and improve patient comfort, since they can be self-administered and often reduce or eliminate injections for certain medications.

Types of Transdermal Patches

Transdermal patches are broadly broken down into four different constructions:

• Drug-in-Adhesive: As the name suggests, drug-in-adhesive transdermal patches feature the drug within the adhesive itself. The stick-to-skin adhesive not only adheres the patch to the patient, but also delivers medication. These can feature a single adhesive layer or multiple adhesive layers depending on the amount of medication and the release schedule. Multiple drug-in-adhesive layers are often used for courses of medication that require multiple days or weeks of wear.

• Reservoir: Reservoir transdermal patches include a separate layer (or reservoir) that contains medication in liquid form. A membrane layer in between the reservoir and the adhesive controls the delivery rate. Medication is dispersed through the adhesive into the patient’s skin.

• Matrix: Like a reservoir patch, medicine is held in a separate layer and released through an adhesive liner into the patient’s skin. The medication is encased between the adhesive and the release liner, so the liner controls the rate of medicine delivery instead of an additional membrane layer.

• Vapor Patch: One of the most common constructions for transdermal patches, vapor patches are single-layer wearables that release medication in the form of vapor through the adhesive layer. Because of the lack of rate-control layers or membranes, they are typically used for medications for short-term treatment courses without precise dispersal requirements.

The construction of a transdermal patch is based on several factors, such as the wear duration, medication viscosity, and the optimal method of release for the drug. The same medications are often formulated for release through different types of transdermal patches for alternate dosages and release schedules.

Transdermal Patch Layers

Most multi-layer transdermal patches will contain a backing laminate and a stick-to-skin adhesive liner. More complex designs may have additional adhesives, liners, reservoirs, and membranes. Enhancers, stabilizers, or preservatives can also be added into patches depending on requirements.

The Boyd Difference

Boyd has decades of experience fabricating transdermal patches and other wearables for the medical industry. We leverage our extensive supplier relationships with our broad manufacturing expertise to find the best-fit stick-to-skin adhesives, laminates, and backing layers to ensure patient comfort and safety. Our unique fabrication capabilities allow us to create multi-layer solutions that decrease supply chain complexity and lower total costs. We manufacture in-class 100 to 10,000 medical cleanrooms across the globe to ensure quality and high-yield rates.

To learn more about how Boyd’s solutions are enabling the future of medicine or to discuss your unique transdermal patch needs, reach out to our experts.

For our latest Ask an Expert blog, we invited people to submit any questions they had about Medical Wearables. We received questions spanning a breadth of topics, so we had one of our wearable device experts, Steve Baker, answer them.

What components typically make up a medical wearable?

The components in a medical wearable depend on the type, but transmitting wearables with on-board electronics usually include a cover film, thermoformed foam cover, printed flex electrode, printed circuit board assembly (or a printed assembly circuit with a battery), a stick-to-skin adhesive, conductive hydrogels, and a delivery/release liner. For wearables without on-board electronics, they can use a snap connector (or printed flexible electrode with connector), adhesive layer, stick-to-skin foam layer, conductive hydrogels, and a delivery/release liner.

We recently made a video that explains these different medical wearable components in detail.

What are some challenges unique to medical wearable design?

The biggest challenge to medical wearable design is usually deciding how long the adhesive needs to stick to the patient’s skin. What we see from the industry right now is typically seven to twelve days, but there are a few adhesives out there that can be worn for up to twenty. The release factor then becomes a concern; does it irritate the skin based on the aggressiveness of the adhesive? We’re always working with adhesive manufacturers to source new, highly engineered options that enable longer adhesion and more patient comfort.

The other unique wearable challenge is the flexibility and breathability of all the materials in the stack-up. Does the device flex well? Is it comfortable for the patient? Factoring in both challenges into cost structure is always important.

What is something people tend to overlook when designing medical wearables?

Simplicity. It’s counterintuitive, but wearable designers can overestimate their needs with adhesives and layers. Thinking that you need extremely tight tolerances, additional spacers, or the longest-lasting stick-to-skin adhesive sounds great, but it can increase cost and isn’t always necessary. Boyd relies on our years of knowledge and history creating wearable devices to say, that layer isn’t really necessary, this spacer will give you enough of a gap for the hydrogel this adhesive is less expensive and will hold up to the outdoor environment. And if there is a unique use case for a wearable that requires highly engineered materials, we can help work those in, too.

