For the latest news, follow us on Twitter: @CI_DesignMag, Facebook or LinkedIn SMALLER, LIGHTER, MRI SCANNER DESIGNED FOR NEWBORNS AND INFANTS
Neoscan Solutions has invented a smaller and lighter MRI scanner which can be placed directly in the children’s ward of the hospital and used to scan sick babies in their sleep. Dr. Stefan Roell, founder of Neoscan Solutions in
Germany, said: “We have designed an MRI scanner specifically for newborns and infants which means that the hole in the middle is only 30cm in diameter, not 60cm. As a result, the scanner is much smaller (170cm x 150cm x 110cm) and can go through standard doorways. With a weight of only 2000kg, it can be located on standard floors and, needing only ten square metres, it can be installed in a spare room directly on the children’s ward. Carrying a sleeping baby only a few meters to the MRI is a big advantage, saving a long journey through the building and the need for sedatives to keep the baby motionless for the scan.” Key to the smaller design is the use of digitizers
and AWGs by Spectrum Instrumentation that offer sub-nano second, coherence precision, to generate the scanner-signals and capture the results. The technology and field strength of the
Neoscan machine is identical to current scanners so that no new clinical studies are required to validate it. Achieving this needed several innovations by the company. Firstly, to shrink the size, the team had to develop a dry magnet
system uses Spectrum’s SCAPP software drivers that enable a Graphics Processor with 5000 cores to perform the parallel processing, instead of using only eight or 16 cores of a normal CPU. “As a start-up, we could not afford to create
that would create the standard 1.5 Tesla field inside the hole, but without requiring liquid helium. This is done by an inner, cylindrical magnet generating 2.5T and then an outer cylindrical magnet that counteracts the inner field to provide strong, active magnet shielding so that there is no stray magnetic field left beyond about 1m from the device’s cover. The second innovation was in the control
electronics. The team uses a PC which runs the software that Neoscan has created plus high- end measurement PC-cards from Spectrum Instrumentation. The signals for the MRI are generated by the M4i.6620-x8 and M2p.6546-x4 AWGs (Arbitrary Waveform Generators) and then analysed using an M2p.5968-x4 digitizer. The
ACCU SUPPORTS FORMULA STUDENT TEAM
Accu has donated £1,200 worth of components to Oxford Brookes Racing (OBR) for use in the Formula Student 2021 Competition, organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Accu will be pledging a range of precision components for the creation of an innovative new electric vehicle concept.
OBR’s model will be based on a 4-wheel drive in-hub motor configuration.
It has AMK AC servo motors mated to a compact epicyclic gearbox, which is capable of producing over 300Nm of torque at each wheel. Energy is supplied from a 600V, 6.6kW-hr battery pack using LCO pouch cells with a peak output of over 130kW. All of this is managed through an open controls platform ideal for implementing torque vectoring and advanced vehicle controls to unleash the full performance potential electric vehicles allow. Martin Ackroyd, co-founder of Accu, said: “We are incredibly proud to
support OBR within this competition. Not only is it important for us to support young engineers, but we have close links with auto racing as we supply components to F1 teams, and it is these grassroots projects which will fuel the future of the industry. Good luck to the team!”
specialised hardware and so we used this route of high quality, standard cards providing a platform to run our software on,” added Dr Roell. “This meant that we could focus our skills on the software development with very fast development cycles in the knowledge that the hardware was already tried and tested. This was only possible because of the design quality of the Spectrum cards. For MRI, it is vital that there is phase coherence in the 64MHz signals, otherwise there will be cancellation effects. In practice, that means that the AWG and matching digitizer have to have sub-nanosecond coherence precision, which the Spectrum cards achieve. During the research phase, it was hard to determine this from the specifications of the cards provided by the various suppliers that we contacted, as it is a rather unusual level of detail. However, Spectrum was outstanding in helping us with technical support both in the specification of the best cards to use and then again during the implementation.” Neoscan will be shortly installing its first devices
in German hospitals.
www.neoscan-solutions.com
TAS JOINS MITSUBISHI’S DRIVE SOLUTIONS CENTRE
Mitsubishi Electric has welcomed Total Automated Solutions (TAS) to its Drive Solutions Centre (DSC). This strategic agreement will enable TAS to provide an even more comprehensive service offering to its customers. Rob Iwanuschak, technical director
www.accu.co.uk
at TAS, commented: “Mitsubishi Electric’s automation components are robust, reliable and offer advanced functionality. Joining the DSC network will strengthen the technical support that we can offer our customers, who will benefit from extensive variable speed drive (VSD) knowledge as well as an in-depth system understanding.” Stuart Woodhead, UK sales
expected to bounce back this year, with its fastest growth in 70 years. This is hardly surprising really after a year where not only have the majority of us been told to stay at
A
home, with so many businesses closed, but many have been worried about their jobs and therefore saving rather than spending. With a growing economy comes a recovery in the job market; and
with the majority of the UK population having had at least one Covid-19 jab, confidence will start to grow and we’ll all start to feel a little more relaxed about venturing out. It looks like we can now start to feel a lot more positive about the future.
Rachael Morling - Editor 4 MAY 2021 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
ccording to recent news reports, the UK economy is
manager at Mitsubishi Electric, added: “TAS was carefully selected to be part of the DSC based on expertise and capabilities. We are delighted to have their specialists join our network of drive experts and look forward to working closely with them.”
www.drivesolutionscentre.com
Invertek Drives has reached a significant milestone with the production of its two millionth VFD. The one off ‘golden drive’ was produced at the company’s Welshpool, Powys, assembly centre. The drive is part of an order placed by Hiflex Automatiseringstechniek BV, Invertek’s sales partner in the Netherlands.
www.invertekdrives.com
Mclennan has signed a distribution agreement with the USA-based electric linear actuator, roller screw and grooved roller bearing designer and manufacturer, Creative Motion Control (CMC).
www.mclennan.co.uk
Essentra Components has embarked on a multi-million pound, long-term investment programme, to upgrade its hydraulic injection moulding machine portfolio to become electric by the end of 2031. The company is working with a small number of key equipment suppliers with global support networks to replace 180 machines that have been operating for 15-years or more. The replacement machines will be
both all-electric and hybrid electric, the latter using Vireo servo drive technologies. The transition will result in an estimated 33% reduction of energy consumed, cycle to cycle, and a 25% uplift in cycle time gain, tool-to-tool.
www.essentracomponents.com
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