Electronics and related technologies play key roles in medical applications. Those roles include acquiring data, processing it, communicating it to caregivers, allowing caregivers to collaborate (often remotely), and administering some form of treatment or rehabilitation. Regardless of the application, test is an important part of the process.
In our November 2016 cover story, Senior Technical Editor Tom Lecklider took an in-depth look at the topic. We will be providing an update in our March 2017 issue, and we invite your input:
- What medical electronics applications have you been involved in?
- What challenges did they present, and how did you solve them?
- Could you refer us to any relevant application notes or case studies that you have published?
As an example of what we might be covering in the March issue, here are some relevant news items that have broken since Tom’s November cover story went to press:
- Intrinsyc Technologies announced an agreement with IoT health provider Knit Health Inc., reporting that Knit Health’s sleep monitor incorporates Intrinsyc’s Open-Q 410 System on Module, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor.
- imec, Holst Centre, and TNO at electronica introduced their small form-factor comfortable-to-wear next-generation health patch, which is optimized for low power consumption and is the first of its kind to track physical and cardiac activity while monitoring bioelectrical impedance.
- Kyocera Corp. announced that it has developed one of the smallest known optical blood-flow sensors, which measures the volume of blood flow in subcutaneous tissue.
- Pinscriptive, which leverages big-data analytics to identify clinically effective specialty medications at an optimal cost, announced it has partnered with T-Systems, which will provide cloud-based ISO-compliant infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
- Avaya announced that its Scopia videoconferencing technology is helping a rural German healthcare association facilitate medical-team collaboration across three locations.
- Reflexion Health Inc., a digital healthcare company, in conjunction with the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), announced the enrollment of the first patients in a study designed to evaluate the cost and outcomes of using a virtual rehabilitation platform to deliver physical therapy following total knee replacement (TKR) surgery.
- Spectrum Instrumentation announced it has expanded its line of PXIe-based high-speed digitizers and listed medical science as a key application area.
- Avalue Technology Inc. released a fanless medical panel PC that features an antimicrobial finish and UL 60601-1 medical certification.
- Bel Power Solutions announced the expansion of its open-frame, AC/DC power-supply portfolio to include the MBC550 Series supplies for medical applications.
Let us know about your experiences with medical electronics technology. Please respond by January 5. Thanks for your help.
