New Kit Gives OEMs a Chance to Tinker

Force sensors can be used in medical device applications like tactile feedback in robotic surgery and infusion pumps, but there are plenty of other potential medtech uses to explore. 

Speeding the exploration process is one of the reasons Tekscan, makers of the FlexiForce sensors, is launching its FlexiForce OEM Development Kit. The kit, available to OEM design engineers, is being introduced at this week's Design & Manufacturing New England show in Boston. 

The kit includes two thin, flexible FlexiForce force sensors that can be attached to an analog front-end FlexiForce Quickstart board, a MicroView display module, USB programmer interface, and uses open-source software, according to a Tekscan press release. The goal is to allow design engineers to test out the use of the force sensors for potential applications, including medical devices, without having to build the system themselves. As the release describes, the kit "helps engineers quickly and easily understand how the sensors will behave once integrated into a particular product and/or application environment . . . the software option allows users to calibrate, set data acquisition parameters, and record data for analysis within minutes."

Mark Lowe, vice president of the company's sensor business, said in the release, "We're excited that this tool will help reduce design and development time by offering a quick and easy proof-of-concept solution."

Speaking with MD+DI this week, Elizabeth Hood, senior marketing specialist at Tekscan, said that FlexiForce sensors are being explored for use in portable, wearable devices, for detection of infusion pump blockages, for monitoring of deviations from normal walking gaits in a geriatric population, and for concussion detection in football helmets. 

With the new kit, Tekscan hopes "to make the whole process more accessible," Hood said.

Lowe will be speaking at the BIOMEDevice Boston show on Thursday, April 14, during a session called "Designing Smart Medical Devices with Force Sensing Technology."

[Image courtesy of TEKSCAN, INC.]