All Flex Conducts Successful Study on High Wattage Heaters for Medical Instruments

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Flexible circuit board and flexible heater specialist All Flex recently addressed that their customer base for Medical Diagnostic, DNA Testing, P.O.C. instruments and Cancer Diagnostics have been consistently needing to accommodate faster test results while also making their instruments and the corresponding thermal systems smaller. This resulted in the need for higher wattage heaters other than the traditional Kapton, polyimide, or silicone rubber heaters commonly available on the market. All Flex has come up with a successful solution for this particular problem: etched foil heaters.

One of the greatest demands on a etched foil flexible heater is with rapid warm-up and high wattages. All Flex has tested our high watt heaters up to 115 watts per square inch, which is 50% higher watt density compared to the next highest available. These tests result showed that etched foiled heaters stood up against the demands of Molecular Diagnostic/DNA testing, where fast warm-up and rapid cool down is required, with no degradation after 100,000 thermal cycles.

Study: High Wattage Polyimide Heater for Molecular/DNA and P.O.C. Instruments

• 120 watts per square inch at 100 degrees Celsius
• 18 watts per square centimeter at 100 degrees Celsius Voltage range 5V to 240V
• Max temperature: 500F/260C
• Available with RTD’s, Thermistors, and Thermocouples
• Can be supplied with lead wires, ZIF termination or SMT connectors RoHS compliant
• Meets UL94 V-0 Flammability
• Maximum size:    22” by 22” / 560mm by 560mm
• Profiling for uniform thermal system performance

Test Results After 100,00 Cycles

• 1KV Dielectric – PASS
• Voiding or Delamination – NONE
• Resistance Change – NONE
• Conductor Cracking or Damage – NONE

For more specific information on this study or to learn more about their services, please contact All Flex at www.allflexinc.com or www.allflexheaters.com.