How do you decide on a stick-to-skin adhesive?

Adhesion is the critical factor, which comes down to how long it needs to be worn and the wear conditions. If you go too aggressive with the adhesive, it may cause skin irritation. If you don’t go with an aggressive enough adhesive, it may not stick based on the wear condition. We work with most medical adhesive manufacturers and compounders to meet different requirements. It’s best to reach out to Boyd’s team with your specific project requirements so we can suggest the right adhesive.

What is the tightest tolerance you can achieve on a wearable?

We frequently work with medical wearables that require extremely tight tolerances. It ranges a lot depending on the component, material, complexity, and geometry, but it can get down to +/- 0.05mm for complex, multilayered parts. We’re always happy to look at specific designs and suggest suitable fabrication methods for tolerance requirements.

How can you make wearables more durable?

It’s often moisture ingress that shortens life and decreases performance of a wearable, so the biggest factor is ensuring that you have the right adhesives that seal properly. Adhesives that not only stick to skin, but also between the different layers of the device. This all depends on the use of the wearable and the materials used in the different layers in the stack-up.

What is one of the most exciting medical wearable applications that you have worked on?

We recently worked on a continuous glucose monitor that had unique challenges. It required a very small footprint and included electronics for constant monitoring, so it had to be comfortable and long-lasting, even with all the design parameters involved. It’s always exciting to use our expertise to push the envelope on a solution like this.

That said, I don’t want to downplay simpler wearables, like ECG or EKG sensors. They’re high-volume and cost sensitive, but still have multiple layers and interesting design aspects. It’s also exciting to bring a high-volume, competitive, disposable device to the marketplace.

What do you think is the future of medical wearables?

Wearables are already a multi-billion-dollar market, and it’s growing rapidly. Improvements in battery life technology, stretchable conductive inks, and enhancements to near-field communication (NFC) and Bluetooth are coming. It’ll make the wearable industry much stronger, offering continuous remote patient monitoring outside of doctor’s’ offices and hospitals. It’ll be fully remote, and that’ll really change the medical wearable industry.

We’d like to thank everyone who submitted questions! To learn more about our Medical Wearable capabilities or inquire about your specific requirements, visit our Medical Wearables page or schedule a consultation with our experts.

Streamlining Medical Wearable Device Design for Performance & Total Cost Optimization – Part 2

We sat down with one of our Field Application Engineers to discuss how to optimize and streamline Medical Wearable Device design. Boyd is an expert in streamlining innovative design, manufacturing, and assembly of medical wearables to help product designers and medical device companies design for excellence (DFx). We help designers consider patient comfort & safety, manufacturing efficiency, product lifecycle, and total cost while navigating complex regulatory processes, providing global agility, assuring business continuity, and accelerating time to market.

Here are common questions we get as we work through Medical Wearable Device design projects with leading medical device design and manufacturing clients:

How do you incorporate electronics and functionality into extremely thin medical wearable devices?

Medical Wearable Device designers are tasked with packing a lot of sensitive and critically important electronics into very thin, streamlined wearables. There are all different types of sensor technology used because as sensors get smaller and less expensive, they’re being integrated into more devices and enabling new medical technology.

Types of Sensors Used in Wearable Devices

Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring devices, as an example, sense electrical stimulations based on the location of conductive electrodes worn on the chest. These patches are used to sense things like heart rate, respiratory rate, and arrhythmias. Product designers are also learning how to adapt acoustic sensors to collect heart metrics in different locations like the wrist.

Medical Wearable Devices also sense skin or body temperature with thermistors or thermocouples. Optical sensors on a wearable can measure oxygen saturation. Accelerometers and Gyroscopes can measure the wearer’s activity, movement, and positioning and can measure things like posture and fall detection.

Sharing Medical Wearable Device Data

Each sensor collects data that connects to either an embedded circuit board sandwiched within the wearable patch, or through electrical snap connectors to an external, reusable electronic module affixed to the wearable. Most of these wearable devices are using a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth transmitter to broadcast data to a secure cloud storage source accessed remotely by patients and doctors. Sensors and electronics must also be powered by a small battery which must be considered in the assembly process.

