Medical devices embedded system development policy (1)

In embedded system development and application process, the difference is perhaps the most interesting. Each device has a unique hardware and software architecture and its own unique features. Therefore, you want to designed to meet the requirements of such a broad range of software development tools and operating system becomes a formidable challenge. In tough economic conditions, on the developer, as a result of outsourcing its core competence is in no way impaired. But as a developer, after all, the more willing to outsource those available from commercial sources of non-differentiated characteristics of components (Figure 1).

Figure 1, medical electrical equipment design cycle up to 30 per cent of the time spent on non-differentiated.

Embedded device market is widely covered by certain common characteristics.

Medical equipment and instrumentation is increasingly important. In a modern medical institution, electronic technology scope of application, number of the "shocking". Medical equipment and systems range from large to take up an entire room NMR of imaging scanners to portable and handheld devices, then to such as cardiac pacemakers and other implanted devices. Each of these products are all embedded systems.

When the design of medical devices, systems, software developers must bear in mind the following four main areas: 1).

No matter what the design should also comply with other standards, security is one of the most important, can not sacrifice security for costs. 2) performance. Most embedded systems have a number of performance standards, but for many medical devices, their performance but lives at stake. 3) economics. Now the global medical health care costs are rising, control the cost of medical device development is to achieve affordable healthcare one of the key. 4) feature. The significance of design any device is able to provide the user with a number of specific features and usefulness. This article will focus on embedded software, especially real-time operating system selection and implementation of the impact of these four areas.

Security

When the patient to the hospital, he or she is looking forward to is the illness remission or cure instead of being hurt.

Always keep in mind the safety of patients is the medical institutions of their duties and obligations. This will force the medical apparatus and systems to comply with a clear set of safety standards. But on embedded software and what are the requirements?

Usage (please use rough song).

Manipulate the price of medical device error than manipulate any other device error costs are high. A different manufacturer, work in different ways, many different medical devices in use. These devices in high pressure environments, often from overload and tired of health care personnel actions. It is hard to imagine a whole day lianzhouzhuan doctor will seriously studied each computer you want to use a device's operation manual.

Therefore, all the "smart" medical device must have an intuitive user interface (UI) becomes critical.

More and more user interface is neatly arranged menu and multimedia capabilities of a high resolution graphical display. Development of high-quality user interface software is not an easy task. User interface development package must bring available commercial operating system, in a cost-effective way to build complex medical devices have different characteristics of the user-interface.

Reliability (please use rough song).

Medical equipment hardware designers will adopt high reliability for parts. Similarly, building reliable software should use the field-proven, such as has been the commercialization and application of extensive on-hand at work and to meet the requirements of the operating system (OS), and other components (such as, using real-time operating system instead of desktop operating systems derived versions). One should always off electric reset to reset the "reset" in the medical device is not acceptable. In the pop-up dialog box gives a strange error reporting is not an acceptable method should not be considered in design.

Verify (please use rough song).

In most countries, regulatory bodies to test and certification of medical device meets the specified criteria. Software certification is a complex and expensive process, usually at the system level. Therefore, purchasing a "certified real-time operating system (RTOS)" is not possible because only RTOS is a complete application.

But depending on your choice of RTOS, there are three factors that can increase the chance of obtaining certification.

First, choose a good equipment certification records real-time operating system; the second is the size of the RTOS. Software certification costs and by proportional to the size of the code. A highly scalable and less operating system code is clearly beneficial to reduce costs. Third, to provide the source code of the operating system will streamline the certification process of the modify operation, and support for the final design is what code has ultimate control.

Performance