Flexible circuits are all around us – in cell phones, cameras, and laptops – and also in us – in pacemakers, cochlear implants, and defibrillators. Over the years, as devices have become smaller and wearable and implantable medical devices have become more prevalent, the flex circuit industry has boomed. Key Tech has also been involved in this trend. We’ve designed a number of flex and rigid-flex PCBs for various applications, and along the way we’ve picked up a few tips.
Lab on a Chip, Microfluidics, and Sample to Answer are terms we hear a lot when designing medical devices. For years the trend has been to integrate more and more laboratory functions into small disposable chips or cartridges with the ideal goal of being able to perform all the functions from sample preparation to detection in a single disposable on one instrument. This has led the instruments disposable interfaces to be increasingly complex. Sometimes there are hundreds of electrical connections for internal sensors or actuators, multiple heaters for PCR amplification, systems for magnetic bead capture, pressure connections for fluid control, actuators for dispensing stored fluids, and external sensors just to name a few. The complex interfaces required can cause many design challenges, but after working on several of these types of projects over the years we’ve learned there are some ways you can make your life easier, and end up with a better design.
2012 marked the third year of Betascape, the annual weekend gathering of artists and technologists (some may say nerds) from the Baltimore area to explore the intersection of their disciplines.
TED Talks over the last couple of years has published many inspiring and informational pieces and has become a staple for those working in creative industries. The relevance of the one floating around the KeyTech office this past week was no exception.
The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) just held their annual international conference in Boston, MA. Jeremy Savage and I attended the 4-day event and had the pleasure of listening to some great presentations, ranging from the informative to the inspirational.
Early in July, Key Tech hosted our annual crab feast on a farm north of Baltimore. This event started more than a decade ago when the company had less than 10 employees, and now hosts nearly 100 employees (current, past, and future), family, friends, clients, and vendors.
Here at Key Tech, we often use physical prototypes in our design process to literally get a feel for the part. While 3D computer models can be helpful, there is simply no substitute for actually holding a part in your hands and feeling it. 3D printing is often a great option for an initial prototype, especially for complex parts that are difficult to machine. Essentially, 3D printers work by printing many thin 2D cross-sections of a part on top of each other, bonding each layer to the previous one as they go. For more complex parts, special support structures may be required to keep the part from falling apart during the printing process, but the process is essentially the same.
It seems that people will buy any of Apple’s “i” products. While some of this is driven by fashion, most of the craze for Apple’s products is the result of a string of exceptionally well designed products. The user delighting design of these products was not by accident. Rather, they stem from Steve Jobs’s passionate [...]
We were in the right place at the right time…and we knew it. About 9 years ago, we were looking to move our company. We were small, but had outgrown our old space. We were literally hours away from signing a new lease deal in a nondescript building, replete with florescent lights and elevators, when [...]
Recently Jenny was the featured speaker at the University of Maryland Clark School of Engineering’s Fischell Festival, as part of their Whiting Turner Lecture Series.
