COVID-19: The Race Against Time To Develop Medical Equipment

Speed has been vital in the battle against Covid-19 – as electronics manufacturers scrambling to expand production of lifesaving ventilators and other essential medical devices know only too well. The coronavirus pandemic has confronted manufacturers with a brutal reality: every day of delay can be the difference between life and death for the coronavirus patients who are most vulnerable.

But prototyping any new medical product is seldom quick, even in normal times. The medical electronics market sets the bar high in terms of quality. Even just creating the bespoke plastic enclosure for your device can take months. There are many hurdles to overcome: designing the housing…prototyping the tooling…the big upfront investment needed.

You need to be manufacturing a product in the thousands to consider embarking on such an undertaking. Meanwhile, time is slipping away and lives are at greater risk. Surely, there must be a better way? Fortunately, there is…

Customizing a standard plastic electronic enclosure for your medical device gives you the best of all worlds:

• you get a high quality enclosure – a tried and tested design
• it will be supplied quickly, at a sensible price and in low volumes if need be
• your product will always look unique – no one need ever know that its enclosure was ‘off the shelf’.

Choose The Right Enclosures Partner

It pays to choose a specialist enclosures manufacturer who offers a wide range of customizable cases. These housings must be molded from high quality plastics that are robust, UV stable and easy to clean and sterilize. After all, they must be capable of surviving years of punishing daily life in a hospital, surgery or care home – without showing signs of wear.

It always pays to partner with a specialist manufacturer of enclosures on any electronics project. This is especially true for the medical sector because it requires such high levels of quality.

An experienced enclosures manufacturer with a strong track record in the medical sector will be best placed to complete critical projects within the strict time pressures created by the pandemic.

The wider the range of standard enclosures your chosen manufacturer offers, the more likely you are to find one that they can transform into your perfect housing with the minimum amount of customization. Choose a single source specialist who can do it all in-house – saving you time, money and administration worries.

OKW has a long history of manufacturing customized electronic enclosures for medical applications including:

• remote control units (either wireless or with cable) for clinics, care facilities and laboratories
• emergency systems, monitoring and alarm equipment in care facilities, portable solutions for personal protection and care and Ambient Assisted Living (AAL)
• analysis, diagnostics and therapy equipment, tracking and monitoring equipment and IoT
• peripherals and data acquisition in laboratories and research.

Designer Desktop Enclosures With Flat Or Sloping Tops

OKW’s EVOTEC designer table-top plastic enclosures offer a choice of flat and sloping tops. All have ergonomic soft contours, making them ideal for medical electronics. The housings are molded from tough and UV-stable ASA+PC-FR as standard and are available in five sizes. Crucially, they are assembled using Torx tamperproof screws – a key requirement for the medical sector.

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Square Control Centre Enclosures For Desks And Walls

For larger desktop touchscreens, PROTEC is available in three versions, offering the choice of a recessed interface area, a covered recess or an extra deep cover. There are no visible Torx fixing screws; they are all hidden on the underside.

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Easy-To-Install Sensor Enclosures

New EASYTEC (IP 65) flanged enclosures are smart, simple and very quick to install. Their lugs enable them to be swiftly screwed or cable-tied in place. These modern contoured ASA+PC enclosures feature a concave recess at the rear – enabling them to be mounted securely on hospital bedrails or poles.

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Wedge-Shaped Plastic Enclosures For Corners And Desktops

Another new housing, SMART-CONTROL, is designed specifically for corner-based electronics. These wedge-shaped ASA+PC-FR enclosures may not be handled very often but that hasn’t stopped OKW from imbuing them with the same tactile modern curves that feature in so many of its other medical enclosures. This makes them suitable for desktop use too.

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Tough Handheld Cases For Portable Electronics

CARRYTEC is the tough, smart ‘attaché case’ of the medical enclosures world. Optional zipped side pockets will hold a diagnostics probe that can be deployed and packed away without having to reattach and detach it each time. CARRYTEC has a strong integrated handle which also serves a secondary purpose; it makes it easier to manoeuvre the housing when it is mounted (inverted) on a suspension arm.

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‘Double-Fronted’ Enclosures For Wired Electronics

CONNECT plastic enclosures for wired electronics offer you two ‘fronts’ in one housing:

• a recessed panel for a membrane keypad
• an ergonomic convex section on the opposite side.

Whichever front you choose, ergonomic CONNECT is comfortable to hold. These robust but soft-contoured housings are perfect for hospitals and other healthcare environments. They are molded from UV-stable ASA+PC-FR for added resilience. Choose from three sizes: 2.12" x 0.86" x 2.99"/4.56"/6.14". Accessories include rail holding clamps, wall holders and cable gland kits with kink protection and integrated strain relief.

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Body-Contoured Plastic Enclosures For Wearable Electronics

ERGO-CASE is a popular choice for medical devices because it can be either worn or held. These ergonomic enclosures feature a convex design that makes them comfortable to strap to your wrist, arm or waist for long periods of time. A choice of four sizes (3.22" x 2.20" x 0.94" to 5.90" x 7.87" x 2.12"/2.71") and battery compartments (2 x AAA, 4 x AA, 1 x 9V, 2 x 9V) makes ERGO-CASE a versatile standard enclosure that can be easily customized to suit your products. Accessories include battery compartments (and contacts), sealing rings, fastening elements, belt/pocket clips, belt straps, wrist straps, lanyards, a ring eyelet and wall suspension element.

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Handheld Plastic Enclosures That Teach By Touch

Pick up a BLOB enclosure and you’ll instantly discover its secret – its ergonomic curves guide your fingers instinctively to the controls. All three shapes – UNIT, CONTROL and PANEL – are regularly specified by designers of medical devices because they have proved so helpful to users who have limited grip function due to illness or injury. Accessories include seals, battery clips (AA, AAA), polarity reversal protection devices (AA, AAA), button cell holders and cable glands.

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