Active-matrix colour LCD customised for healthcare

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jan 15, 2002

Planar Systems has collaborated with health-care equipment specialist Datex-Ohmeda to develop a flat-panel monitor for the medical environment based on a 15-inch active-matrix colour LCD

Planar Systems has collaborated with health-care equipment specialist Datex-Ohmeda to develop a flat-panel monitor that combines safety, customisation and seamless integration into the medical environment.

Datex-Ohmeda, the largest division of the Instrumentarium Corporation of Helsinki, Finland, is a supplier of anaesthesia equipment, systems and services and critical care products.

Datex-Ohmeda does not want to take any risks by using non-medical-grade components in its equipment which might compromise the safety of patients or care givers.

This was a key criterion when the company was starting to look for a flat-panel monitor as an option to replace the traditional CRT - a move brought about by evolving customer requirements.

Although patient and care-giver safety issues were of the highest priority, these were not the only criteria for the optimum solution.

Datex-Ohmeda also needed to have a monitor with the company's own 'look and feel' that would be easy to use as well as easy to read - facilitating prompt decision-making in the most difficult and complex care situations.

Datex-Ohmeda called on Planar's depth of experience in providing medically oriented display solutions, with the result that the company was able to meet demanding time-to-market pressures without compromising product quality or patient-vicinity safety issues.

Planar provided an easy-to-use, customised full-colour monitor based on a 15-inch active-matrix colour liquid-crystal display with an excellent viewing angle, high contrast and superior response times.

The monitor meets the strict medical-grade safety standards covering safety, electromagnetic capability, liquid ingress and current-leakage from the power adaptor.

The thin, lightweight flat-panel monitor, a fraction of the size and weight of the traditional CRT monitors, represents an ergonomic space-saving solution.

The wide variety of mounting options allows Datex-Ohmeda to set up the optimal configuration for each customer.

'Planar has an ongoing policy of specialising in collaborative relationships with customers', comments European Marketing Director Tomas Bergh?ll: 'In this case, this philosophy has enabled us to produce a medical-grade customised flat-panel monitor solution that makes no compromise between safety, usability and appearance.'.