Flexible printed heaters for medtech devices

Features - Heaters

 vital in many medical scenarios – can be delivered via flexible, stretchable materials for wound recovery or in the operating room for warming medical instruments.

Flexible printed heaters – warming elements printed onto flexible, often stretchable materials – have many medical applications, from speeding wound recovery through targeted warming, controlling temperature of surgical instruments in the operating room, to improving hospital blankets.

Manufacturers deposit different conductive, resistive, and positive temperature coefficient (PTC) inks onto flexible substrates – commonly polyester (PET), Kapton RS conductive film, polyimide (PI), or thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). Typically, devices use lightweight rechargeable lithium batteries, so they are portable; however, the final product weight may vary depending on the required power input. Battery packs commonly range from the size of a coin cell to that of a small tablet device, operating anywhere from 2 hours-to-8 hours before recharging – depending on expected battery life and the required regulated temperature.

Design, development

Determining how flexible printed heaters can integrate into a project is simplified with HeatWave Development Kits from BDesigned to bring products to market faster, the kits test product and market feasibility prior to full-scale production. Once a concept has proven feasible, engineers can work with  to go into full-scale heater manufacturing.

FLEXIBLE PRINTED HEATER USE EXAMPLESThrough precise control, flexible heaters can be made for many different applications, from patient to surgical use.

Wound recovery

Wound temperature plays a vital role by speeding up or slowing down recovery. In multiple studies, keeping a wound warm accelerates recovery time. Flexible printed

 heaters incorporated into bandages or other medical compresses, created to specific operating parameters, could provide the required amount of heat to the affected area, protecting the wound while accelerating recovery time. The heat would also soothe muscles around the wound, increasing patient movement while reducing pain.

Operating room environment

Tool trays with flexible printed heaters could keep surgical instruments at a consistent, specified heat so they remain sterile.

Heated blankets

Rather than using blanket warmers, hospitals could use blankets with flexible printed heaters, ensuring battery-operated blankets would be safe for skin or near-skin contact.

Heated ultrasound gels

Warm gels are necessary for ultrasound procedures, and flexible heaters on the tray would eliminate the need to microwave or place them in an incubator prior to use.

PTC柔性加熱油墨可用於醫療技術設備的柔性印刷加熱器 特點 - 加熱器  在許多醫療場景中至關重要 - 可以通過靈活、可拉伸的材料提供用於傷口恢復或在手術室中用於加熱醫療器械。 柔性印刷加熱器——印刷在柔性、通常可拉伸材料上的加熱元件——具有許多醫療應用，從加速傷口恢復到有針對性的加熱，控製手術室手術器械的溫度，到改善醫院毯子。 製造商將不同的導電、電阻和正溫度係數 (PTC) 墨水沉積到柔性基材上——通常是聚酯 (PET)、Kapton RS 導電薄膜、聚酰亞胺 (PI) 或熱塑性聚氨酯 (TPU)。通常，設備使用輕便的可充電鋰電池，因此它們是便攜的；但是，最終產品的重量可能會因所需的輸入功率而異。電池組的大小通常從鈕扣電池到小型平板設備大小不等，充電前可在任何地方運行 2 小時到 8 小時——具體取決於預期的電池壽命和所需的調節溫度。 設計開發 BDesigned 的 HeatWave 開發套件簡化了確定如何將柔性印刷加熱器集成到項目中的過程，以更快地將產品推向市場，並在全面生產之前測試產品和市場可行性。一旦一個概念被證明是可行的，工程師就可以與他們合作進入全面的加熱器製造。 靈活的印刷加熱器使用示例通過精確控制，靈活的加熱器可以用於許多不同的應用，從患者到手術使用。 傷口恢復 傷口溫度在加速或減緩恢復方面起著至關重要的作用。在多項研究中，保持傷口溫暖可加快恢復時間。柔性印刷  結合在繃帶或其他醫用敷料中的加熱器，根據特定的操作參數創建，可以為受影響的區域提供所需的熱量，保護傷口，同時加快恢復時間。熱量還可以舒緩傷口周圍的肌肉，增加患者的活動量，同時減輕疼痛。 手術室環境 帶有柔性印刷加熱器的工具托盤可以使手術器械保持一致、指定的溫度，從而保持無菌。 加熱毯 醫院可以使用帶有柔性印刷加熱器的毯子，而不是使用毯子加熱器，確保電池供電的毯子對皮膚或接近皮膚的接觸是安全的。 加熱超聲凝膠 超聲波程序需要熱凝膠，托盤上的柔性加熱器將消除使用前微波或將其放入孵化器的需要。