Fiber-Optic Catheter Pressure Transducer Developed for Low-Cost Applications

The Model FOP-M-055-300 device was developed to satisfy the medical industry's need for an extremely small catheter-tip pressure transducer that would not be affected by electrical interference, according to company president Claude Belleville. Sporting a 0.55-mm tip and 0.25-mm cable, the device is insensitive to cable bending and high levels of electromagnetic and radio-frequency noise "that typically plague physiological measurements," says Belleville. It also minimizes inaccurate readings, he adds, "because of its proximity to the measurement site."

The fiber-optic disposable blood pressure transducer combines the advantages of tip-catheter and external invasive transducers.

The sensor is accurate at 25°C to ±1% of the reading or 1 mmHg, whichever is greater, and exhibits low drift over time. Temperature sensitivity over the 20–80°C range is <0.2 mmHg per degree centigrade.

A PCI-based family of solutions for scalable digital signal and image processing combines RACE++ interconnect architecture and Motorola Power PC 7400 microprocessors with AltiVec processing units. Available from Mercury Computing Systems Inc. (Chelmsford, MA), each VantageRT 7400 module comes with a full set of software for real-time image and signal processing applications, including an integrated development environment, multiprocessor communication libraries, and algorithm libraries optimized for the AltiVec processing engine. Applications expected to benefit from the systems include new medical imaging modalities such as multislice computed tomography, digital x-ray, and interventional imaging.

According to director of product marketing Richard Jaenicke, the system "satisfies a growing demand for scalable digital signal and image processing in a PCI system. The flexible RACE++ communications fabric implements two RACE++ pathways into each VantageRT 7400 module, providing more than ample bandwidth for keeping these processors fed with data for optimum performance."

The VantageRT 7400 provides high-bandwidth performance in a PCI-64 form factor product for real-time imaging, video, and simulation applications.

System performance is also enhanced by AltiVec vector processing units that operate on up to four floating-point numbers or up to 16 integers with a single instruction, improving performance of computationally intensive applications. Mathematical routines optimized for AltiVec run three to five times faster than those utilizing a scalar floating point unit.

Manufacturers can now specify cost-efficient peelable packaging for small-volume medical devices without forgoing quality. A collaborative effort between DuPont Deutschland (Bad Homburg, Germany) and Sengewald (Halle, Germany) has resulted in a new packaging system that combines DuPont's Tyvek 2FS, a new uncoated plastic fabric, and Sengewald's peelable bottom web.

A peelable bottom web combined with Tyvek 2FS plastic fabric provides a Tyvek quality package at a feasible cost for small-volume medical products.

As well as being suited for the packaging of simple goods, the DuPont-Sengewald system can also be used for high-value medical products. The material is thinner than conventional Tyvek, but still provides the same advantages including tear resistance and protection from bacteria.

In addition, the soft-peel material offers greater air permeability than the coated variant, which shortens gas sterilization and aeration processes. The combination of materials also allows for cleaner peeling. Typically, nonsterile fibers become detached when the top sheet is pulled off peelable packaging. In the soft-peel system, there is less damage to the Tyvek 2FS surface, thus reducing the number of detached fibers.