Assembling Medical Wearable Device Components Together

Medical Wearable Devices feature a large amount of very small, precise components. Due to their slim designs, there isn’t much room to accommodate all these components and there is certainly no room for misalignment. Meaning design for manufacturing and assembly accuracy are exceptionally important. Boyd has a lot of complex rotary converting processes that we leverage to cut and assemble with tight tolerance control and registration accuracy in highly automated processes. However, many medical wearable designs cannot be fully converted “on-press” in one continuous process utilizing the efficiency of traditional reel-to-reel converting methods. Because of complexity of the components used like the insertion of an electrical assembly or the attachment of snap connectors or the addition of a molded plastic housing, separate assembly steps are often required. This presents special assembly challenges that require creative process flow and innovative assembly fixture design to achieve efficient throughput and reduced labor costs.

Balancing Volume and Assembly Cost for Medical Wearable Devices

Newer medical wearable designers face special challenges as start-up companies who are trying to introduce a new technology into the market, facing long product development cycles due to regulatory / compliance requirements, and a slow ramp up due to long time of adoption. This means the economics for a fully automated assembly process are typically not feasible given the high NRE investment. Often it comes down to an efficient manual or semi-automated assembly process to help minimize these non-recurring expenses to give your wearable the best chance to succeed in the market. This is where Boyd excels in determining how best to assemble a complicated design in an efficient manner, leveraging the best of our diverse processes to assure trusted quality control. Blending the best of high precision converting with innovative assembly techniques under a highly documented, and process-controlled quality system.

Streamlining Medical Wearable Device Design for Performance & Total Cost Optimization – Part 1

We sat down with one of our Field Application Engineers to discuss how to optimize and streamline Medical Wearable Device design. Boyd is an expert in streamlining innovative design, manufacturing, and assembly of medical wearables to help product designers and medical device companies design for excellence (DFx). We help designers consider patient comfort & safety, manufacturing efficiency, product lifecycle, and total cost while navigating complex regulatory processes, providing global agility, assuring business continuity, and accelerating time to market.

Here are common questions we get as we work through Medical Wearable Device design projects with leading medical device design and manufacturing clients:

What are the best and safest ways to attach Medical Wearable Devices to the skin?

There are two important factors to consider regarding the attachment of the medical wearable: The attachment of the device itself to the skin and the style of conductive electrode used. All devices that attach to the skin must be highly tested and regulated to assure patient comfort and safety. Wearable devices must reliably attach to the patient for intended wear times without irritation while still being removable without damaging patient skin.

Wearable Device Adhesive Considerations

Selecting the right medical grade adhesive for wearable devices are selected based on:

• Required adhesion level (for example higher adhesion is necessary for longer wear times),
• Breathability: water against the skin needs to escape to help promote better wear time
• Ease of Removability,
• Wearer Comfort Level,
• Repositionability or Re-application (if required), and
• other application considerations.

Medical Wearable Design and Use Conditions

The shape and type of the skin contact layer may also be influenced by whether the wearable device needs to protect hydrogel electrodes or sensitive electrical components sandwiched within the patch from outside water ingress. In some unique applications when wear time is short, water ingress is not a factor, and repositionability of the wearable is desired, the adhesive skin contact layer can be foregone and rely on hydrogel components to provide the desired level of adhesion. We collaborate with many global raw material suppliers that are the world’s leading innovators in skin contact comfort and performance to help recommend materials to customers based on these factors to improve product comfort, care, and safety.

Medical Wearable Device Electrode Components

As for the electrode component, one traditional type of material used is open cell, medical grade foam pad saturated with a conductive gel as the electrically conducting medium. This style electrode can be more difficult to handle as a raw material and can impact manufacturing efficiency and cost. We have been steering customers towards hydrogel-based electrodes. Hydrogels present some cutting challenges, but our proprietary converting methods can offer a better option: they’re available in roll form and solid means a component easier to cut, handle, and place with greater quality control. There are several different global hydrogel raw material manufacturers available that offer responsive support and supply chain stability, enabling us to secure dual sources that can be compliant with regulatory and certification controls. Many material formulations to choose from, means we can typically find the right hydrogel to fit the specific electrical and application requirements.

We’ll continue our interview with our Medical Wearable Device FAE in an upcoming post!