Community Tissue Services Acquires Rights to TMI Grinder

In a landmark agreement with TMI Industries, Community Tissue Services (CTS) obtained the exclusive rights to manufacture, market and distribute the TMI Grinder, considered to be the most efficient bone grinder in the tissue manufacturing industry. TMI Industries has been owned and operated by founder Tom Meredith for more than 30 years. This patent purchase by CTS will ensure its legacy.

Meredith’s company was inspired by his sons Thomas Matthew Meredith and David J. Meredith who both perished in auto accidents three months apart as young men, and were both organ and tissue donors. He named the company for his eldest son.

The TMI Bone Grinder

CTS was one of the first tissue centers to adopt the TMI technology. Its primary use will continue to be dental and orthopedic applications. CTS now owns the technology and plans to not only produce the existing machine, but to continuously improve its functionality and develop new applications. Tom Meredith and CTS will continue to work together to make the TMI Grinder available to the market. Suburban Tool Co. developed the primary tool for the TMI Grinder in the late ’90s, and will continue as its exclusive fabricator.

Grinders before TMI created excessive heat, killing the bone’s ability to be osteoconductive. This device addresses the issue by distancing the grinder from the power supply. Old grinders were made with iron paddles in iron cages that smashed the bones.

“The big thing was designing the cutter,” said Tom. “We started with pointed teeth and moved to square teeth.” Square heads chip and carve particles in different sizes without fracturing. “We’re still doing that to this day,” he continued, “a primary cutting wheel matched up with two secondary wheels that move in the same direction. Bone is so hard; it will bend shafts if you try to grind in opposite directions.”

Source: Community Tissue Services