Thursday, November 24, 2011

Defibrillator Vest Worn by Thousands

In the United states, an estimated 300000 people die every year of sudden cardiac arrest although internationally, it's unclear how many are at risk. Many patients have a device called a defibrillator implanted that delivers a shock to restart the heart. Now, some doctors are prescribing the device in a vest worn outside the body. And the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is testing the effectiveness of "The LifeVest." Thousands wear the device and the Pittsburgh-based manufacturer says it expects the number of patients using the technology to double this year. Steve Mort reports.

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Sunday, November 13, 2011

Top 5 Medical Equipment Manufacturers

!±8± Top 5 Medical Equipment Manufacturers

Health care is a massive, multi-billion dollar industry, and the development and manufacturing of medical equipment is one of its biggest branches. Today there are hundreds of medical manufacturing companies working daily to find better and more profitable health care technology. Most the top medical manufacturers are global corporations that take part in several different aspects of the medical industry. Here are 5 of the top medical equipment manufacturers in the world today.

Cardinal Health, Inc.

Cardinal was founded in 1971 by Robert D. Walter and actually started off as a food wholesaler. When it acquired Bailey Drug Company eight years later, Cardinal began selling pharmaceutical drugs. Today, Cardinal Health is ranked 18th on Fortune 500's list, and with an annual revenue of billion, it is heavily involved in the research and development of new drugs and medical equipment.

Johnson & Johnson

The famous manufacturer of the popular Band-Aid bandages, Tylenol painkillers and Johnson's baby products is also one of the world's biggest manufacturers of non-surgical medical equipment. Founded in 1886, Johnson & Johnson has been on the Fortune 500 list for decades and has annual revenue of over billion. It has an acclaimed corporate reputation and was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy for funding the State Department's international education programs.

St. Jude Medical, Inc.

With annual revenue of billion, St. Jude Medical specializes in the development and manufacture of medical devices. It sells its products in over 100 countries and has operations in 20 different facilities worldwide. Some of its products include artificial pacemakers, catheters, spinal cord stimulators, heart valves and implantable defibrillators. St. Jude Medical was founded in 1976.

Boston Scientific Corporation

Founded in 1979, Boston Scientific is among the top medical equipment manufacturers in the world, specializing in interventional medical devices. It's most famous product is the Taxus Stent, a device used to open clogged arteries. Boston Scientific has annual revenue of more than billion. It recently acquired one of its biggest competitors, Guidant, for about billion.

Medtronic, Inc.

Medtronic is the world's biggest developer and manufacturer of medical technology. It is listed among the Fortune 500 companies, bringing in annual revenue of over billion. Based in Minneapolis, Medtronic was founded in 1949 by Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundsile, who first worked out of their garage, fixing and selling equipment built by other companies. As it expanded, Medtronic began developing its own hardware. Today, the company is famous for manufacturing the first wearable artificial pacemakers.


Top 5 Medical Equipment Manufacturers

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Sunday, November 6, 2011

Flexible Circuitry Growth in Medical Electronics

!±8± Flexible Circuitry Growth in Medical Electronics

The medical electronics industry is one of the fastest growing markets in the United States. As the drive to reduce space and weight while adding functionality at a reduced cost continues, flexible circuitry is fast becoming an ideal interconnection and packaging design solution for this industry.

The adoption of flexible circuitry in medical devices goes back to the early 1970's, when companies like Cardiac Pacemakers and Medtronic used flex circuitry for implantable pacemakers and implantable defibrillators. As electronics and packaging advanced, medical products have enjoyed a tremendous growth both in the US and overseas. This growth can be expected to continue as new and innovative products, with increasingly demanding electronic requirements, challenge product designers to get ten pounds into a five pound bag.

Today flexible circuits are found in a vast assortment of medical applications:

Implantable Medical Devices. These include pacemakers, defibrillators, neurological implants and cochlear implants (hearing). These devices are surgically implanted in the human body. Product requirements are extreme reliability, long lasting, light weight, and compact in size. Non implantable Medical Devices. Hearing aids, drug dispensing systems, and external defibrillators (attached to patient) are some examples of this medical application. These devices are usually worn or attached to the skin of the patient. Monitoring Devices: Devices include portable or wearable electronic devices that monitor heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and blood sugar rate. Also included in this category are bedside monitoring devices. Diagnostic Equipment: This category includes equipment that does ultrasound scanning, MRI's, CT scanning, X-Ray's and a variety of other types of equipment that aid in detecting and diagnosing health problems. Surgery Tools: These include electronic saws, screw drivers and cauterizing scissors for clamping and closing blood vessels while performing surgery. Single Use Devices (SUD's). Applications include ultrasonic scalpels, electrode recording catheters, biopsy instruments, electric biopsy forceps and hundreds of other applications where sterile requirements dictate one time use.

The variety of uses and applications is continually expanding with innovative new designs or redesigns of existing equipment. This makes the medical industry one of the fastest growing and existing segments for flexible circuit applications. There are a number of important reasons that flexible circuitry is ideal for the medical industry:

Reliability: As early as the 1950's, flexible circuitry was used in the military and avionics industry, with both applications requiring extraordinary reliability. The nearly 20 years of proven performance in these high demand applications provided the medical industry with confidence in flex circuitry's reliability and robustness. Flexible circuitry has inherent advantages because it eliminates connection points, thereby simplifying assembly and eliminating chances of human error or interconnect defects such as poor solder joints.

Space and weight: The demand in the medical industry to make devices smaller and lighter makes flexible circuits ideal in applications when weight and space are a premium. Flexible circuitry is thin (total circuit thickness can be Bio-compatibility: The materials used in flexible circuits have proven to be bio-compatible in a wide range of applications. While implantable devices are fully sealed to eliminate contamination, non- implantable devices are used in applications requiring contact with human skin.

Feature Density: Flexible circuits can be built with narrow lines and spaces (conductor trace and space widths less than .005" are quite common) and are constructed with multiple layers. This becomes increasingly important as designers are continuing to reduce volume while increasing functions.

Dynamic Flexing: Flexible circuitry has outstanding ability for dynamic bending or movement. This includes applications such as providing interconnection through a hinged device or maintaining connection through devices that expand, contract or telescope during use. Material construction and circuit layout are particularly important in dynamic flex applications. Consulting with a flex vendor or other industry expert is recommended when moving parts need to be connected.

Cost: Since flexible circuits reduce the number of connections required, they can simplify and reduce assembly costs and are manufactured efficiently in high volume. Eliminating connectors, soldered wires, and rigid printed circuits are possibilities that further reduce overall cost in an interconnection design.

Supply Chain: The materials used to make flex are widely available. There are several suppliers of flexible circuitry with knowledge and experience in medical applications. A review of supplier capabilities based on the requirements of an individual application is recommended.

Technical Support: There is a plethora of technical resources available for application and design support in the USA, including capable and experienced support from many flex circuit suppliers. Organizations such as IPC have helped support the cross fertilization of technology and knowledge across the country. The wide variety of applications of flex in electronics has created a wealth of experience and innovation in this industry that can be passed on to medical applications.

The demand for flexible circuitry in the medical industry will remain robust as electronic medical equipment continues as one of the hottest growth areas for the electronics industry. The aging population, longer life expectancy, demands for more affordable and less invasive health care, and the continued advancement in technology are some of the factors driving growth in this market segment. Increasing possibilities for the use of flexible circuitry in medical electronics will certainly continue as designers identify additional ways to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this 3 dimensional interconnection technology.


Flexible Circuitry Growth in Medical Electronics

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