What many don’t realize is, the market for medical sensors is one of the few that didn’t decline during the Great Recession and even experienced growth in the late 2000s, particularly for point-of-care, home diagnostic, and testing systems.
Yet, considering the vast array of equipment out there, there’s no singular type of sensor used. On a general level, sensors monitor fluids and pressure to help medical professionals get an accurate diagnosis related to the patient’s condition and assist with treatment. Further, in more serious instances, a sensor helps with monitoring a patient’s vital signs, either directly from the hospital or remotely.
For medical equipment, sensors fall into the following types:
Implants
A more recent innovation to address the growing aging population, sensors may be added to patients’ bodies, more commonly through an implant. These types of sensors allow for round-the-clock patient monitoring and give real-time results. While the type and usage may vary, the equipment, and thus the sensor, is generally small, portable, and designed for non-invasive purposes.
Pressure Sensors
Many types of medical equipment monitor pressure. As a result, a sensor may be found in:
- Equipment for delivering anesthesia
- Oxygen concentrators
- Sleep apnea machines
- Ventilators
- Dialysis equipment
- Insulin pumps
- Blood analyzers
- Respiratory and blood pressure monitoring equipment
- Surgical fluid management equipment
- Various dental tools
Flow Sensors
In several instances, sensors used for monitoring pressure also monitor liquid flow in many of the same applications. As such, a sensor may be added to monitor liquid or gas flow in:
- Equipment for anesthesia
- Oxygen concentrators
- Sleep apnea machines
- Ventilators
- Respiratory monitoring
- Gas mixing
- Electro-surgery, a procedure in which a current assists with cutting tissues, coagulation, desiccation, or removing a tumor.
Need a replacement sensor for your medical device, or OEM sensors for a new product line? Find an array of choices through SMD Fluid Controls. For instance, the OS950 is a miniature optical liquid level sensor is ideal for point-level monitoring in medical diagnostic and other equipment, with a compact size and lack of moving parts.