-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueOpportunities and Challenges
In this issue, our expert contributors discuss the many opportunities and challenges in the PCB design community, and what can be done to grow the numbers of PCB designers—and design instructors.
Embedded Design Techniques
Our expert contributors provide the knowledge this month that designers need to be aware of to make intelligent, educated decisions about embedded design. Many design and manufacturing hurdles can trip up designers who are new to this technology.
Manufacturing Know-how
For this issue, we asked our expert contributors to share their thoughts on the absolute “must-know” aspects of fab, assembly and test that all designers should understand. In the end, we’re all in this together.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Innovative Circuits Sees Healthy Medical Market
February 10, 2016 | Andy Shaughnessy, PCB Design007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Medical electronics is one of the fastest growing segments of our industry. Almost weekly, we hear about another cool lifesaving device or piece of medical monitoring equipment. Alpharetta, Georgia-based Innovative Circuits is at the forefront of fabricating medical PCBs, both flex and rigid. I asked Innovative Business Development Manager Amir Davoud to give us a solid diagnosis of the world of medical PCBs.
Andy Shaughnessy: Amir, why don’t you start off by giving us a quick background on Innovative Circuits?
Amir Davoud: Innovative Circuits is a fabricator of multilayer rigid PCBs, rigid-flex and flex circuits. Since our inception in 1998, we have remained dedicated to pairing comprehensive engineering support with quickturn and small- to mid-level production solutions. Our clients rely on ICI’s extensive knowledge base and highly skilled technicians to assist with their most challenging projects.
Shaughnessy: Innovative Circuits serves a number of medical customers. What sort of devices do these customers create?
Davoud: Our medical clients range from the neurosciences to cardiac care. Most of the projects we work on involve external devices that are either standalone for monitoring or communicate with implants. Our customer’s products include the first FDA-approved heart failure monitoring system, modeling tools for complex brain activity, CPAP machines and flexible endoscopes. A specific area of focus for us is in robotics, specifically prosthetics. We have been involved in a number of projects that developed fully functionally partial and complete prosthesis for amputees.
Shaughnessy: How is fabricating a medical PCB different than building any other high-reliability board?
Davoud: At Innovative, high reliability is a requisite for the majority of our customers. In addition to the medical industry we service others with challenging high end needs. These include defense and aerospace, and needless to say no one wants a failure at 35,000 feet, let alone on the operating table. In order to meet the demands of our clients, we are required to make a full commitment that ensures repeatability and reliability by maintaining operational excellence. This begins with laying a solid foundation where every project receives a detailed review that includes recommendations for manufacturability, design integrity and material requirements. From there, we use highly trained technicians that guide each design through a fully traceable fabrication process. Multiple inspection points are also used during this procedure to ensure design adherence at all stages. Once completed, each board undergoes a thorough final inspection and testing process before being shipped.
Shaughnessy: I know you all do quite a bit of flex. Are the boards for medical devices primarily flex, rigid, or rigid-flex?
Davoud: We see an equal amount of each type, though there has been growth in the flex and rigid-flex segments over the past few years. This can be attributed to the increase in robotics and devices that have repetitive movement requirements. In 2016, I anticipate that we will see flexible circuitry requirements surpass rigid needs for medical devices.
To read this entire article, which appeared in the January 2016 issue of The PCB Design Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
Absolute EMS Successfully Recertifies ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100 Standards
03/26/2024 | Absolute EMS, Inc.Absolute EMS, Inc., an award-winning EMS provider of turnkey contract manufacturing services, is proud to announce the successful recertification of its ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100 Rev D SAE International Aerospace Standards.
Arlon EMC Receives IPC-4101 QPL Recertification
03/20/2024 | Arlon Electronic MaterialsArlon Electronic Materials has successfully completed an intensive two-day recertification audit by IPC Validation Services that examined Arlon’s manufacturing processes and testing procedures to assure that they are in conformance to the requirements of IPC-4101E-WAM1, the Specification for Base Materials for Rigid and Multilayer Printed Boards.
Northrop Grumman Honors Suppliers for Excellence
03/14/2024 | Northrop GrummanNorthrop Grumman Corporation honored more than 70 suppliers for their outstanding contributions in 2023. In an annual recognition event, the companies included women-, minority- and veteran-owned small businesses as well as those operating in underdeveloped areas.
Cicor Acquires TT Electronics IoT Solutions
03/04/2024 | Cicor Technologies Ltd.The Cicor Group has signed an agreement to acquire TT Electronics IoT Solutions Ltd, with three production sites in the UK and China.
AEM, Texas Aerospace Technologies Bolster Partnership for Latin America
02/26/2024 | AEM Corp.Canadian avionics manufacturer, Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp. (AEM), is pleased to announce a partnership expansion with Texas Aerospace Technologies, a subsidiary of Texas Aerospace Services, to add AEM’s new MTP136D modern panel-mount P25 VHF FM Forest Service radio to its lineup of product offerings for their Latin American customers.