Front End I News
Plextek helps medtech start up PneumaCare turn concept into reality
Plextek, the Cambridge-based electronics and communications design consultancy has announced that it is working with medical device company PneumaCare to support the commercial development of its pioneering PneumaScan technology. The platform utilises light based scanning to enable doctors and medical staff to achieve non- invasive assessment and monitoring of lung function.
PneumaScan is a non-invasive, non-
contact, Structured Light Plethysmography (SLP) device that illuminates the patient’s body with visible light and captures video data. This data is then processed to give an indication of lung function. The device is a radical improvement on the traditional methods of monitoring lung function, which are uncomfortable for patients and can be associated with a risk of infection. With PneumaScan, staff in doctors' surgeries, hospitals and home care applications can comfortably assess and monitor the lung
function of even the most vulnerable groups, who find standard spirometric assessment difficult or sometimes impossible. Plextek has collaborated with PneumaCare since its formation, contributing ideas, strategic consultancy and supporting the design of a working prototype to help prove the concept. Plextek has since been contracted for further technology development as PneumaCare begins to commercialise the concept and look at other potential applications. Plextek will also provide volume manufacturing. The collaboration has enabled PneumaCare to hit the key business milestones of CE marking, Medical Regulatory and ethical approvals ahead of schedule and under budget. Based on the strength of the original prototype, PneumaCare was able to initiate discussions with the UK Ministry of Defence about the potential to use a form of PneumaScan to monitor casualties during
evacuation from the battlefield or scene of injury. PneumaCare has been awarded a research contract from the Ministry of Defence to explore this potential and carry out a trial of a prototype mobile PneumaScan which could be fitted into ambulances or aircraft. According to Dr Colin Smithers, Managing Director, Plextek, “PneumaCare is a very exciting Cambridge-based start-up with a truly innovative concept and enormous commercial potential. We’re delighted that our design skill, knowledge and experience is helping the company on its road to success and that we will be continuing to play a pivotal role moving forward.” Dr Gareth Roberts, PneumaCare’s founder
and CEO commented: “Plextek has played a key role in catalyzing the move from concept to working prototype cost effectively and in a very rapid timeframe. Working with Plextek has given instant access to a large pool of specialist knowledge and medical electronics design experience, which has accelerated our progress and given us a real commercial basis. As we move into the next phase for product development and launch we’ll continue to benefit from Plextek’s first class design skills."
Distribution: Premier Farnell has announced a global franchise distribution agreement with Spansion, the Flash memory solutions provider. The announcement is in line with the companys drive to accelerate electronic design engineering growth and is part of its internationalisation strategy. Premier Farnell and Spansion have extended an already successful US franchise agreement to provide electronic design engineers a broad portfolio of leading Flash memory solutions.
Expansion: Mouser Electronics has announced it has more than doubled its stock of Hirose Electrics interconnect products, including new FFC / FPC connectors, waterproof circular connectors, and I/O connectors. Customer demand for Hiroses components triggered Mousers accelerated expansion that includes access to Hiroses entire portfolio.
Top of the world:With arms sales reaching
$32.4 billion in 2008, BAE Systems has topped a list of the world's 100 largest arms manufacturers and is the first non-US company to lead SIPRI's Top 100 list of the largest arms-producing companies. Following BAE in the top 5 are Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics (all of the USA), according to new data on international arms production released today by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Sentec and OnStream partner to bring Mobius smart meters to UK
Cambridge-based metering technology specialist Sentec has finalised a licensing agreement with OnStream, a National Grid company, to bring Sentec’s flagship Mobius technology to the UK smart electricity meter market.
OnStream, which offers a professional range of meter asset management and
installation services to UK energy suppliers, is using Sentec’s Mobius current sensor to produce a customised smart electricity meter that is the first to be developed specifically to fit the particular profile of the burgeoning UK market. This partnership has resulted in the first meter to be launched in the UK to take advantage of the outstanding performance measurement functionality offered by the Mobius platform. The announcement of the deal coincides
with a sea change in the traditional supply chain in the metering market, as traditional meter manufacturers face competition from new entrants such as systems integrators, and now, MAPs and MAMs are looking at the opportunities offered by custom meter design and build. Mark England, managing director of Sentec, explains: “This shift has resulted in all metering businesses, suppliers and customers redefining the way they work together, with more MAMs, such as OnStream, turning to bespoke meters as an affordable solution for their different marketplaces.” OnStream selected Sentec to assist
them in creating the meter for the market because it was able to provide a sophisticated communications interface and metrology based on the Mobius current sensor. The performance of Mobius is well-proven: the technology currently acts as the basis for more than 5 million meters in the US. It
4 April 2010
Components in Electronics
provides a highly cost-effective platform simplifying the design process which has allowed this meter to be approved for market in record time. The meter uses GSM which allows it to
use the strongest mobile network available for each site. Furthermore, it has excellent memory capabilities, is both robust and reliable and it is particularly suitable for the rapidly changing UK market because it is can be easily upgraded remotely to meet existing and future standards and requirements around functionality, tariffs and home area networking. Commenting on the project, England
said: “This partnership comes at a vital time for the UK: with the national smart meter roll-out beginning in 2012, there is a pressing need for proven solutions that are specifically tailored to the needs of the UK market. Indeed, in order to meet the 2020 deadline for the completion of the roll-out, we need to start installing and using meters before 2012, so that the UK can put in place the new data and billing systems that will be needed to work alongside smart meters. OnStream is fully committed to driving forward the UK smart metering markets and is the perfect partner to support Sentec in bringing our expertise into UK homes.” Clare Naunton, Smart Development
Manager for OnStream agreed: “Smart metering is on the brink of rapid expansion in the UK and it’s critical to create a product that is perfectly suited to the region. The days of the one-size-fits-all meters are over and the opportunities in the future are based on increasing modularisation of meter design and lower costs of manufacturing as meters become pure electronic products that are found in every home.“
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Franchise agreement: IDT has extended its relationship with Future Electronics by awarding it the franchise to sell its entire portfolio of products across the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. Previously, Future Electronics was only authorized to sell the Tundra product portfolio that was acquired by IDT in 2009. The new arrangement allows Future Electronics to sell the entire IDT product portfolio, at a pan-European level. Future Electronics gained a number of important new design wins for the former Tundra Semiconductors product family in 2009.
SmartFusion: Actel has announced that Keil is supporting the SmartFusion intelligent mixed signal FPGA family in the Keil MDK- ARM Microcontroller Development Kit. The latest release of MDK-ARM supports the ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller subsystem (MSS) on SmartFusion devices and includes set-up files, device-specific views and example projects. MDK features the industry-standard compiler from ARM, the Keil Vision4 Integrated Development Environment, the fully functional RTX RTOS, and sophisticated analysis tools. MDK provides a complete development environment for creating, debugging and verifying embedded applications.
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