The end customer, in this case, one of the leading manufacturers of medical equipment in surgical rooms. Due to the unique needs of medical applications, customer and SCHURTER tested and qualified the products from AMT for over a year and confirmed that our products meet the medical safety test standards. SCHURTER designed in and integrated our standard projected capacitive (PCAP) touch panel and PenMount touch controller for their C2 Xplore, which monitors nerves during thyroid surgery to ensure the laryngeal nerves are unaffected during the operation. This story is about how AMT provides satisfying support and how we will tackle unforeseen challenges to serve our clients.

CHALLENGE

Before distributing the products, all the devices meet the medical standards required. However, after six months, 5-10% of the devices were affected by an unknown source. Identifying the sources, adapting the firmware to avoid interferences, and updating the firmware became the challenge of AMT.

SOLUTION

Specialists from AMT first help the end-user identify the source of interference. It turns out there were interference signals generated by electric surgical knives and lights in the operation room. We further advised them to measure the frequency range of the signals and set out to resolve the issue after receiving the data. After adjusting the firmware parameters such as median filter, spike filter, and extended frequency hopping through PenMount PCIUtility, and successfully adapted the working frequency to bypass the local interference!

The second challenge surfaced as AMT provided the solution. To update the firmware, utility needs to be installed. How could the distributor update the firmware with the least time and man power? The client again sought help from AMT. We worked on the update and package the firmware using a command line to make the update pain-free. If the hospital is equipped with wireless signal, they could even update the firmware easily though internet.

OUTCOME

This story showcases the unparalleled effort AMT to support our clients. We all know that it doesn’t matter how thorough we are with product design; there are bound to be unforeseen issues due to the working environment of the devices. The salespeople from AMT are always there to help our clients make customized adaptations to resolve these issues.