PSMA website
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Table of contents
  1. APEC returns to traditional March Dates
  2. Remembering PSMA Executive Director Joe Horzepa
  3. Meet Your Directors
  4. About Our Members
  5. Welcome to PSMA
  6. EnerHarv 2024 in Perugia Italy
  7. PSMA Magnetics Committee and PELS TC2 High Frequency Magnetics Workshop
  8. The 11 th IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices & Applications November 4 – 6, 2024, Dayton, OH
  9. EMC Coexistence In Medical Environments and Power Supplies - Where Are We?
  10. Events of Interest – Mark Your Calendar
Contents | Next->

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.


Previous issues of update: Q3_2023 | Q4_2023 | Q1_2024


PSMA UPDATE is published and distributed via e-mail quarterly by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association. Send editorial information and comments to:

Editor, PSMA UPDATE
P.O. Box 418
Mendham, NJ 07945-0418

 

(973) 543-9660
E-mail: power@psma.com
Web Site: www.PSMA.com


Publisher: Fred Weber   Managing Editor: Kristin Colbert

Permission to reprint information and articles as published is granted: a courtesy line is appreciated.

Membership in PSMA is open to any organization or corporation involved in the power sources and supplies industry. For membership information, visit our website or contact us by fax, telephone or email.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

 

 


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APEC 2025 Returns to Traditional March Dates – Make Your Plans to Join Us in Atlanta for Our 40th Anniversary – March 16-20, 2025

A PEC 2024 in Long Beach broke all records for attendance but now we're back to work getting ready for another record-breaking year. So, now it's on to APEC 2025, March 16-20 at the Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart. Please note that this date is a week later than I earlier reported, so kindly mark your calendars.

The brand new website is going live and I recommend that you check (www.apec-conf.org) for information about the calls for Technical Session and Industry Session submissions as well as proposals for the Professional Education Seminars.

Technical Sessions
Prospective authors will be asked to submit a digest explaining the problem that will be addressed by the paper, the major results, and how this is different from the closest existing literature. Papers presented at APEC must be original material and not have been previously presented or published. The principal criteria in selecting digests will be the usefulness of the work to the practicing power electronic professional. Reviewers value evidence of completed experimental work.

Professional Education Seminars
Professional Education Seminars at APEC 2025 will address the need for in-depth discussion of important and complex power electronics topics. Seminars are three-and-a-half hours (including breaks) in length, can range from broad to narrow in scope, and can vary from introductory to advanced in technical level. Topics are to address the practical issues of the specification, design, manufacture and marketing of power electronic components, products, and systems.

Industry Sessions
The Industry Sessions run in parallel with the technical sessions and have proven to be very popular. Submissions are due by late August. Speakers are invited to make a presentation only without submitting a formal paper. The target audience for these sessions differs from the engineers in typical technical sessions and may include system engineers/architects and business-oriented people such as purchasing agents, information technologists, regulatory agencies, and other people who support the power electronics industry.

Make your plans to be part of APEC 2025. Be sure you have this important event on your calendar and in your budget for next year. And do your part to make it an even better conference by volunteering to be on the peer-review panel in areas where you are qualified. See you in Atlanta.

One final note: It is perhaps fitting that the dates for APEC 2025 have been moved to now include March 17th – St. Patrick's Day. Tony O'Gorman, who was to be APEC 2025 Genera Chairman, passed away suddenly on May 6th. Tony, we will miss your dedication and your wry Irish humor. We'll raise a glass to you and to St. Pat – slainte!

Provided by Greg Evans,
APEC 2025 Publicity Co-Chair

 

 


 


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Remembering Executive Director Joe Horzepa

P SMA is sad to report the passing of Executive Director Joe Horzepa on May 25th. Joe had been the Executive Director of PSMA for 30 years following a successful 35 year career at AT&T/Bell Laboratories. Under Joe's leadership PSMA went from an organization of around 60 members, all located in North America, to a truly international organization with over over 200 members located around the globe. In 1991 PSMA became a co-sponsor of APEC (Applied Power Electronics Conference) and introduced the popular Industry Sessions to expand upon the existing offerings of Technical and Educational Sessions. Joe was instrumental in this effort and in expanding PSMA's influence by sponsor or co-sponsor eight regular workshops, conferences and symposiums held around the world.

