Medical technology
Festo inmedical technology
The trend in thefieldofmedical devices, too, is towardsever smaller
and lighter equipment. At thesame time, theyhave tobemore cost-
effective thanpreviousmodelsandwithstand thestressof beingused
onadailybasis for longperiodsof time. Themarket demands faster
andmorepreciseanalytical devicesaswell asstate-of-the-artmedical
equipment. Festo isalreadyworking closelywith customers todevelop
customisedsolutions thatmeet thestringent requirements for gasand
liquidhandling.
PiezovalvesandminiaturevalvesMHare the ideal solution for small
flows inmedical technology. Their great technical featuresmake them
particularlywell suited tovalve functions in thefieldofmedical tech-
nologyaswell as formobileoxygensystemdevices, for example. They
worksilently, consumevery littleenergy, donot produceheat and can
operateproportionally. Small valves canbeused inawidevarietyof
applications, includingdialysismachines, surgical instruments, train-
ing torsosandmedicalmattresses.
sequences. Products fromothermanufac-
turers canalsobe integratedon theplat-
formalongside Festo components. This
enables customsolutions tobedesigned
for everyapplication.
Fullyautomatedpipettingprocess
Bloodsampleprocessing is fullyautomat-
edon the laboratoryplatform, asshown
by thepipettingprocess. First, a central
transport systembrings thebloodsample
to thepipettingmoduleonasample
carrier.There, ahighlyprecisepipetteadds
aspecificamount of liquidblood compo-
nents from the collection tube toeach
vial. Thedeliverysystem then transports
thevials to thenextmodule in theprocess.
Loadsof up toseveral hundredgrams can
bepreciselyandsafelymovedusinga
classic3Dhandlingsystem. Thehandling
system consistsof anelectricplanar sur-
facegantryEXCM that coversamaximum
workingspaceof360x700mm formotion
in theXYdirectionaswell asanelectric
axisEGSK for vertical Zmotionwithstrokes
ofup to100mm.Thesystem iscompleted
bysteppermotors,motor controllers
aswell asamulti-axis controller.
Step-by-stepoptimisation
Automationdoesnot necessarilymean
convertingall previouslymanual processes
tobecome fullyautomated. The transition
often takesplace insteps, fromautomat-
ing individualmodulesandautomated link-
ingofmodules to fullyautomatingentire
processes,basedon theneedsand require-
mentsof the laboratory. These remain
flexibleand canbeadapted toa change
in requirementsat any time. Faster,more
accurateandmore cost-effectiveanalysis
resultswill thuscontribute to thesuccess-
ful treatment of patients in the future.
Short distances:
with theplanar
surfacegantryEXCM from Festo,
it is thesamplevials thatmove
rather than theneedles. This re-
duces themovementof thepipette
toaminimum.
1.2015
trends inautomation
Impulse
20
–
21
