Smiths Interconnect Connectors Help to Decrease the Cost of Ownership for Medical Devices
The continued need to evolve and develop smarter solutions has driven exciting innovations that are reducing the cost-per-therapy in the medical sector without compromising life-critical performance.
As medical service providers stretch their budgets to support an expanding and aging patient list, they need device and component manufacturers to provide more value-oriented solutions that reduce the cost of ownership - from manufacturing and assembly to therapy and ongoing maintenance.
Until now reduced cost has been synonymous with reduced standards. But, as a premium provider to the sector, Smiths Interconnect was determined to deliver quality connectors at a more welcome price point.
Smiths Interconnect team began by deconstructing the real-world requirements – both by device manufacturers and patients – and concluded that many connectors have become far more sophisticated, complex, prescriptive and durable than they need to be. Quite simply, they were over-built for their intended application.
With smarter engineering, Smiths Interconnect have:
●Aligned form and function - delivering the required performance without compromising quality
●Increased production options - designing flexibility into Smiths Interconnect connectors that enable manufacturers to optimise their markets and customer satisfaction
●Simplified assembly - providing the option for customers to bypass an assembly step to reduce the cost of ownership.
Evolved from trusted technology
The first of Smiths Interconnect value-oriented innovations for this sector builds on Smiths Interconnect's popular HyperGrip series of circular plastic connectors which are underpinned by the unparalleled ease-of-use, reliability, and performance of our Hypertac® advanced hyperboloid contact technology.
Like their high-spec predecessors, HyperGrip® Flex connectors have a push/pull latch that allows speedy, one-handed disconnects, with low insertion/extraction force for durability, low power consumption, reliability under harsh conditions, and excellent wiping action.
Of course, they also undergo Smiths Interconnect rigorous quality checks and meet medical industry requirements such as finger-proofing to IEC60601, flammability rated to UL94 V0, and compliance with most sterilisation methods.
Production versatility
What’s more, their advanced keying system allows customers to build connectors with six different keyed versions of the same standard connector, reducing lead time and inventory whilst optimizing potential applications - from devices for patient monitoring, electrosurgical and endoscopic tools and catheters to home healthcare and portable therapeutic applications.
Reduced production costs
The breakthrough is Eclipta’s ‘double-ended’ termination technique which cleverly uses the PCB as the contact on the disposable side of the connector, eliminating the need for a contact system on that side. This also gives customers the option to add their PCBs, which reduces the assembly time and supply chain risk as well as the tooling and inventory costs associated with a separate termination.
What’s more, having the board inside the connector allows customers to add active surface mount components such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory).
Additional opportunities include mass termination of lines directly to the PCB in the disposable and reusable sides, customization, and reworking of the reusable side.
Reassuring quality
Eclipta solutions use materials specifically selected for the medical environments, which allows for use with standard sterilization protocols (Autoclave, EtO, & Sterrad®) and chemical wipe-down.
The high mating lifecycle life of up to 2,500 cycles increases the MTBF (mean time between failures) and the fingerproof contacts on the reusable side contribute to the safety of patients and medical personnel.
Redesigned for the real world
But instead of the traditional nested solder design for high cycle life (>10,000 cycles), these connectors have a simplified, machined ‘Crimp and Poke’ design. This robustly withstands standard industry cycle life (at least 2,000 cycles) and complies with RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) III, whilst lending itself to a higher-volume/lower-cost production process.
Many applications
All this makes Eclipta ideally designed and priced for use with ablation catheters, RF generators, home healthcare devices and many other disposable medical devices.
A value-oriented revolution
A patented ground-breaking PCM edge card connector for disposable medical applications. It provides high performance, ease-of-use and flexibility to healthcare providers whilst addressing their real-world manufacturing process needs at a ‘one-use’ cost point.
Key features include:
●Sleek, premium quality ‘look, feel and performance’ Smiths Interconnect’s solutions are trusted for
●Quick, one-handed mating/unmating
●Frictionless termination design that minimizes potential damage from repeated insertion/extraction
●Reassuringly reliable contact performance
●Designed for actual application cycle life
●Simplified assembly for cost-efficient mass-production
●Assembly versatility and easy to customize
●Easy to install, use and service in the field
All this adds up to a lower cost-of-ownership, reducing the cost-of-therapy without undermining the quality of care.
The value revolution
The resulting solutions – one a design evolution, the other a design revolution – draw on Smiths Interconnect’s extensive knowledge and experience to respond to the real-world requirements of medical device manufacturers and service providers.
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