EMBEDDED BOARDS
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(click to enlarge)Shown here is the PEB-2736, an Intel Atom processor-based ECX embedded board with dual display, audio, USB, and SDIO capabilities.
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The prognosis for the medical device market is healthy. But the expanding market attracts more and more competitors. The competition for business growth and better return on investment places unrelenting pressure on today's medical equipment OEMs. They must make it better, make it faster, and make it with a smaller budget, but without sacrificing features and quality because lives are at stake. These are daunting challenges, but not insurmountable. Cost-effective solutions take as many forms as there are medical applications. However, these same applications can often become design issues and to resolve them, design engineers need to set goals that encompass efficiency and economy.
Maximizing Today's Technology
Because today's economy requires that medical device OEMs squeeze every ounce of cost savings out of their design solutions, embedded computer technology has emerged as the de facto standard to help quench this thirst for more power without increased costs. Medical device OEMs are busy designing embedded computers into applications and equipment that provide diagnosis, therapy, detection, examination, and even monitoring of biosignals. Similarly, healthcare automation providers apply these technologies to facilitate the healthcare process or to reduce the cost.
However, even with the popularity of embedded and single-board computers (SBCs), there are still some issues that need to be addressed to make the most efficient and cost-effective use of these technologies. The issues fall into several categories: product life cycle, legacy compatibility, and cost savings.
Product Life Cycle. To extend a product's life cycle, an OEM must select key components that are engineered with longevity support. New technologies already include the scalability of computing power, so power is easy to upgrade. The product life cycle can be further enhanced by the longevity of its integrated graphics processor unit (GPU).
Backward or Legacy Compatibility. Often, a new device has to fit in seamlessly with existing (legacy) devices and interfaces.
Specific Cost Savings. Space and energy savings are key considerations when engineering medical devices. Further cost savings can not only be achieved by building a device with more integrated features, which means fewer costly add-ons, but also by the use of the latest technologies with increased numeric and graphic computing power that come with minimal change in cost. Another consideration for achieving cost savings is to minimize downtime and keep the device running smoothly, particularly when it is in constant operation.
Product Life Cycle
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(click to enlarge)The WADE-8656 (shown above) is an Intel Core 2 Quad processor-based Mini-ITX board.
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For medical device OEMs to remain competitive, it is imperative that the life of their product parallel the life of the machine it powers. One way to provide this guarantee is to select an embedded computer that can sustain the same products and to select a supplier that can provide longevity support.
A medical device needs to pass a series of agency approvals, which can take time. Computer boards without long product-life support, such as commercial or consumer motherboards, can lead to the need for recertification and new agency approvals. The effect on the OEM is cost—time, money, and the risk of failing to pass.
An embedded board with longevity support eliminates unnecessary expense and potential risk. The key components, such as the chipset and processor, on the embedded board play an important role in ensuring longevity. Some chipsets are driven by the demands of the mass market, which often forces the manufacturers to design and produce new chipsets, which can lead to forced obsolescence. These products—commonly used for the commercial market—may have a shorter life cycle than those specifically produced for embedded applications.
Recertification can often be a costly and time-consuming process. However, one aspect of it can be eased by choosing an embedded chipset and processor with a longer life cycle. By resourcing components from vendors that are supported by major chip makers, an OEM can often secure products with a life cycle of at least five years. This five-year life can help minimize the time and cost of recertification.
In a further effort to be even more cost-effective, the latest chipset technologies merge a ubiquitous central processing unit (CPU) with a GPU. This fusion eliminates the life cycle support concern for video processing. At one time, video chips were a separate component that typically had a short life cycle. This short life meant that the video chip could cause the end of the life of the embedded board once the video chip was phased out. An integrated GPU within a chipset effectively eliminates this problem. Medical devices with image-processing features are just one example of applications that can benefit from this degree of longevity support and cost savings.
Upgradability and Scalability. Applications that survive do not remain static. Similarly, devices that support these applications need to be as flexible as possible to meet the demands of expansion. Successful devices have built-in scalability for growth so that the upgrade path is easy and economical.
Modern embedded-computer technologies ensure that upgradability and scalability are cost-effective and efficient. A single form factor can often offer a variety of CPUs with differing performance, which means that OEMs can define different levels of product within a single form factor—from low end to high end and everything in between. This single form factor provides a degree of product positioning flexibility that is reflected in lower production costs. For example, a medical embedded board with an Intel Q965 chipset can work with the Intel Celeron D processor (cost-effective and entry-level computing power), the Intel Pentium 4 processor (good computing power), and the Core 2 Duo processor (high computing power and less power consumption). The same platform can accommodate different levels of computing performance.
