This article gives an overview of the medical cable assembly.
The healthcare and medical industry largely depends on various devices, equipment, and machines for testing, diagnosing, and treating all medical procedures.
A critical component that decides the working of this medical equipment is the cable assembly and harness used along with them.
Reliable and high-quality ones ensure the smooth and accurate functioning of these devices/machines.
What are medical cable assemblies?
Medical cable assemblies are individual or multiple cables combined in a single unit with connectors at one or more ends.
You can connect different medical equipment using these medical assemblies.
The different components of the medical cable assemblies include:
- Connectors: In various genre configurations, connectors help lock the cable securely and enable data transmission.
- Electromagnetic shielding material: Cable assemblies use shielding material to reduce EMR (electromagnetic radiation) and prevent electrical noise from disturbing the transmission signal. The electromagnetic shield is present on the outer jacket of the cable assemblies.
- Jacket: Medical cable assemblies must have an abrasion-resistant jacket made of biocompatible materials, as cable may come in contact with patients’ bodies in some applications. Biocompatible materials are safe for the human body and do not induce any immune response. These materials are specially designed for diagnostic medical purposes only. The jacket made from these materials also provides extra durability and makes the assembly compliant with the safety regulatory standards.
X-ray machines
Medical cable and wire applications
A large number of medical applications use medical cable and wire assemblies such as:
Medical imaging and diagnostics
All types of medical imaging and diagnostics devices and equipment need reliable and high-quality wires and connections to ensure the safe and accurate transfer of information.
Medical diagnostics equipment includes CT scan machines, PET, X-rays, MRIs, and ultrasound machines.
Such devices and appliances are critical for diagnosing and treating patients’ illnesses and injuries.
Laboratory equipment
All types of laboratory equipment in medical applications require wires and cables to measure, analyze and monitor patients’ health accurately.
Medical laboratory equipment examines bodily fluids for diseases or infection signs, including ventilators, dialysis machines, anesthetic dispensers, and CPB or cardiopulmonary bypass.
All such equipment also measures patients’ vital signs using ECG and EEG measurements.
Treatment Units and Operation Tables
Surgical lasers, medical infusion pumps, LASIK equipment, and other treatment equipment also use medical cables and wires.
Also, medical wires and cables in operation tables ensure the correct patient positioning on the operation table during critical and sensitive clinical procedures.
Surgical lights
During critical surgical procedures, surgeons must get proper bright light on the operation table.
For such lightning equipment, specially designed medical wires and cables are required to ensure durability and reliability to withstand temperature fluctuations and high-power levels.
Surgical robots
Almost all industrial applications use robots and other automatic techniques; the same is valid in the medical field.
Robots-assisted surgeries are common and provide rapid, efficient, correct surgical procedures.
These complex medical robots require high precision to ensure smooth and quick movement during clinical procedures.
Medical professionals use data cables in these medical robots to transfer instructions, sensor cables for transmitting information during operating systems, and other cables.
All these cables must be highly flexible and efficient to allow easy bending in medical functions.
Electronically adjustable hospital beds
Hospital beds are equipped with electronic controls to allow easy entry and exit of patients from the bed.
With these electronic movements, patients can adjust themselves based on their comfort.
Such adjustable hospital beds also allow doctors to examine patients comfortably without disturbing patients.
It is essential to have very reliable and flexible medical cables and wires fitted in these beds to operate them efficiently.
Hospital lighting units
Different medical and hospital applications need specialized and adjustable lighting, whether a workstation or room lighting.
Doctors and nurses need bright light to read charts, give injections and insert IVs in the patients.
Along with the proper brightness, the lights should be capable of dimming as per the patients’ comfort.
In medical cable assemblies, you can find various flexible cables to ensure the smooth operation of these lightning systems in all healthcare applications.
PA and communication systems for staff
Doctors, nurses, patients, and other staff must have reliable communication in the healthcare environment, especially in emergencies.
Apart from that, all healthcare professionals communicate with each other daily and at night.
