We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us
GLOBETECH PUBLISHING LLC

Download Mobile App




Rugged Touchpad Reduces Contamination in Medical Environments

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 21 May 2020
Print article
Image: A touchscreen built for healthcare can be used with gloves (Photo courtesy of Interlink Electronics)
Image: A touchscreen built for healthcare can be used with gloves (Photo courtesy of Interlink Electronics)
An easy-to-clean, glove-operable touchpad can help everyone from first responders to medical staff to average citizens help fight the spread of COVID-19.

The Interlink Electronics (Camarillo, CA, USA) VersaPad Plus resistive touchpad is intended for use in harsh environments, withstanding exposure to liquids, electromagnetic interference, and extreme temperatures, and can also be operated with gloved fingers. The touchpad uses Force Sensing Resistor (FSR) piezo-resistive technology to track user input, rather than the more common capacitive approach. While the latter depends on the conductivity of the human finger to operate, piezo-resistive touchpads only require physical pressure.

This is especially important in situations in which frontline workers need to attend to patients battling COVID-19 or other highly infectious conditions, as it allows personnel to wear gloves while using these devices, including cheap disposable latex gloves, which normally do not work with capacitive screens. Wearing gloves not only helps prevent the transmission of pathogens onto the devices' surfaces, but also protects the wearer from lingering infectious agents from previous users. And since it is also liquid resistant, it can be sprayed with cleaning agents, wiped down, and used again immediately.

The ultralow-power VersaPad Plus also has a large interactive surface area, which allows more precise control and easier utilization of two-finger gestures, as well as extra real estate to include auxiliary features, such as horizontal and vertical scroll zones and a right-click zone, using the native operating system's built-in mouse drivers. The touchpad also incorporates USB remote wake up via the touchpad or with an optional external button.

“The Covid-19 outbreak is unlike anything we have seen in generations and demands a response of the same magnitude,” said Steven Bronson, CEO and president of Interlink Electronics. “The VersaPad Plus builds on the innovation of our VersaPad portfolio, but with the specific needs of the healthcare community in mind. We will continue to work with our in-house engineering and product teams, as well as our technology partners, to drive FSR technology in applications and products where it matters most.”

“Interlink Electronics is increasing the production of medical-grade components to ensure that all of our manufacturing partners around the globe can build the devices that help the medical community conduct research, test and treat patients, record results, and communicate data globally,” said Albert Lu, PhD, chief technology officer of Interlink Electronics. "This equipment needs to be quickly and easily disinfected while at the same time able to withstand harsh environments.”

Related Links:
Interlink Electronics

Gold Member
Solid State Kv/Dose Multi-Sensor
AGMS-DM+
New
Brachytherapy Planning System
Oncentra Brachy
Radiology Software
MSK Radiology
New
Oncology Information System
RayCare

Print article

Channels

Ultrasound

view channel
Image: Structure of the proposed transparent ultrasound transducer and its optical transmittance (Photo courtesy of POSTECH)

Ultrasensitive Broadband Transparent Ultrasound Transducer Enhances Medical Diagnosis

The ultrasound-photoacoustic dual-modal imaging system combines molecular imaging contrast with ultrasound imaging. It can display molecular and structural details inside the body in real time without... Read more

Nuclear Medicine

view channel
Image: PET/CT of a 60-year-old male patient with clinical suspicion of lung cancer (Photo courtesy of EJNMMI Physics)

Early 30-Minute Dynamic FDG-PET Acquisition Could Halve Lung Scan Times

F-18 FDG-PET scans are a way to look inside the body using a special dye, and these scans can be either static or dynamic. Static scans happen 60 minutes after the dye is administered into the body, showing... Read more

Imaging IT

view channel
Image: The new Medical Imaging Suite makes healthcare imaging data more accessible, interoperable and useful (Photo courtesy of Google Cloud)

New Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite Makes Imaging Healthcare Data More Accessible

Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90% of all healthcare data1 and, until... Read more

Industry News

view channel
Image: The acquisition will expand IBA’s medical imaging quality assurance offering (Photo courtesy of Radcal)

IBA Acquires Radcal to Expand Medical Imaging Quality Assurance Offering

Ion Beam Applications S.A. (IBA, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium), the global leader in particle accelerator technology and a world-leading provider of dosimetry and quality assurance (QA) solutions, has entered... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.