IN THIS SECTION
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1. Cables, connectors, and shielding suppliers offer components that are approved under various U.S. and international standards.
2. Fluid-handling components suppliers specialize in fluidic systems, including low-level pumps to fill pipettors, and the integration of these components.
3. Input devices include the components with which the user interacts, including touch screens, keyboards, and bar code wands and scanners.
4. Motors and motion controls include dc and stepper motors, as well as the control systems for such motors. This is an area of rapid growth for industry suppliers because of the increasing demand for automated clinical laboratory systems.
5. Optics and machine vision systems are used for bar code scanning and recognition of specific shapes (such as tubes). This subcategory includes the electronics and software to control such devices.
6. Output devices include printers, monitors, special communications software, and devices for communication via HL7 or ASTM E1381 and E1394.
7. Power supplies and transformers include power systems that conform to Underwriters Laboratories and international standards for use in a medical environment.
8. Printed circuit boards vendors can fabricate boards for manufacturers and populate the boards with electronic components such as chips and transistors.
9. Sensors, transducers suppliers offer a wide range of sensors for detecting such variables as part position or motion; and liquid presence, pressure, or flow. If it moves, or if you want to enable or disable it, look here.
10. Software for product design includes CAD/CAM and other software tools used to create or prototype a product.
11. Software for instrumentation includes the software building blocks for an IVD system, particularly control and data processing software.
12. Temperature-control components include heaters, temperature sensors (see also subcategory 9), and electronic temperature-control modules that implement proportional integral derivative control loops.
