Improvements in safety features of power supplies for medical electronics continue

Manufacturers of power supplies in mainland China and Taiwan keep high product reliability and stability a priority to meet the safety imperative in this application.

Medical electronics have unique requirements for power supplies compared with the general standards applying to types for general purposes. There are detailed conditions on insulation, current leakage and voltage that have to be met for safety so enhanced reliability and stability are of primary importance.

Mainland China and Taiwan makers of such power supplies therefore ensure compliance with a high level of protection against EMI or RFI as defined by EN 55011 and IEC 61000. This includes 3kV ESD protection, 3V/m RF protection, 1kV transient withstand voltage, and 1 or 2kV surge withstand current. There are also variants that are according to IEC 60601-1. Products pass CE, T-Mark and UL certification as well.

Releases from Mean Well Enterprises Co. Ltd are based on IEC 60601-1 3rd version. The classification puts a premium on an overall means of protection from a combination of means of operator protection or MOOP and means of patient protection or MOPP. The power supplies boast MOPP or 2 x MOPP insulation and less than 50µA current leakage. The supplier likewise offers units with a water resistance rating of IPX7.

Fuhua Electronic Co. Ltd has introduced a model with a 2 x MOPP. The 36W-rated unit provides 9 to 36VDC and 0.01 to 4A output, with leakage current limited to less than 50µA. Besides IEC 60601-1 Edition 3.1 and CoC V5 Tier 2, it conforms to CB, CE, cUL and GS guidelines.

In addition, manufacturers are cashing in on the popularity of portable medical devices, which need small power supplies and those with replaceable plugs for compatibility with wall sockets in different countries. Eljintek Inc. has a selection with the latter feature, which is currently hot in this application. Its models follow IEC 60601-1-11 guidelines and are IP21 or IP22-rated.

There are about 100 companies in the mainland catering to the power supply needs of the medical, mobile electronics and communications industries. The first accounts for 20 to 50 percent of shipments, and the share could go higher by this year's end.

More than 60 percent of the pool is locally owned, with Fuhua, Mornsun, Hengfu and Shenzhen Moso among the major players. The rest with foreign investment includes Artesyn, TDK-Lambda, XP Power and Mean Well.

Guangdong province is the site of operations for over 40 percent of makers in the line, and most gather in the cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan. Many others are in Shanghai, and Hangzhou and Yueqing in the province of Zhejiang.

The category will attract more entrants in coming years to these locations, which have the infrastructure, skilled manpower and electronics industry chain.

Steady spur

The global medical equipment market is projected to hit $477.5 billion in 2020 at a CAGR of 4 percent from 2016 to 2020, according to EvaluateMedTech. Its counterpart in power supplies will experience the same trend, anticipated to reach $867 million by end-2017 from $642 million in 2012.

In the mainland, the application and power supply sectors are expected to sustain high growth in the next one or two years. The annual rate for the former was 23 percent from 2012, according to the Economic Information Daily, with total sales value of $50 billion in 2016.

The majority of mainland and Taiwan companies in the medical equipment power supply segment are confident of 10 to 20 percent sales increase this year and 2018 with climbing demand.

Fuhua, whose output for the application makes up 30 percent of aggregate shipments for the line, saw a 25 percent boost in volume last year.

Most mainland suppliers send products overseas, including Europe, North America and East Asia, and have noted rising deliveries to Russia and the Middle East. Export ratios are from 20 to 80 percent for many. Companies look forward to continue benefiting from higher shipments abroad until 2018.