Miniature Snap Action Switch is Fully RoHS Compliant
Phaseda has introduced a new miniature snap action switch. This RL6-2 switch has compact body size, measuring 0.780 by 0.400 in. It has a UL approved rating at 10 A, 125 VAC and 1/4 HP; and a VDE rating at 10 A, 250 V~.  Plus, it’s fully RoHS compliant. The switch function has NC, NO, or switch over with quick connect or solder type terminals. This small size snap action switch comes...
Texas Instruments Ups the Ante with its Latest ADC for Medical Imaging Equipment
Texas Instruments has introduced a quad-channel, 16-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for medical imaging applications, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). According to the company, it’s the first of its kind to meet these specs. The ADS5263 delivers a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 84.6 dBFS with 10-MHz input and a sampling frequency of up to 100 MSPS. The quad-channel...
Altera, MIPS, and SLS announce MP32, a MIPS-based, FPGA-optimized soft core processor that supports Wind River’s VxWorks RTOS
Altera, MIPS, and System Level Solutions (SLS) recently introduced a MIPS-based, FPGA-optimized soft processor for use on Altera’s FPGAs and ASICs. The MP32 processor is a MIPS-compatible applications class processor that inherits a large ecosystem of software development tools and operating system (OS) support. The MP32 soft processor is supported by Wind River’s VxWorks RTOS and the...
Mentor Graphics IDE based on GNU tool chain
Last week, Mentor Graphics announced its Embedded Sourcery CodeBench product, a next-generation integrated development environment (IDE) based on the open-source GNU tool chain. The Sourcery CodeBench technology provides embedded developers with a powerful and easy-to-use tool suite for developing and optimizing systems based on a broad range of devices from the most advanced microprocessors to...
Kozio’s structured, language-based environment for embedded system verification operates at target-hardware speed
Kozio recently developed the ValidationAssistant, a unified, interactive, embedded hardware verification environment that simplifies hardware control, automates test execution, and conveniently maintains test cases in a structure that maximizes reuse across the entire product life cycle. Such a lifecycle typically consists of engineering, production, and field test. This PC-based application...
Wozniak, dinosaurs, power outages, and some great technology
What a wild week it was at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC). I spent Tuesday and Wednesday last week in San Jose with the world’s leading embedded developers and came back with some great ideas. The highlight of the trip was a meeting with Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple). It was an impromptu meeting, but one I’ll surely remember. Steve was the event’s keynote...
EPIC SBC Holds Single- or Dual-Core 1.66-GHz Atom
WinSystems announced their EPX-C380, an EPIC-compatible, 1.66-GHz Atom-based single board computer (SBC). The board uses either the Atom single-core N450 or dual-core D510 processor combined with the ICH8M I/O hub controller, both of which are supplied from Intel’s Embedded Architecture Division for long-term availability. Operational from -40° to +70°C, these SBCs provide an open...
LDRA Tool Suite Provides Requirements-to-Object-Code Traceability
LDRA has developed a tool that performs an often-desired task by developers—requirements-to-object–code traceability. In the safety-critical domain, devices required to meet the most critical levels of certification must verify software traceability from requirements through design to code at both source- and object-code levels. By providing comprehensive traceability, LDRA’s...
How Much Can Intel's 3-D Transistor Change Medical Device Design?
It's not every day that a company completely changes the course of manufacturing technology. Intel Corp. may be doing just with its announcement of a significant breakthrough in the evolution of the transistor. Intel is introducing a 3-D transistor design called Tri-Gate into high-volume manufacturing at the 22-nm node in an Intel chip codenamed "Ivy Bridge." According to the company...
Circuit Design Helps Researchers Develop Synthetic Synapse
If you've ever found yourself pining for a brain a la Ray Bolger, then this news will probably get your legs a-wobblin': engineering researchers at the University of Southern California have fabricated a synthetic synapse using circuit design and carbon nanotubes. What's more, the synapse functioned like a real live neuron when tested.    Source: USC Viterbi School of...
Dodging Counterfeit Electronic Components Is Far More Difficult Than in the Past
A counterfeit electronic component operating in a medical electronics system may make itself known when the system experiences an unexpected failure. The failure may be relatively innocuous—a monitoring device that suddenly begins to display meaningless numbers—or it may be directly life-threatening, such as a functional failure in a defibrillator. Even after the failure has occurred...
Students Create Videogame System to Help Children With Physical Therapy
  These custom sensors are what allow the handrails in the system to register the force with which patients are leaning on them. Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University Can you imagine patients at a children's hospital squealing, "Whee!" when prompted to undergo a round of physical therapy or diagnostic testing?  That's along the lines of what a group of...
