Wescor keeps refining its products

Wayne Barlow founded Logan-based Wescor Inc. in 1970 and has been the manufacturer of electronic and diagnostic medical devices ever since.

But Barlow has never allowed Wescor's products or its culture to grow stale, maintaining the company's position as a world leader in laboratory diagnostics by creating state-of-the-art products that stay innovative over time.

Wescor's first major product, the Vapor Pressure Osmometer, was introduced in 1972 and was revolutionary for its time. It has been continually refined and improved to ensure that it is still an industry leader — the only instrument in the world that can get accurate results with a sample as small as 10 microliters.

Perhaps most impressively, Wescor has innovated its sweat-collection systems for diagnosing cystic fibrosis to the point that it has no competition. The company's original sweat-collection systems, continually improved over the years, led to Wescor's Nanoduct Neonatal Sweat Analysis System, which helps hospitals diagnose cystic fibrosis at birth.

Barlow has innovated financially, as well, starting in 1970, when he cut Wescor's initial dependence on government contracts and moved the company from aerospace engineering and manufacturing into medical products.

More recently, the company decided to sell a majority of its stock to its French distributor, Elitech France. Now part of the Elitech group of companies, Wescor is the exclusive U.S. distributor of Elitech products, complementing Wescor's own product line.