Imagine if an automated surgical device stops operating in the midst of a procedure.
What if the electronics in the driver, itself, caused the failure?
More importantly, what if the failure was preventable?
Battery-powered hand-held medical devices utilizing electric motors are widespread for surgical procedures. Since sterilization is required within the medical device industry to diminish any germs, spores, and/or bacteria, the unit has to be installed into an autoclave after every procedure. However, un-protected electronics exposed to this environment will experience catastrophic failure. In order for the electronics to be resistant to this harsh environment, the design of the enclosure is essential.
Our 40+ years of experience in specialty materials processing combined with Electronics Design/Manufacturing, enables Composite Motors, Inc. to provide medical device manufacturers a standardized solution to meet this rigid requirement that is unrivaled in the surgical device market.
The typical term used to describe a product that is suitable for the sterilization process is “Hermetically-Sealed.” In other words, Collins Dictionary defines “Hermeticity” as:
The state of being airtight or gastight.
The most common standard that determines if electric motors are suitable for surgical procedures within the medical device market is MIL-STD 883/Method 1014.
A hermetically-sealed motor-driver is a unique electro-mechanical assembly that requires a significant amount of expertise. However, there are few companies that demonstrate this capability. Conversely, Composite Motors has optimized our product line for performance and cost effectiveness through extensive internal Design Engineering checks and Manufacturing processes.
Therefore, Composite Motors, Inc. developed a hermetically-sealed motor-driver that focuses on the following three major functions:
Electronics/Power:
The electronics design includes two separate operations: Power In (Electronics) and Power Out (Motor). The Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) design for the electronics utilize industrial-rated components. The power plane is made up of chip and wire technology, ceramic substrates, and our proprietary heat sink alloy. Conduction cooling is relied upon to achieve long-term reliability. There are many manufacturers that offer hermetically-sealed components (i/e. packages and connecters). However, there are very few manufacturers that develop the electronics required to power and/or control a motor.
Enclosure:
The enclosure is a proprietary design of a copper-brazed alloy. The major functional attributes are: structural integrity, impermeability, thermal
conductivity, and matched coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).
Communication:
The communication between the host system and the controller (I/O’s) are performed by pin out. Glass seals are selected because of their ability to maintain
hermeticity under thermal expansion conditions in high-temperature environments.
Composite Motors, Inc. has been serving the medical device market for decades. In other words, our expertise combined with “Made in the U.S.A.” manufacturing offers Engineers and Purchasing Managers a valuable partner for hermetically-sealed motor-controllers.
Read more about our hermetically-sealed brushless dc motors here: https://www.compositemotors.com/motors-controllers/
To contact our engineering team about your interest in our hermetically-sealed brushless dc motors, follow this link: https://www.compositemotors.com/contact-us/
Check us out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/composite-motors-inc-composite-modules-inc./