From the Editor
  Originally Published MEM April 2001 Advances in technology are often taken for granted in the world of electronics where the life span of a personal computer is only months before something more powerful comes along. This market condition, of course, is not the case for medical electronics, which are generally designed to stay...
The Internet Appliance: Medical Instrument of the Future
Medical Electronics Manufacturing Spring 2000 Medical devices are ready to be connected to the Internet—perhaps readier than their manufacturers know. Edward F. Steinfeld Medical instruments have evolved from simple controllers, whose only user interface was an on-off switch, into programmable devices with a color screen and a variety of input controls. The new devices have internal...
Implementing MEMS Technology in Today's Medical Electronics
A Medical Electronics Manufacturing Fall 1997 Feature MEMS Robert R. Swafford, Harold Joseph, and Vladimir Vaganov Improvements in the design, manufacture, and packaging of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are lowering the costs and increasing the capabilities of these tiny devices. MEMS have been an important and growing part of the medical industry since the 1980s. The microstructures are...
Providing the Power Behind Virtual Reality
A Medical Electronics Manufacturing Fall 1997 Feature VIRTUAL REALITY   Greg Freiherr New computing platforms, imaging algorithms, and improved tracking are helping to close the gap between virtual and reality. True virtual reality (VR)­wherein the observer is immersed in a computer-generated world indistinguishable from the world around us­is far beyond the grasp of engineers today...
Advanced Electronic Packaging Techniques Enhance Function, Performance, and Portability
A Medical Electronics Manufacturing Fall 1997 Feature ELECTRONIC PACKAGING Nicholas Brathwaite and Kangsen Huey Alternative packaging technologies are moving to the forefront as devices require increased portability and performance. Electronic packaging and assembly technologies are growing more complex, and the rate of technological change is accelerating. While surface-mount technology (SMT) is...
The Future of Medical Microelectromechanical Systems
A Medical Electronics Manufacturing Fall 1996 Feature   Robert S. Seeley Will microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for the medical industry reach the potential envisioned for them?   MEMS are micron-sized structures such as beams, cantilevers, diaphragms, valves, plates, and switches that can function as tiny sensors and actuators. They are fabricated by integrated circuit (IC)...