Investigation: Employment of PCBs in the Healthcare and Life Sciences Sector
In the bustling tech hub of Liverpool, New York, USA, Thermo Fisher Scientific's R&D and electrical engineering team, led by Suraj Bhaskaran, is at the forefront of innovation. The company, a renowned American provider of scientific instrumentation, reagents, and consumables based in Waltham, Massachusetts, has partnered with Sierra Circuits to develop advanced Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) for a variety of healthcare and life science applications.
The partnership between Thermo Fisher and Sierra Circuits has resulted in the implementation of PCBs fabricated at Sierra Circuits in various camera products, including radiation-hardened and scientific-grade cameras. These PCBs are designed with materials that provide biocompatibility, thermal stability, and mechanical durability, making them suitable for patient-contact devices like ECG monitors.
Materials like polyimide, aluminum, ceramic, rigid-flex, and specialized options like FR4-370HR and Rogers RO4350B are used in the production of these PCBs. Each material offers unique advantages, such as excellent thermal stability, flexibility, tensile strength, chemical resistance, and biocompatibility, making them ideal for various applications within the healthcare sector.
The design of these PCBs is meticulous, enforcing miniaturization, signal integrity, thermal management, and strict regulatory compliance. Thermo Fisher prefers IPC class 2 standard FR4 boards for their PCBs, primarily due to cost optimization and innovative mechanical design to address moisture issues. The company also employs High-Density Interconnect techniques, ensuring compact, high-performance designs, and critical for implantables and wearables.
Rigorous inspection methods, including thermal and signal testing, visual and microscopic inspection, and compliance verification and documentation, are used to guarantee device reliability and patient safety. Thermo Fisher appreciates Sierra Circuits' role as a one-stop shop, manufacturing and assembling PCBs, which eliminates the need for multiple vendors.
Thermo Fisher's R&D products require quick testing, and Sierra Circuits has assisted with delivering PCBs within a short turnaround time. The company was also impressed with the level of assistance provided by the Sierra Circuits DFM and DFA teams, ensuring quick turnaround time and efficient resolution of issues, thereby accelerating their R&D process.
Radiation-hardened cameras, capable of imaging in all types of radiation environments, are used in healthcare and life science applications such as X-ray therapy, inspection, and measurement. Ethernet and PCIe are the preferred communication interfaces for Thermo Fisher's cameras based on the application and data rate requirement.
To learn more about PCB design for healthcare, see medtech PCB design considerations with IPC and UL standards. For a deeper understanding of the importance of Design for Manufacturing (DFM), download Sierra Circuits' Design for Manufacturing Handbook. Sierra Circuits is also working on providing customer-specific industry insights in the form of exclusive case studies.
In conclusion, the development of PCBs for healthcare and life science sectors requires careful planning and consideration of PCB materials, design rules, and inspection techniques. Thermo Fisher and Sierra Circuits' collaboration is a testament to this, resulting in advanced PCBs that meet the demanding requirements of the healthcare industry.
The material selector for Thermo Fisher's R&D team includes various options like polyimide, aluminum, ceramic, rigid-flex, FR4-370HR, and Rogers RO4350B, each with unique advantages for healthcare applications.
Thermo Fisher partners with Sierra Circuits for data-and-cloud-computing, employing High-Density Interconnect techniques to ensure compact, high-performance designs, crucial in implantables and wearables.