The key factor remains that the chipset drives the board. In fact, chipsets make the most significant contributions to the success of designs that use today's integrated embedded applications. Many embedded computer manufacturers specifically choose the latest Intel chipset, such as Q965, because of its inherent scalability. The Q965 supports the increasingly popular Intel Core 2 Duo (C2D) and Core 2 Quad (C2Q) processors that provide increased computing power without rocketing costs. It is also backward compatible and supports Intel's Pentium 4/Celeron D processors. When it comes to upgradability, some embedded form factors—such as COM Express—take a modular approach, condensing the fundamental computer functions into a compact module that includes an interface for additional function expansion. The rest of function is on a carrier board. This type of modular architecture makes the upgrade to a future chipset and CPU feasible and economical.
Legacy Support
In many cases, a medical device OEM has to design products that accommodate the customer's existing (legacy) hardware or software systems. So the components that make up the OEM's application must integrate into these legacy systems seamlessly.
Most medical applications are dynamic. Innovations change the course of treatment. Technology catches up to comply. The current application or hardware needs to expand; however, the interfaces to connected devices or peripherals need to remain in place.
Because of the critical nature of medical devices, new technology is often introduced alongside existing or legacy systems so that continuity is maintained. Not every peripheral, connected device, or accessory has made the migration to the newer technologies, so it is essential that new embedded computing boards are backward compatible to support the inherent hardware connectivity, device drivers, and application software.
In recent years, the standard interface for a hard disk drive (HDD) has migrated from the integrated drive electronics (IDE) standard to the serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) standard. Similarly, the standard connections for some peripherals used to be via RS-232/422/485 serial interface. Today, USB is the dominant serial interface.
The latest PICMG 1.3 (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group) boards are fully compatible with ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) and PCI-E (PCI Express), which means that for medical device design engineers, integration—compatible with legacy ISA bus-based cards and the latest PCI-E bus-based cards—is more cost-effective than total replacement.
Form Factors: Saving Time, Space, and Energy
Form factor is a key ingredient in the recipe for greater efficiency and economy. Many manufacturers offer a selection of form factors with embedded computer boards including 3.5- and 5.25-in. ECX, ETX, half-size ISA, PICMG system host boards (SHB), and PC/104 and embedded main boards such as Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, and ATX. Some small-size boards—typically 4 X 5.75 in. (101.6 X 146.0 mm)—usually include good computing capability, connectivity functions and features, low power consumption and expansion capabilities through ISA, PCI, PCI-e, or mini-PCI. The bus interfaces are the typical expansion slots on the embedded board. If the add-on feature—such as a wireless LAN or RAID controller—is an ISA-based card, then it can be plugged into an ISA slot. If the add-ons are PCI or PCI-e based cards, they can be plugged into PCI or PCI-e slots. A Mini-PCI slot typically accommodates the add-on feature on a compact board. So the choice of form factor often depends on the bus interface.
Getting a product to market quickly is vital for a medical equipment manufacturer that wants to stay ahead of the competition. With the variety of embedded boards, the design engineer can save valuable time on prototyping and testing, and system development—significantly reducing overall time to market.
With today's shrinking board sizes, engineers can design products with less material—and consequently, less cost. With smaller boards, portable applications are also possible. In fact, the reduced footprint and increased processing power of today's embedded boards make them the primary consideration for portable diagnostic devices. Portability of new devices is becoming increasingly crucial for the medical market.
New systems must be highly portable so they can travel, with greater flexibility and convenience, to the patient instead of vice versa. This means that devices must be reduced to cart-sized or the even-more-compact handheld systems. In fact, the highly specialized monitoring and diagnostic equipment found in critical care units has an urgent need for portability so it too can travel to the patient.
In addition to reducing physical size, the latest technologies make energy saving more practical without sacrificing computing performance. And low power means lower heat. The Mini-ITX board, for example, which is built with a mobile chipset and processor, can even be passively cooled due to its inherently low-power-consumption architecture, making it suitable for applications in which noise and heat are unwelcome distractions.
Cost-Saving Technologies
Multicore technologies—such as Intel's Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad—enable diagnosticians to perform faster detection with more-accurate results. Not so long ago, SBCs operated from a single CPU. Today, they can incorporate as many as four CPUs, or even more cores with some reduced instruction set computer (RISC)–based CPUs, using the Core 2 Quad—that run in parallel. Multicore technologies provide the option of a faster single diagnostic task or multiple diagnoses running simultaneously. This exponential increase in computing is a boon for computer-aided detection and diagnosis systems. For example, medical OEMs designing devices and applications for breast cancer detection systems could benefit from the 40% increase in power that these multicore technologies provide. A CT scan that takes 30 minutes can be executed 40% faster. In addition, because the multicore processor is engineered to be energy efficient, it consumes noticeably less power, so the cost of powering this extra computing muscle does not increase.
