How to design a three-layer connector solution？
The finished connector solution can provide medical technology manufacturers with a way to take advantage of various economic technologies that have been tried and tested in other industries. For example, a high-performance medical circular connector is a cost-effective choice, with a well-recognized contact design, highly durable insertion force, and a plastic or metal body style that can withstand the effects of the sterilization process. The circular connector with a lightweight medical-grade plastic shell achieves high-quality electrical performance at a very competitive price and is suitable for many applications including medical catheters and other portable devices.
In some applications, standard off-the-shelf connectors are not enough to meet the requirements. Custom or hybrid connectors may be more suitable for design requirements. Designing a new connector can achieve the highest design flexibility and provide the most comprehensive options, but the required cost is much higher. Manufacturing custom connectors generally requires injection-molded hard plastic insulators to insert pins and/or sockets into them. The components are covered with rigid materials to ensure the robustness of the structure and achieve physical strength. The secondary material can provide the connector with color, surface treatment effect, and appearance required by OEM.
Custom connectors usually require higher engineering and production costs to be paid in advance, and this investment may be extremely worthwhile. In the case of reducing compromises, design elements can be better resolved. The unique pin socket pattern or connector shape can prevent the insertion of incompatible connectors, thereby ensuring the personal safety of the patient. Or, the shape of the connector may need to be closely matched with the shape of the device to optimize portability. When a single connector cable assembly chapter must carry multiple types of voltages and signals, it may be more necessary to use custom connectors, because standard connectors cannot meet the standard requirements in this case.
The hybrid connector solution can achieve a balance between price and function. Hybrid products use tried-and-tested technology and utilize the basic components of standard connectors to optimize functions without incurring the additional costs required to manufacture new connectors. Hybrid connectors may be combined with a structurally sturdy over-molded shell to improve grip, as well as the use of pre-molded bases or mold rings to relieve stress or increase IP protection. The cost of the hybrid connector is lower, and the appearance, touch, and function of the finished product have most of the performance advantages required for a custom connector. In addition, designing hybrid connectors can also shorten development time.
Take advantage of the best connector technology in the industry
Medical technology manufacturers need to adopt the best various technologies in the industry to provide high-quality compatible products for the medical product line to meet complex medical needs. MID (Molding Interconnect Device)/LDS (Laser Direct Forming) can provide a three-dimensional selection tracking function, and has extremely high flexibility to use injection molded plastics to realize its welding, plastic welding, inlay mold, overmolding, and wire welding processes. The MID-LDS three-dimensional custom component solution particularly emphasizes the issues of function, space, weight, and cost, which can simplify the manufacturing process of miniature connectors, antennas, and sensors.
This type of component combines the professional experience of MID technology and LDS antennas to realize fine-pitch three-dimensional circuits in a stand-alone compact molded device, suitable for high-density implantable and wearable patient monitors. LDS uses fewer components, and in applications such as medical catheters, it can improve performance compared to larger, less-than-ideal design processing equipment or components. This technology is unique and is especially suitable for wireless remote and sensor-based patient monitoring applications (for example, blood glucose meters send readings to the physician’s office through a device connected to a remote base station).
Making informed decisions on connectors, simplifying the design and manufacturing process, is available for experienced medical component suppliers to provide designers with guidance to ensure full compliance in terms of specifications, risk assessment, cost estimation, and test verification. It is a portable and Wearable medical device that provides fully compatible electrical, signal, and mechanical interconnection products.