Medical Design Briefs - April 2022 - 52

Quiet Gears Improve Patient Comfort and Imaging
Quality in Medical Equipment
The polymer gear
material reduces noise
and absorbs shock and
vibration.
Intech Power-Core
Closter, NJ
When patients have a medical exam
or procedure that involves x-ray
machines, mammography units, or
robotic surgery equipment,
the last
thing they want to hear is grinding gear
noise. Noisy or vibrating motion systems
are off-putting for patients and
can compromise their comfort during
an already stressful medical test. Not
only that, motion chatter in the drives
that move imaging equipment can also
produce fuzzy images that aren't suitable
for diagnostic purposes.
Medical machines and imaging
equipment require motion system components
that are smooth and quiet.
Thermoplastic gears can greatly reduce
noise and absorb shock and vibration
for critical applications such as mammography
units and robotic surgery
devices.
Power-Core™ gears, for example,
combine the company's proprietary
polymer gear material with a metal
core. The knurled shape of the metal
core ensures a molecular and mechanical
bond between metal and the
polyamide, allowing the transmission of
the full torque found on the keyway,
machined into the metal core. This
provides a unique balance of properties
that make them well suited to medical
equipment applications. The polyamide
gears have tension-free, homogeneously
crystalline structure, achieved through
a unique casting process. The shapes
are made from laurolactam resin that
come in a variety of sizes of rods,
tubes, rods with cast-in metal cores,
and plates.
In addition to absorbing shock and
vibration, compared to metals, these
gears reduce noise by up to 6 db, making
them an ideal for point-of-care
(POC) equipment. The polymer gears
are suitable for x-ray equipment, mammography
machines, and other imaging
systems. The gears eliminate mo -
52
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Power-Core™ gears, which combine a proprietary polymer gear material with a metal core, are well
suited for medical equipment.
Unlike metal gears, Power-Core™ gears don't require lubrication. The material also has a low coefficient
of friction, translating into higher torque transmission efficiency.
tion chatter, which can compromise
image quality in diagnostic tests. And,
because the gears use a stainless steel,
nonmagnetic core, they are a safe
option for magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) machines.
In one dental x-ray machine application,
engineers designed a gear that
improved the image quality. In addition
to providing precise control over the
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gear's mesh engagement and backlash,
the polymer gear eliminated vibration,
maintaining high image quality over
time. Because the gears successfully
eliminated fuzzy imaging due to
motion chatter, the dentists were able
to better diagnose and treat patients.
For motion system applications that
require rollers or cam followers, rollers
with polymer bearing surfaces offer a
Medical Design Briefs, April 2022

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Medical Design Briefs - April 2022

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