The heart of many healthcare devices and systems is their underlying electronics. Since medical equipment manufacturers must constantly strive to assure reliability while reducing device cost, they must closely examine the electronics—including connectors.
A custom connector may work well in a particular application, but is more costly and time consuming than using an off-the-shelf connector. However, an off-the-shelf connector may not have the desired features. A solution that bridges this gap is the “custom off-the-shelf” connector, which has customizable features such as selective pin counts and keying options.
Molex offers MediSpecTM Medical Plastic Circular (MPC) connectors and cable assemblies, which can provide the custom off-the-shelf solutions needed to lower costs while meeting medical device specifications.
In addition to making customizable solutions available, it is also important to offer differentiating features that add value for connector users. For example, MPC connectors leverage a proven low-cost, stamped and formed contact system from Molex that can achieve a 10,000-cycle mating durability rating, making it ideal for I/O applications in all medical modalities spanning diagnostics, therapeutic and monitoring applications.
In another example of differentiation, the terminal retainer housings of MPC connectors are factory stitched and potted. Potting assures the contact’s true position and prevents ingress of flux into the contact zone during the wire soldering process and moisture ingress through the front face of the connector during use in the field.
MediSpec MPC connectors are designed to provide custom off-the-shelf flexibility along with cost-saving differentiating features—all while providing the high performance and reliability demanded of a medical I/O interconnect.
To assist medical equipment designers during their R&D and early development stages, Molex now offers MPC connectors in fully functional and tested, generic pig-tail harnesses, which can provide a “quick and easy” means to build early prototypes.
