NEW KENSINGTON, PA-West Penn Testing Group www.westpenntesting.com, a provider of nondestructive testing and material testing services, projects a double-digit increase for testing of surgical-implant materials in 2012. "We are already experiencing a rise in medical-sector tests driven as predicted by demographic and regulatory changes," said West Penn's Director of Sales Albert R. Fletcher. "Our response is: hire, train more Level II inspectors and build more test cells."

Fletcher said trends in the medical market have an outsized impact on West Penn due to its established presence as an independent laboratory. "We have served domestic and international medical manufacturers for almost two decades,” he explained. “Typically, manufacturers turn to us to solve tough material-inspection problems and we often solve those problems in ways that end up setting test standards."