Product category:
Electrical and Electronic Testing and PAT Equipment
News Release from: Tektronix | Subject: TDS1002
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 08 April 2004
Scopes aid fatigue tests on life-saving
implants
Lombard Medical is using TDS1002 oscilloscopes in high-profile accelerated fatigue testing on the latest generation of life-saving medical implants for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms.
Oxford-based Lombard Medical is using Tektronix TDS1002 oscilloscopes in high-profile accelerated fatigue testing on the latest generation of life-saving medical implants for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms The Cardiovascular Device Division of Lombard Medical has developed a new generation of devices to improve treatment options and patient outcome
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 23 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Tektronix TDS1002 oscilloscopes have enabled Lombard Medical to reduce testing times from periods of ten years down to between two and three months, providing accurate documentation and archiving of results via the test and measurement vendor's PC interface capability.
Due to the impracticability of carrying out routine production tests over a ten-year period, manufacturers normally use accelerated techniques in which the devices are tested at higher frequencies than normal human pulse rates.
Lombard Medical originally selected the Tektronix TDS210 digital oscilloscopes as the preferred measurement tool because of their ease of interfacing with a PC.
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When searching for a replacement to upgrade for 65Hz testing, Sean McManus, who is now in charge of the Lombard Medical fatigue-testing programme, chose to standardise on the TDS1002 oscilloscope.
He said: "The TDS1002 oscilloscopes have given me great confidence in the measurements being made, and the results can easily be documented as part of our regulatory submissions to have the implants approved for use inside the patients".
The oscilloscope is interfaced to a test rig using a custom-designed data-acquisition board with dedicated software, and is specifically used to measure and record maximum and minimum pressures along with the test frequency.
This information is then stored on a PC and used as the basis of a detailed technical report for approval by the regulatory authorities.
Key benefits of the TDS1002 in this application include its high sampling rate of 1Gsample/s and the fact that it uses the Tektronix proprietary DRT (digital real time) technology to ensure faithful waveform capture and complete confidence in the measurement results: essential for submission of data to, and acceptance by, the regulatory authorities.
Some indication of the success of this approach to accelerated fatigue is provided by the fact that Lombard Medical is purchasing further Tektronix oscilloscopes with the aim of setting up a dedicated test operation incorporating seven complete fatigue test rigs.
The company is also hoping to use the latest Tektronix OpenChoice software (which enables efficient capture and transfer of data to a PC) as soon as they have confirmed its conformance to the requirements of the regulatory authorities. Request a free brochure from Tektronix ...
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