Embedded systems developers for medical applications are leveraging new processors and technologies to address the need for customized standard platforms, high speed performance, faster assembly times, quiet operation and space-saving features.

With health care costs on the rise, and the demand for fast access to medical diagnosis, systems developers for embedded medical applications are tackling with a number of issues ranging from customization based on standard platforms to high speed performance, and from the need to shorten assembly time to the need to save space.

While embedded processors from companies like Intel Corp. (www.intel.com) are the heart and soul of a product, just as important are the systems that are built around them.

Justin Moll, director of marketing for the backplane division of custom- and standards-based system platforms and backplanes provider Elma Bustronic (www.bustronic.com), which has a line of backplanes based on AdvancedTCA, CompactPCI/2.16, MicroTCA, VME, VME64x, VXI, VPX, and VXS architectures, has observed firsthand what customers are demanding.

“We are seeing a lot of custom designs and customization in all of our divisions. One area that’s pretty consistent throughout our five divisions is that we incorporate a modular design concept. We have base platforms where people can build upon a starting point but they’re very flexible designs and they are very easy for us to customize to a specific configuration. What that does is saves the customer time, effort and money….with a shorter process, less customization and so on. The customer knows that the base platform is fully tested and proven in the field, but can easily tailor the solution to fit his needs,” Moll said.

Diagnosis: High-Performance
Specifically in medical applications, he noted that despite the economy affecting some of its larger backplane and systems-based business, there are still a lot of new, interesting designs coming forward. “For example,” Moll said, “there’s a general requirement for higher-speed performance in these systems, for doing data acquisition, imaging, and processor-intensive computing that is required. The faster these functions are performed, the better. For example, if this is going into an MRI machine, or large scanning equipment, those are obviously very expensive machines with long wait queues, and there are a lot of valuable hospital personnel time required to use them. If you can speed up how long it takes to do a scan, that’s a tremendous overall savings and value for the hospital and is less cumbersome for the patient. Additionally, if it’s the type of application where a radioactive dye may be used, you want to keep the exposure as limited as possible. So, a system that can cut the scanning time in half can have a tremendous positive effect.”

Likewise, Frank Shen, product marketing director of American Portwell Technology (www.portwell.com) which provides single-board computers, embedded computers, specialty computer platforms, rackmount computers, communication appliances, and human-machine interfaces, also noted the demand for greater performance for medical imaging.

“This is really driven by display technology as resolutions get higher…the response times need to be faster especially in different medical modalities for medical images. There is a demand for higher resolution to display medical images. As an embedded solution provider, especially with embedded video, the performance of the video needs to catch up to the other peripherals in the market for many medical applications such as ultrasound or CT scan and other scan image processing for reviewing digital radiography. In fact, some digital radiography reviewers now specify images must be at a certain minimum resolution,” he explained.

Aside from large scanning equipment, there are also smaller medical devices and medical instruments that require electronics assembly and components. “There’s a lot of customization required in many applications and using our modular design, it is really easy for us to come up with the different configurations that customers need,” Moll continued.

Long Assembly times Must Be Shortened
Another trend with medical devices is the requirement to save assembly time via the design. One example is surface-mount LEDs that are assembled on a PCB for a medical device. Elma Bustronic has developed high-temperature LEDs which can go through a wave solder machine without being harmed. “Without having to go through a separate soldering process for the LEDs, a lot of assembly time is saved,” Moll explained. “On the enclosure side, we can create an extruded aluminum modular design where there are fewer parts and just a few screws. The extrusions can also allow easy insertion and placement of various subrack components, tapped strips, EMC contacts/gaskets, and bolts/square nuts. Again, this means less assembly time for instrument cases and other medical device enclosures. Assembly time is a hidden cost. Somebody might have a very simple, cheap sheet-metal solution but if your assembly time and variable costs go way up, then you’re really not saving any money,” he said.

Space Savings
Space is a premium everywhere with many vendors putting new focus on designing to save space.

For American Portwell, ultra-compact is the name of the game. “The smaller the better, which also means a cost savings,” Shen said. “Before we would look at different form factors however, the trend happening in the marketplace is different form factors coming from different standards such as nano-ITX, pico-ITX, and others.”

The approach Elma Bustronic has taken is to create an extrusion design for one of its instrument case lines called a Type 35 Variety Box, which allows what the company has dubbed “Exact Sizing.”

“It’s such a flexible design that we can cut that extrusion in any size allowing a very precise dimension and configuration for the modular enclosure, but with minimal customized parts. Eurocard (a European standard format for printed circuit boards)-based enclosures come in 1U increments, so your housing is 1U, 2U, 3U, or 4U high, etc. The Type 35 however can come in sizes that are precise to the millimeter, providing a tailored solution without the heavy customization costs,” Moll pointed out.

Low Power Consumption Needed
According to Shen, other trends in the medical electronics market include:

• Low power consumption. Low power design is not only for environmental concerns but also to reduce operating costs. Saving power which means saving energy equates to saving money as well. This is happening across the board in terms of American Portwell’s segments, with medical as one. To this end, the company provides a low power consumption product based on Intel’s Atom processor.
• Lower cost Intel-architecture-based embedding computing solutions. Intel, compared with the traditional RISC-based, still has a relatively higher cost from a microprocessor cost point of view.
  LiPPERT Embedded Computers (www.lippertembedded.com) also has a line of Intel-based embedded PC modules and systems.
• Silent operation. In the medical environment, the user and patient doesn’t want too much noise. Fanless or noiseless is a must. Typically, the powerful CPU will require a powerful heat extinction device such as a fan and heatsink, but with today’s low power technology, those heatsinks can be eliminated along with the noise from the fan. And fortunately, Shen said, customers are willing to pay for more advanced technology, so that is not an issue.
• Quality management system. Medical applications demand a higher standard than any other industry, so there are different levels of ISO standards to be met in the medical area. Another reason is that medical instruments need to meet FDA requirements. Also, American Portwell is ISO 13485 qualified, which is specifically meant for companies in the medical space.

Other systems providers well-versed in quality standards for the medical market include Advantech (www.advantech.com), a vendor of electronic products which are sealed units, containing thermal and acoustic properties, meant to provide electromagnetic interference control, longevity, certification, and adherence to strict rules and regulations, such as UL60601-1, EN60601-1, and ISO 13485 certifications.

• Longer product cycle support. The medical industry requires a lengthier support cycle for products, whereby longevity is the issue, Shen explained, with customers demanding at least five to seven years.
• Security. Shen noted there is a trend for higher utilization of embedded computers/computing in the medical area. To achieve that, a combination of hardware and software form a virtualization solution, which allows different operating systems to run on a single hardware platform. For security, he said that American Portwell partners with LynuxWorks (www.lynuxworks.com), to allow a more secure virtualization package and allows the company to meet the security requirements in medical area.

Ann Steffora Mutschler is Editor of Extension Media’s EECatalog Resource Catalogs, and is also a Contributing Editor to Chip Design Magazine’s System-Level Design and Low-Power Design Communities. Her previous experience includes a long stint as a Senior Editor at Reed Business Information for publications including EDN, Electronic News and Electronic Business. She has moderated a number of panels in Silicon Valley and has written for publications worldwide.