Different types of medical wiring and cables are essential in communication devices for direct and instant contact.
Monitor patients in the surgical operating room
Features of medical cable assemblies
These assemblies have specific features, including using high-quality components and meeting medical equipment OEM performance standards.
Reliability
Cable assemblies in medical applications are used in various critical procedures that may be responsible for a patient’s life or death.
As a result, cable assemblies need to ensure secure connections with signal integrity.
The healthcare industry cannot afford to fail equipment and systems due to the failure of cables and wires.
Chemical resistance
Some cable assemblies may be sealed to sterilize them for reuse as they are expensive.
Sterilization processes may be hard and may require assemblies to face some chemicals.
However, it is also essential the cables and wires offer optimal performance even after such sterilization processes.
Durability
Portable equipment and their connectors may undergo challenging clinical settings as staff unwinds and winds this equipment multiple times during working hours.
People may step over them, or wheelchairs may roll over them.
Further, all this equipment undergoes multiple sterilizations when used from one patient to another.
Thus, all this equipment and its cables must have high durability to withstand all these stresses and still work fine every time.
One-time-use cases
Some cable assemblies need to be used only once.
However, cable assemblies must also be highly durable, functional, and safe in such cases to ensure good patient health and safety.
Resistant to interference
Medical cable assemblies must follow RoHS requirements during manufacturing. RoHS stands for restriction of hazardous substances.
Such requirements ensure that these assemblies do not allow electromagnetic interference and that health professionals can easily handle them using medical gloves.
Medical Cable Assembly: Bio-Safe:
The inherent nature of the healthcare industry requires cables and wires to be biocompatible and safe for biochemical applications.
Medical cable assemblies must meet all regulatory standards to function correctly even after being exposed to different biological and chemical fluids daily.
Cables of EEG machine
Custom medical cable assemblies from leading cable assembly manufacturer Cloom:
Cloom, an ICO 13485-certified medical cable assemblies manufacturer, provides custom medical grade cable assemblies, wiring harnesses, lead wires, lab cable assemblies, cable extrusions, and medical equipment and device wiring harnesses like:
- Coiled medical cable
- Disposable Medical Cable
- Heartbeat Measurement Device Medical Cable
- Medical Scalpel Control Harness
- Detachable USB Medical Cable
- Medical Electric Hospital Bed Control Straight and Coiled Wires
- Blood Pressure Measurement Device Medial Cable
- Medical Ultrasonic Control Harness
- And many more.
Custom wire harnesses Vs. cable assemblies: Difference
These terms generally refer to the external covering that protects and encapsulates wires and cables into a single unit.
However, both cable assembly and wire harness are different from each other in the following ways:
Medical Cable Assembly: External coverings:
Wires in wire harnesses are mainly used for interior work like in a computer or any other small electronic device.
In this, wires are individually sealed and then wrapped in one more casing of tape, sleeves, or pipes.
On the other hand, cable assemblies include wires and cables in one heavy case made of thermoplastic rubber or vinyl (heavy-duty) using an over-molding technique.
Such casing helps the cable assemblies to withstand harsh environmental conditions.
Being an over-molded assembly, cable assembly also shields its contents from cold, heat, moisture, compression, friction, and other hazards apart from keeping the contents organized.
However, a wiring harness primarily acts as an external covering to keep the wires intact and organized.
Medical Cable Assembly: Applications
A cable assembly is more suitable for heavy-duty applications, and on opening it, you will find an organized set of wires and cables.
On the contrary, wiring harnesses are appropriate for the light-duty environment as their build is simple and less robust.
Also, a wiring harness is less expensive than a cable assembly.
Monitors in ICU
Conclusion
Medical cable assemblies have varied uses and applications, and all are related to an individual’s health directly or indirectly.
Thus, they must meet all regulatory directives, status, and technical specifications.
We have a complete range of harness assemblies, custom medical cables, and interconnect solutions for medical device manufacturers.
The engineering team at Cloom helps you get personalized services and support for high-quality, cost-effective products that meet customer satisfaction and requirements.