EVENTS

Medical Electronic Device Solutions Conference in San Diego

Attend the upcoming MEDS Conference in So. CA on August 25th with a full all-access (complimentary) GUEST PASS. Click here to register today and have your badge waiting. Guest Pass includes: Keynote, Technical Seminars, Product Showcase, Lunch & parking!

FEATURED INTERVIEW

Interview with Chuck Parker, Executive Director of Continua Health Alliance

The medical electronic market is heating up. Device developers are racing to bring products to market in the shortest possible time, while still meeting the requirements of safety, quality and reliability. In addition to their innovation and creativity, developers need to be well informed of compliance requirements such as UL 60601, FDA 501K, ISO 13485 and the like. Medical Electronic Device Solutions magazine is on a mission to uncover the best design and test solutions for our developers. We recently interviewed Chuck Parker, Executive Director of Continua Health Alliance, to learn about their mission and what they do to help the medical industry and ecosystem. The interviewer is our Publisher John Koon. Read More

RECENT ARTICLES

Telehealth¹—Medical Electronics used in the Chilean Mining Disaster Rescue

John Koon, Editor-In-Chief

Easing the IEC 62304 Compliance Journey for Developers to Certify Medical Devices

Anil Kumar, LDRA

By adopting the quality software processes of IEC 62304, companies are better able to develop a safe product, avoid expensive recalls, and ensure that the same development process underpins the maintenance and upgrade process.

Capturing Elusive Data Ensures Reliable Results

Ben Haest, QED, SA and Klaas A. Vogel, Elsys Instruments

Data acquisition systems are continually advancing in functionality to provide practical and cost-effective solutions in those applications that generate elusive events. Event controlled recording can greatly increase the accuracy and ease the analysis of complex test scenarios.

Application of PSoC in Electronic Medical Devices

Sammy Lee, Cypress Semiconductor

Medical devices are getting smaller and more sophisticated. To achieve portability, high functionality and low cost, a programmable system on chip can be configured to serve a number of different functions to create a medical device on chip.

Transitioning From Analog to Digital in Medical Designs

Joseph Sankman, Microchip Technology

The move from analog to digital design in medical devices enables smaller size, lower power, greater noise immunity and lower parts count for powerful, portable solutions in the health care sector.

Addressing portable medical device needs

David Niewolny, Freescale Semiconductor

The development of medical devices, particularly portable medical devices, is expensive, and the time-to-market is long. Yet, social trends are making these one of the most exciting product segments for the embedded systems market. The article reviews key decisions a device designer must make in terms of the MCUs and other silicon and software that surround them as well as the need for highly integrated, ultra-low-power strategies.

Low-cost real-time data delivery for medical devices

Ulrik Gammelby, Nabto and Steve DeLaney, Cypherbridge Systems

Danish life science entrepreneur Medotech needed a way to provide secure and simple access to its Grindcare medical devices deployed on patients’ home networks. This article outlines how Medotech solved the problem using Nabto’s patented off-the-shelf embedded software and describes how the implementation simplifies system maintenance and future development. A further section considers the integration of the Nabto technology with Cypherbridge Systems products for secure low-cost MCU-based projects.

The New World of Home Health Telemonitoring

Alan Cohen, Logic PD

Monitoring patient vital signs in their homes can lead to better health care at lower cost. However, designers must be ready to address a set of design challenges that are unique among medical devices.

Executive Overview of FDA Medical Device Approval Requirements

By Bruce Swope, Vice President of Engineering, Sterling Smartware Solutions

The following is a high-level overview of the processes required to get a new medical device classified and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This paper attempts to present complex regulatory processes in the simplest possible terms. Where applicable, it includes links to resources that contain detailed background information. When submitting a medical device for FDA approval, it is vital to read and understand all of the underlying regulations. The information presented here is for informational purposes only. Those attempting to navigate through the FDA approval process for the first time are strongly advised to seek professional assistance from an organization with broad expertise and experience in regulatory issues.

Creating a Secure Open Platform for Health Information

Robert Day and George Brooks, LynuxWorks

The increasingly complex requirements of medical systems can be met using a new secure open platform built on multicore hardware with hardware-assisted virtualization with the use of hypervisors and separation kernels.

Precise and Affordable Medical Devices

Gaven Teo, Avago Technologies

For small, portable and safety-critical medical devices that can be used at home by nonprofessionals, many require exacting motor control to, for example, administer medication. The choice of a reflective motion controller can positively affect size, power, cost and accuracy considerations.

Medical Device Safety: Make Software Part of the Solution

Jens Wiegand, Wind River

Today’s embedded software technologies are fully capable of cutting the cost and complexity of safe medical devices. Three key steps can put developers on the path to safer, more reliable and longer-life medical solutions.

EDITORIAL

Welcome to MEDS

Tom Williams, Editor-in-Chief

Welcome to Medical Electronic Device Solutions, a new and dynamic technical publication serving the medical device industry. We here at MEDS bring a unique perspective in that our familiarity with embedded computer systems is a natural fit into the world of medical devices—the fact that they all gather and process information. Medical devices are, of course, special in that they are often life-critical and must face strict regulation and certification issues.

Software and Connectivity: Two Holy Grails

Tom Williams, Editor-in-Chief

Advances in processor technology, in graphics processing and display, highly reliable and standardized networking electronics have given us platforms with the intelligence, low power consumption, small size and attractive pricing that will allow the development of a vast array of medical devices. The hardware component is in place in terms of sensors, processors, power supplies and displays for OEMs to assemble systems that would put Dr. Leonard McCoy to shame.

NEWS

Focus

Intel and GE Form New Healthcare Joint Venture