Single-, dual- or quad-core processor platforms (based on popular processor families) can provide high levels of computing for threaded applications. They are particularly suitable for those applications requiring data merge, such as multiple medical image data sets from MRI, PET, CT, ultrasound, and digital radiography.
Using the latest technologies, heat-generation and noise issues have been reduced and computing power increased via small-form-factor boards. These technologies provide a quiet environment, while also keeping costs down on applications in which the embedded computer is always running, such as a video-controlled computer in an OR or ICU.
The architecture of a PICMG system host board (SHB) minimizes downtime. It makes changing CPU boards easier: simply unplug the old one and plug in the new one. This quick-replace solution also makes the upgrade easier, thereby decreasing overall healthcare costs.
Other opportunities for which embedded computers enable medical device OEMs to cut costs include: biomolecular analysis; automated blood component separation and purification for cell therapy; medical simulators; and medical devices for measuring oxygen saturation levels in tissues.
Opportunities to minimize costs using embedded boards also exist for medical OEMs that focus on healthcare automation and patient service in such applications as computer-aided testing and training, managing electronic medical record (EMR) and paperless charting; and bedside interactive service units, which benefit from low noise and heat dissipation.
Practical Medical Equipment and Instrumentation
Many applications in this market segment benefit from the use of SBCs and compact embedded computer boards. The following practical examples are among them.
Digital Radiography. A highly integrated SBC with fast Ethernet, Intel dynamic video memory technology (DVMT) display and Ultra 160 SCSI. Based on the Intel Pentium III processor, this type of board provides video processing performance and a legacy expansion interface. Benefits include longevity, easy interface with other devices, and a reduction in video processing time.
Clinical Diagnostic Instruments. An Intel Pentium 4–based half-size SBC using an ISA interface. This board offers compact size to provide valuable space and energy savings for imaging and ultrasound applications, including vascular diagnosis and information-control devices in the OR. Alternatively, a Micro-ATX board is also suitable when designing applications for ocular ultrasound. With a high- resolution display, it provides outstanding visual quality, smooth video playback and support for key 3-D features.
Injection Control. A Mini-ITX board using an ultra-low-power Intel Celeron processor ensures low power consumption and is also applicable for hospital digital signage.
Computer-Aided Detection and Diagnosis (CAD) and Computer-Aided Therapy. An embedded board using multicore technology enables the same form factor to multitask or process a single task faster.
Mobile Point-of-Care Devices. An ultra-low-voltage-processor-based board supplies fanless operation for this 3.5-in. compact computing engine. This provides a low-power-consumption unit that saves space and cuts energy costs within the healthcare automation environment.
Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM). This is a standard for handling, storing, printing, and transmitting information in medical imaging. It enables the integration of scanners, servers, workstations, printers, and network hardware from multiple manufacturers into a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). Cost savings in this application can be achieved by combining a 1U rack-mount server with up to six gigabit/fast Ethernet ports and two PCI expansion slots, DDR memory, VGA, dual gigabit Ethernet, audio, and USB 2.0. This solution provides economical processing power with the necessary built-in expansion capabilities to cope with the growing database of images.
Medical device OEMs can also consider completely new categories of diagnostic and monitoring devices, including the following devices.
Portable Ultrasound. Take the diagnostic tool to the patient.
Next-Generation Imaging. Create 3-D and 4-D images, multi-modal images, remote transfer of images in cart-based or handheld instruments.
Clinical Medical Devices. Wireless tablets to capture data during a patient exam.
Patient Monitoring. Integration of patient monitoring devices with hospital networks, EMRs, and other systems.
Diagnostic Instruments and Testing Equipment. Move from lab-based devices to handheld devices that can travel to the patient.
Conclusion
Maintaining a distinct competitive edge is essential in a thriving industry like medical device manufacturing, so OEMs need to seek out the most sophisticated tools available that enable them to provide a better service, more economically, and that enable them to get devices to market ahead of their competitors. Embedded computer boards are fast becoming a key component in achieving these goals.
Whatever the scope of the medical application, design engineers face the same challenges: longevity, legacy compatibility, cost savings, noise and heat minimization, and computing power (both numeric and graphic).
The technology inherent in today's embedded computer boards not only helps design engineers meet these challenges, but also to surpass them to reduce the total cost of ownership throughout the product life cycle and beyond.
