Medical electronics equipment is not longer just found in hospitals, clinics and doctors surgeries. Neither is its use restricted to qualified practitioners. Instead designs have become smaller, more portable and easier to use to the point where now appliances like defibrillators are deployed in many public places such as sports venues, schools, airports, health & fitness clubs and many commercial and government offices. Other devices such as blood glucose meters are today considered essential in the care of patients with diabetes and have evolved to be personal, pocket-sized units that can be carried everywhere. Then there is equipment for patient monitoring, diagnostics and medication delivery that has been designed for in-home use, which often includes portable, body-worn elements. Medical equipment generally demands the highest quality components to ensure safe and dependable operation; and portable equipment poses the additional challenges of compact size, the ruggedness needed to cope with harsh operating conditions, and usually needing to be battery-powered. This article will explore two of these applications for portable medical electronics, looking at the specific requirements of the resistor technology used in their circuit designs. It will then examine potential solutions based on products from Riedon, a specialist resistor manufacturer and supplier.
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