Valtronic miniaturization capabilities made the development of a palm size non-invasive and wireless physiological monitoring system possible. Empirical Technologies developed the technology for the device and a first generation prototype. Valtronic was called upon to design and build the entire product in a miniaturized form as well as add additional features.
Valtronic packaged a lithium polymer battery, high accuracy pressure sensor, an ARM processor, flash memory, blue tooth communications, and mechanical parts to make the device. Valtronic solution incorporates electrical, mechanical and pneumatic design processes in the finished assembly, all having their own unique challenges.
Incorporating the mechanical components proved to be complex due to the materials and their form factors. It was integral that the mechanical parts interface directly with the circuit board for the device to work. However given the three dimensional characteristics of these parts, mounting them directly to the board, so they wouldn’t interfere with other components on the board proved to be a challenge. Using 3D models in Solidworks and paying close attention to every detail the engineers identified the optimal way of incorporating the pneumatics into the PCB design.
A second challenge was to identify low current consumption components to prolong the charge of the battery. Valtronic utilized its relationships with its suppliers to identify these components and ensure that they were still able to perform the desired functions with complete reliability. Valtronic also optimized the software to ensure that power management goals were met. One instance is in the case of the blue tooth communications which Valtronic added. The blue tooth would drain the battery too quickly when allowed to run continuously therefore an adjustment in the software had to account for this.
Valtronic wrote all the software and built the entire sensing unit using the customer’s proprietary algorithm. The housing for the unit had to be designed and custom built. It was imperative that the sensing unit be assembled to very high tolerances. This unit couldn’t afford to lose any pressure as the accuracy of the device would suffer. In the end the design form the inside out had to be tightly packaged, durable, water resistant, and ergonomically feasible. The product’s function is to continuously monitor central blood pressure and several other important physiological parameters from the finger. It will show these measurements on an LCD screen as well as communicate them to an outside device such as a PDA, smart phone, or computer. All of this is in the size of a hockey puck.