Custom Solutions for Specialized Equipment

Sample Projects

Life Cycle Tester

This is a custom designed device for life cycling pumps. It has 8 independent stations with controls for start and end of stroke, speed of up and down stroke and a force minimum and maximum to verify proper operation of the pump. The number of strokes to perform can be set and maximum and minimum forces are graphed for each station.

Flow Waveform Generator

This device is called the Flow / Volume Simulator and is used to reproduce a precise air flow waveform. One of the main uses of this device is to simulate a person exhaling as hard as possible. Spirometers and peak flow meters measure this type of exhale and are used to indicate different lung diseases. The Flow / Volume Simulator duplicates a specific set of flow waveforms that are used to test these devices. It can also be used to generate inhale waveforms as well.

This device uses a high performance linear motion system to drive a custom air cylinder type of mechanism. Instrumentation and user interface software complete this system.

The Flow / Volume Simulator is available from Hans Rudolph, inc. For more information see the Hans Rudolph web site at HRI Products.

Oxygen Conserver Test System

People that are on long term oxygen therapy often use oxygen conserving devices to extend the time that an oxygen supply will last when they are traveling, shopping or doing activities where they need to be able to carry the oxygen source. These conserver devices provide a pulse of oxygen at the beginning of a breath and then turn off. This method provides the needed oxygen without wasting oxygen during the later part of inhale and exhale portions of the breath cycle.

This Oxygen Conserver Test System is used in the development and production testing of these conserver devices. It measures several parameters of the oxygen pulse and some other functions required to test oxygen conservers.

This test system is available through Hans Rudolph, inc. For more information see the Hans Rudolph web site at www.rudolphkc.com/products.php

Commercial Dough Mixer Monitor

In commercial bakeries a batch of dough for a loaf of bread may weigh 2000 lbs so for consistent quality and minimum waste it is important for each batch to be as similar to other batches of the same dough as possible. This device monitors the mixing process and compares the dough being mixed with a previous known good batch. If a significant difference is detected the operator is alerted and adjustments can be made so that the dough is consistent and quality of the bread is maintained. This device is built for a bakery supply company.

Commercial Aircraft Emergency Passenger Oxygen System Prototype and Clinical Testing

This project was a consulting project that included designing and building a prototype of a new oxygen delivery device for a commercial aircraft. The prototype was used in initial clinical testing to develop the specifications for the actual product. In addition to the prototypes, support systems were built to simulate the aircraft interface and also to measure the output of the product for the product testing in simulated decompression tests that were required for additional clinical testing.

Breathing Simulator

This device simulates a spontaneously breathing adult and is used in the development of devices such as ventilators, sleep apnea blowers, inhaled drug delivery devices and other respiratory therapy devices. The simulator mechanically mimics lung mechanics but does not perform any gas exchange. It uses an embedded computer and a mathematical lung model along with built-in instrumentation to simulate a patient. A servo motor drives a bellows to generate the simulated breathing.

Flow and Pressure Instrumentation

This device is an instrumentation package for measuring respiratory flow and pressure signals. The system uses very sensitive pressure sensors to measure the flow and pressure and converts these signals to analog outputs.

This device is called the Pneumotach Amplifier 1 and is available through Hans Rudolph, inc. For more information go to the Hans Rudolph web site at www.rudolphkc.com/products.php

Oxygen Delivery and Oximetry Monitor

Patients that require long term oxygen because of lung disease should be checked when using their oxygen system to make sure that the oxygen system is providing the needed oxygen during both resting periods and activities. This device is connected between the patient's oxygen system and their oxygen cannula tubing. It measures the oxygen delivered by the oxygen system and it has an oximeter that is worn on the finger or forehead to measure the oxygen level in the patient's blood. The device also measures the breath rate and other parameters of the breath cycle then saves this data to an SD card or transmits it wirelessly to a nearby PC. The clinician can monitor the patient during the test to make sure the oxygen system is providing the needed oxygen during a range of patient activities.

Smart Carburetor Design

We worked closely with a local company to update their carbureter design to improve reliability and performance while also simplifying the assembly process. Another key aspect of this project was prioritizing manufacturability to help keep the costs in line with the previous version.

For more information on this product and how it works see the SmartCarb website at https://smartcarb.com/