Industries Served
Medical
The medical industry has a diverse number of applications ranging from critical care to diagnostics to patient comfort. Since people's lives are at stake, the final product must meet federal safety standards in addition to normal engineering design standards.
Patient Handling
 This includes patient beds, operating tables and treatment tables. Under servo control, tables can rise, lower and tilt. In the case of medical imaging such as MRI or CT, an automatic table slides in and out of the imaging tunnel.
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Diagnostic Imaging
 MRI, CT and X-ray are examples of diagnostic imaging.  Automatic tables that move the patient in and out of the imaging area are a given. For MRI and CT, servos can also be used to control the imaging ring. X-ray machines have received a face lift in recent years with the introduction of machines that dynamically move imaging plates around the patient instead of the patient moving in front of the machine.  Even though the plates are connected to independent control arms, the plates always remain parallel with each other with the patient lying or standing in the middle. The kinematics behind this type of motion is very complex but AMC servo drives are up to the task.
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Radio Surgery
 Similar to diagnostic imaging, however the projected radiation is used to destroy cancer growths and tumors instead of diagnosing them. X-rays or heavy particles are projected from many sources and converged to a point within the brain. The beams are not individually strong enough to cause damage, but when the beams meet at the convergence point, the combined energy is enough to destroy the affected tissue. This allows the surgeon to remove diseased tissue without damaging healthy parts of the brain.
Before surgery, the tumor must be carefully mapped using CT or MRI imaging. This ensures that only the affected tissue is treated.
Radio Surgery reduces complications and recovery times. Because there is no incision the occurrence of infection, hemorrhaging and damage to surrounding tissue can be eliminated. Some conventional surgeries that require a 15-day recovery at the hospital can be treated as an outpatient procedure using radio surgery!
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Ventilation (breathing)
 For obvious reasons patient ventilation is a critical application. Servo drives must be absolutely reliable to work in this application.
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Drug and Contrast Dye Injection
  Contrast Dyes are used to enhance images on MRI, CT and x-rays. Servo controlled injectors deliver dye or medication with more accuracy and better rate regulation than humans can.
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Corrective Eye Surgery
  People get laser eye surgery all the time, but have you ever wondered how it works? The laser points into a set of mirrors that position the laser on an X-Y plane. The mirrors are controlled by a pair of servos, one for each axis of motion. Position accuracy is important but the thing that makes this extremely difficult is the ability to track and compensate for the constant involuntary eye movements of the patient. To achieve this you need to first be able to track the eye, then you need a servo system that is fast enough to respond to the constant changes. These are very high bandwidth systems capable of extreme accuracy.
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Resuscitation
During a heart attack, standard CPR performed by an expert can only maintain about 10 percent of normal blood flow! Plus the physical exertion required to maintain this level can be exhausting - even for just a few minutes. New technologies have been developed to automate the pumping action during a heart attack that provides blood flow rates near 100 percent! These portable servo-controlled units automatically compensate for patient size and efficiently pump the heart for up to 30 minutes per charge. Many lives have already been saved by these devices.
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Haptic Surgery Robot
 Surgery requires a steady hand and microsurgery even more so. The word 'haptic' means 'touch'. A haptic device gives the user force feedback so they can sense how strong the device is holding onto something. Haptic feedback coupled with electronic gearing gives the surgeon the ability to perform intricate procedures that would be completely impossible if attempted by hand. Force feedback lets the surgeon 'feel' how the scalpel is cutting or how the suture needle is penetrating. Electronic gearing takes the surgeons movements and miniaturizes them and makes them more precise. The result is faster more precise surgeries and the introduction of new procedures that were previously impossible.
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Remote Breast Exam
 This technology is in development and is listed on our University Outreach page. Remote breast exams will make it possible for a doctor to perform examinations in third world countries where it is impractical for the doctor to visit every village. Instead, the breast exam machines will be taken from village to village and doctors will be able to perform exams from a central location.
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