Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Don’t get zapped: preventing electrostatic discharge in home healthcare products

February 14, 2017 By Heather Thompson

electrostatic discharge

[Image courtesy of Ingo Hoffmann on Flickr]

As medical devices increasingly move into the home, their designers are encountering a new challenge: electrostatic discharge. The 4th edition of EMC/IEC 60601-1-2 requirements, set to take effect in December, 2018*, offers some answers, says SL Power’s applications engineer Don Baldwin.

“In a hospital you have an electrically clean environment, so to speak,” Baldwin says. “By contrast, in homes you have a variety of possible environments that can increase risk—for example, carpet that can build up static electricity.”

These variables have inspired the move to protect medical equipment from electrostatic discharge—because a healthcare product has to work every time.

“You can’t just zap it and run to RadioShack for a new power supply,” Baldwin says.

In many cases, designers building new products intended for home use are exceeding the EMC 4th edition requirements. Baldwin says customers who only need to meet 15,000V, for example, are asking for 18,000-20,000V ratings.

Don Baldwin, SL Power, at MDM West 2017. [Photo by Heather Thompson.]

SL Power is working to help bring new devices up to standard, but at the same time, the company is contacting medical device clients to upgrade power supplies for any products that have been released in the last three years.

It is going to be an ongoing project. “The good news about the requirements is that new products must comply immediately, but products already on the market can be grandfathered in when they need other upgrades,” says Baldwin.

But he does ask that companies who want to comply with requirements for electrostatic discharge in home care products take some time to really understand how their power supply works. “It sounds strange, but many companies don’t actually understand the power interaction of their own systems.”

Baldwin notes that location and power supply routing don’t necessarily work the way medtech companies think they do. Still, those factors make a big difference. “A solution might be easy, especially if the power supply is external. Internal power supplies are often more challenging.”

Baldwin also recommends that companies ask for help as soon as possible from power supply designers, because they may be able to help provide a better layout to optimize power design.

[Want more MDO content? Subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter.]

* This article was updated February 27, 2017, to reflect FDA’s extension of the implementation date from April 1, 2017, to December 31, 2018. 

Related Articles Read More >

Johnson & Johnson Office of Digital Innovation Leader Peter Schulam
Imagining the future of cloud-connected medical devices with Johnson & Johnson leaders
Withings Body Scan
Withings plans launch for Body Scan smart scale platform
BinaxNow COVID-19 Ag Card
Time recognizes Abbott offerings among this year’s 100 best inventions
Koya Medical’s Dayspring device
Koya Medical reports positive early results in Dayspring lymphedema trial

DeviceTalks Weekly.

May 20, 2022
DeviceTalks Boston Post-Game – Editors’ Top Moments, Insulet’s Eric Benjamin on future of Omnipod 5
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech