Surgical Applications
The surgical instrument industry requires the finest quality and the most reliability from battery packs and chargers. High power and long runtime is required by evermore lightweight solutions. In addition, sterilization is unique to this industry. In response, Micro Power offers designs with the newest high power Li-ion chemistry cells and design for sterilization with all common industry practices. In order to shorten design times we have reference designs for the latest battery management and fuel gauge electronics. Micro Power has experience in the design and manufacture of batteries and chargers for many types of surgical instruments including:
- Small bone orthopedic instruments
- Laproscopic instruments
- Endoscopes
- Suction and irrigation equipment
- Biopsy instruments
- Electro surgery instruments
- Internal closure devices
Batteries and Chargers for Surgical Instruments:
In addition to the requirements for other types of medical equipment, surgical instruments have their own set of unique design requirements. Historically only orthopedic surgical instruments were powered by battery packs. These tools were limited NiMH and NiCd solutions. However, battery power is being chosen by the designers of other surgical instruments, from staplers to suction and irrigation equipment. Li-ion battery technology is quickly replacing older nickel based systems as well as pneumatic, tethered and mechanically powered surgical products. Battery power is preferred because there is no cord to breach the surgical sterile zone and the lightweight and long runtime adds convenience and allows the instrument to differentiate with a more ergonomic solution. The surgical instrument battery and charger market has several unique requirements, among them:
- Sterilization of the battery pack
- Protection against ingress of biological and cleaning fluids
- High current delivery
- Smart charging
In order to meet the needs of this unique industry Micro Power offers custom battery pack and charger solutions with features that address each of these issues. In addition, our custom designs allow optimization for each unique surgical instrument. These medical batteries allow a portable surgical instrument manufacturer to offer the run time and power to complete major orthopedic and other surgeries.
Sterile Battery Packs:
Micro Power is proud to offer surgical battery packs, specially designed for the surgical instrument market that can withstand various sterilization techniques without performance degradation. Micro Power can design battery packs to withstand the most common sterilization techniques including autoclave for rechargeable batteries and gamma sterilization for disposable batteries. Hydrogen Peroxide sterilization is becoming increasingly common in major hospitals. Two companies provide this type of sterilization technique: Steris and Johnson and Johnson. This low temperature approach has advantages for battery pack cycle life and Micro Power's engineers are skilled in the design of custom battery packs compatible with this technique. Aseptic transfer of the battery pack is another common option in some markets. Micro Power has the mechanical design expertise to design these complicated systems. Our mechanical enclosures can withstand both the rigorous use during surgery and the vigorous cleaning process that precedes it.
Design for High Current Delivery:
Surgical instrument battery packs require relatively high currents. Designing a battery pack that can accommodate high discharge and charge rates is an effort to reduce the path length and resistance for the transport of ions and electrons. There is a careful balancing act between size and current delivery capability. Traditional Li-ion batteries are designed for long runtime with relatively low current draws. Micro Power's engineering capabilities include an expertise in cell selection and electronics design to support the high current required for surgical instruments. We offer several different cell chemistry and form factor options for high rate capability. These are based on nano-iron phosphate and spinel chemistries and are available in both cylindrical and polymer form factors. Our engineers are skilled in matching electronics to optimize the functionality of these state of the art Li-ion cells. Our custom battery pack solutions can accommodate the high variety of current profiles for surgical equipment.
Smart Charger Design:
Multi-bay battery chargers are necessary to keep a hospital's sterile processing center efficient , and our customer can optimize charge time according to the battery chemistry. Micro Power routinely designs chargers with four to eight bays as is common in the sterile processing center. Our multi-bay chargers employ our unique microcontroller based charging system and are available with the following features:
- Configurable LCD or LED status indicators for various battery conditions
- Battery management features including battery conditioning and gas gage calibration
- Battery health and status-of-charge indication
- Power management and conditional charging
- Fast charge regimens
- Custom enclosures
- Custom electrical contacts and battery latching schemes to minimize corrosion
