​SMAR​​TECH

Smartech provides you with a complete design solution, from concept to product.  Our team has designed medical and other devices for most of their careers and this experience reflects in the product that you receive. 

 

Our electronics designs range from input sensor circuitry to high level digital design for controller and displays. 

While most engineers can design a reasonable circuit, the unique requirements of medical devices requires an understanding of not only the latest technology but also the latest requirements set forth by the regulatory angencies that control the approval of medical devices. 

 

Our experience is a key factor in the decisions that we make with regards to the trade-offs between price, performance and regulatory requirements.

 

We have produced circuits for acquiring various physiological signals including ECG, blood pressure, cardiac out, temperature, and airway pressure.  We have connected these signals to a variety of processors from simple 8-bit micro-controller to sophisticaed ARM CPUs.  We have sent the data out of these processors as digital signals using serial RS-232 communication, USB, Bluetooth and Ethernet.  We have displayed these signals on LCD displays and we have controlled these signals from touch screens, switches and trim knobs.  We have kept our users aware of the safety issues involved with leakage and defibrillation and designed our circuits to work safely in high risk areas such as the operating room and the intensive care unit.

 

Our designs begin with a requirement document that states what the requirements of the circuit functionality of the circuit.  This is a document that is written together with you, the client and is used as a basis for the circuit design and the decisions between any hardware and software that is used on the board.  Our next step is to begin the conceptual design that results in a block diagram of the circuit board with a preliminary cost model.  Following this we go into the detailed design that results in a schematic diagram that is used to layout the printed circuit board (PCB).  Typically we hold a critical design review prior to going to the layout of the PCB. 

The design review prior to the layout is a critical step.  We review the final design, discuss the trade-offs made, discuss the cost model and any regulatory or manufacturing issues that may be relavant at this point.  If no changes are required, the next step to go to PCB layout and to begin ordering components.  We typically build 5 to 10 prototype boards.  These boards are generally used for testing, approvals and product introduction.

Once the first prototype board is built and the basic hardware is tested, the next step will be to load software on the board and to either begin or complete the software development.