To select the right TFT LCD for a medical application, engineers and decision makers need to have a thorough understanding of how the specifications of a TFT LCD affect the final product. It is also important to understand the differences between displays and industrial or consumer LCDs.
TFT Displays & Medical Devices
In the past, medical devices with displays were often bulky with many scales and buttons. Machines with buttons and knots provided space for harmful pathogens to thrive because it was harder to clean than modern machines with flat touch screen interfaces. Using TFT LCD touchscreens on medical devices not only facilitates sterilization, but also saves a lot of front panel space that could be used to display important medical information.
Harsh working environment
Medical devices can pass through extremes of temperature, vibration and shock, humidity and environmental changes in lighting. As a result, it requires highly reliable TFT LCDs and may require the use of transparent protective covers to protect the displays from the rigors of daily use.
Although ordinary LCD displays do not want to perform well enough, medical TFT suppliers like Top Micro can add enhancements such as optically bonded front panels with anti-reflective coatings that combine both reflective and transmissive properties for transmissive displays.
Medical Standard
Medical TFT LCD modules are typically used in three applications: standard (e.g., monitors), life support (e.g., glucose meters) and life-critical devices (e.g., ventilators). These applications have very different requirements in terms of functionality, reliability and MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure). The industry generally accepts the acceptance test rules of two well-known standards organizations: the European DIN and the American Association of Medical Physicists. These two organizations have clear standards for resolution, noise, viewing angle, glare, color uniformity, distortion, reflection, luminance response, and brightness uniformity.
The certification process for these standards is cumbersome and expensive. Equipment manufacturers are reluctant to modify approved standards and require LCDs that will last for a long time. Topway guarantees the lifetime of its TFT LCD modules, with many color LCDs lasting up to ten years or more.
Medical devices using Topway TFT displays
Ventilator
It can help keep your lungs functioning properly. It does not cure or solve health problems, but it can do the work of breathing for you when you are undergoing treatment or recovering from a health condition.
A humidifier is designed to add temperature and humidity to the gas being transmitted to the patient, providing optimal temperature and humidity to increase patient comfort.
An infusion pump is a medical device used to control the infusion of fluids into the patient’s body. There are many different types of infusion pumps used for a variety of purposes and in a variety of settings. Infusion pumps are better than manual infusion pumps because they can deliver fluids at a precise frequency, volume and interval.
This device is embedded with Topmicro’s 2.8″ color TFT LCD display module.
An ECG monitor is a life-saving device used to measure ECG activity to indicate whether the heart is working properly. Our customer chose an 8″ TFT LCD display module.
Medical device manufacturers understand the importance of sourcing these devices from a trusted display manufacturer such as Topway Technologies, Inc. The company has been providing custom display solutions to medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies for over 20 years. All of Topway’s medical TFT LCD modules have passed rigorous testing: high and low temperature testing, salt spray testing, EMC testing and ROHS standards.
