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Reliable Soldering for Medical Equipment
By Yusaku Kono, Marketing Director, Japan Unix Co., Ltd.
designed from specialty components and materials that are not typically seen in consumer electronics. Soldering precision components, which may be
M
extremely small, made of exotic materials, or may not tolerate flux, presents a unique set of chal- lenges that are often only possible to meet with advanced soldering processes. Electronics is playing an increasing role in
today’s medical devices, such as MRI and CT scan- ning equipment, medical endoscopes, diagnostic equipment including sphyg momano meters, and others. Today’s medical devices are considered highly qualified, sophisticated, reliable electronic products.
Soldering precision components, which may be extreme-
ly small, made of exotic materials, or may not tolerate flux, presents a
unique set of challenges often only suited to advanced soldering processes.
Designing and manufacturing these products
requires more specialized knowledge to achieve stability and reliability of the electronics. One major cause of device failure is the lack of proper solder joints between the components and sub- strate. Inappropriate soldering can cause product failure, which can be catastrophic. To provide reli- able and accurate medical tools, qualified solder- ing is critical.
UNIX-700FH supports high-volume production with a fast circular motion.
lars. These machines contain extremely costly PCBs and components. Quality soldering is required and production quantities may be small. As the demand for high quality grows, soldering
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edical devices require exceed ingly high qual- ity and reliability due to their role in safe- guarding human lives. Such devices are
Soldering Processes for Medical Devices Soldering in medical devices can be broadly
classified into two categories, both of which have quality requirements that are more strict than industrial and consumer electronics. First, large diagnostic equipment such as MRI and CT scan- ners cost hundreds of thousands to millions of dol-
operations must of necessity shift from hand-sol- dering to robotics. The second category consists of medical devices that are in contact with or insert- ed into the human body, such as pacemakers, catheters and gastroscopic hardware. A large num- ber of devices are broadly distributed and these products are small and precise. As a consequence, micro, fine or thin PCBs and components are used for production. The exceedingly small components are densely packed and mounted, making it almost impossible for them to be soldered by hand. Medical device soldering is also challenging due to the special metals that are involved. Normal lead-free solder alloy has been stan-
dardized as a composition of tin, silver and copper. In the case of medical devices, the ratio of gold and silver is raised to impart qualities such as strength and corrosion resistance. If the composition changes, it will impact soldering parameters including temperature, wetting and forming, while the cost of solder alloy goes up. Unless appropriate soldering processes are considered for special met- als, the possibility of defect or failure, as well as production cost is increased.
Stringent Manufacturing Demands Demands and requirements are varied in
medical electronics soldering. To satisfy such diversity, manufacturers that seek flexible and robust solutions turn to robotic soldering systems. Robots, which excel at high-precision, repetitive tasks, are able to produce consistent quality. Also, laser soldering processes allow accurate
soldering in narrow spaces without physical con- tact. Conventional contact soldering with soldering iron tips is appropriate for high thermal mass and
Continued on next page
May, 2016
Demo Systems
Available! See at EWPTE, Booth 1709
CAMI
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sales@camiresearch.com
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