Check Out the 2011 MDEA Winners
 Want to get a taste of the latest and greatest in medical device design? Go to mddionline.com, where you can check out the results of the 2011 Medical Design Excellence Awards, including pictures and descriptions of all 37 winning devices. You can also read in-depth feature coverage by Heather Thompson on how the little things make a big difference in device design and Brian...
Battery Packs and Medical Devices don’t Always Make a Great Marriage
The healthcare industry has been trying to cut the electric cord since the 1950s when Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundslie invented the first transistorized cardiac pacemaker with an internal battery. Over the ensuing decades, manufacturers have continued to introduce devices—hearing aids, digital thermometers, defibrillators, nerve stimulators, suction pumps, ultrasound equipment, all manner...
Microchip introduces low-cost, low-power 8-bit PIC MCUs with integrated LCD control
Microchip Technology recently announced an expansion of its 8-bit segmented LCD microcontroller (MCU) family with five new devices—the PIC16LF1902/3/4/6/7 MCUs. The PIC16LF190X family supports many general-purpose applications and enables the implementation of LCD into low-power and cost-sensitive designs, including medical devices. Featuring eXtreme Low Power (XLP) technology for sleep...
6-axis robots up the speed and precision over previous models
The new DENSO VS-Series six-axis articulated robots offer high speed and precision, with cycle times from 0.37 to 0.33 sec. and repeatability from ±0.03 to ±0.02 mm. Reaches are from 500 to 900 mm and payload capacities from 4 to 7 kg. The VS robots are very flexible, with a more compact design than previous models, including ultraslim arms to facilitate integration and an optional...
FitQuik connectors come in a range of types and sizes
Qosina has teamed up with Colder Products to offer their FitQuik Connectors. Available in both white and black nylon and natural polypropylene, the more than 350 fittings are available in standard configurations including barbed ends for tubing 1/16- to 3/8-in. ID, threads (Standard Luer, NPT, 1/4-28 UNF, and 10-32), caps, and plugs. FitQuik Connectors ensure a secure fit in demanding...
Researchers Develop Microscope with Touch Screen Display
Ever wanted to manipulate the magnified image of a microscope sample on an oversized touch screen? Well, now you can. Researchers have developed just such a system, which uses "Web-based virtual microscopy" and a touch screen to make it possible to see 1000-fold magnifications on an "in your face" scale.  From the press release: Biological samples are digitized using a...
Kenson pushes the envelope on manufacturing process
A new manufacturing process was developed by Kenson Plastics, a designer and manufacturer of pressure-formed plastics. The centerpiece of this process is a KMT Robotics 6 Axis router. Robotic trimming systems are designed to trim more parts per hour and reduce downtime. A wide variety of thermoforming applications are suited for this type of robotic technology, including those in the medical,...
Not Complying with IEC 62304 for Software Design Could Be Detrimental on Many Levels
Medical devices have become increasingly sophisticated, now employing software-controlled applications whose failure to function correctly could result in death or serious injury. Despite this increased complexity, medical software standards continue to reflect only the rigor of low-risk applications. Notably, many of the medical device faults stem from product upgrades. An analysis of 3140...
First-Generation X-Ray Packs a Punch
In these modern times of hyper innovation, it's easy to forget that, for most of human history, things as seemingly simple as x-rays were an impossibility. To get some perspective, it's worth taking a trip in the wayback machine with this Wired article about a first-generation x-ray machine that was recently powered up and put through its paces.   Because the technology to measure the...
Choosing the Right OS for your Medical Device
Medical device manufacturers understand the importance of the operating system (OS). In fact, contrary to common practice in the world of embedded systems, they often select the OS even before they choose the board. According to VDC Research, for example, in 2010, 36.4% of medical device projects chose the OS first, compared to 20.8% of telecommunications projects, and just 9.3% of transportation...
Testing Android Devices
Within three years, Android as a platform for mobile devices has made significant inroads. In fact, Android recently claimed the top position in the U.S. smartphone market, with more than 50% of smartphones in the U.S. running Android. Android, developed by the Open Handset Alliance and led by Google, is used by most mobile operators and many handset manufacturers, including Motorola, Sony-...
MSA is a key to world class manufacturing
Most of us in the medical device industry are familiar with process capability measurement terms Cp, Cpk, Pp, and Ppk. A small subset of us uses these metrics to generate process validation reports claiming to meet our customers’ capability requirements. But how many OEMs and suppliers have gone to the next level by providing the empirical evidence necessary to prove that the measured data...
Healthcare, Now in 3-D
In the next five years, science fiction will become science, pure and simple, as 3-D interfaces like those in the movies let users interact with health-related information. Scientists are beginning to work on new ways to visualise 3-D data. The technology will allow engineers to step inside designs of everything from buildings to software programs, running simulations of how diseases spread...