Joe believed in empowering people to help them reach their potential and he tried to form a personal bond with the members of the PSMA Board of Directors and Advisory Council. He believed the power and value of PSMA resides in the people who belong and engage in PSMA. Cian O'Mathuna, Advisory Council member and founder of PwrSoC, said to Joe "I just want to tell you again how much you have done for me – dragging me kicking and screaming to believe in myself and allowing me to stand on your giant shoulders and encourage me to develop and articulate the PwrSoC vision."

Earlier this year at the PSMA Annual Meeting held in conjunction with APEC 2024, former PSMA Chair Fred Weber introduced the Joe Horzepa Lifetime Service Award in his honor. This award is intended to honor PSMA members who have served PSMA for at least 10 years and displayed an outstanding dedication and commitment to the goals of PSMA and its members. Joe was very flattered to have this award created in his honor although, with his typical modesty, he felt it was not necessary to name the award after him. The first recipient of the award will be announced at APEC 2025 in Atlanta, GA.


Members of the PSMA community were quick to send in tributes when they heard the news of Joe entering hospice which were shared with him and his family. PSMA Chair Trifon Liakopoulos said "As I step into the role of leading PSMA, I am filled with immense gratitude for the path you have paved. Your vision, leadership, and dedication have been the foundation of everything we achieve today and will strive to accomplish in the future.


From the very beginning, you have been a guiding light for all of us. Your unwavering commitment to PSMA has not only built a successful organization but has also inspired countless individuals, myself included. I am deeply grateful for the opportunities I've had to learn from you and for the invaluable guidance you've provided.

I am humbled and honored to be Chair of the PSMA. The principles and standards you established will continue to guide us as we move forward. Your legacy of excellence, integrity, and compassion is embedded in every aspect of our work, and we are committed to honoring and building upon it."

Joe is survived by his wife of 61 years Judy, his three children, Mary Beth, John and Lisa and his grandson Michael. His impact on the power electronics industry and on PSMA specifically will be remembered by all who had the opportunity to meet him.


 


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Meet Your Directors

Four members of the Board of Directors are elected at the PSMA Annual Meeting held every year during the APEC conference. Each Director serves a three year term and is eligible to be reelected for one additional term. 

In this issue we would like to introduce you to Ajay Hari.

Ajay Hari is a senior director of applications engineering at onsemi where his group primarily works on SiC solutions for the automotive market. Ajay held leadership roles in systems and applications engineering at onsemi and National Semiconductor/TI defining Ac-Dc and isolated Dc-Dc PWM controllers and introduced many industry-first products compatible with Wide Bandgap devices. Ajay started his career at General Electric specializing in resonant power conversion.

Ajay has a Master of Science in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida and has authored many technical papers, articles, and holds over 20 patents in power electronics.


 


 


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  About Our Members 
About Our Members


 
Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Machines (APEEM) Research Group
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)


Sreekant Narumanchi
Group Manager
1607 Cole Blvd
Lakewood, CO 80401
303-275-4062
E-mail: sreekant.narumanchi@nrel.gov
Website: nrel.gov/transportation/peem.html

The Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Machines (APEEM) research group at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) develops world-class experimental and modeling capabilities for designing and evaluating efficient, reliable power electronics and electric machines thermal management systems. They also design, fabricate, and characterize advanced power electronics packaging, and are developing novel state-of-health monitoring techniques.

NREL's power electronics researchers deliver safe, reliable, high-performing, power-dense components that allow seamless integration between renewable energy sources, electric transportation, and the grid, helping to make widespread electric vehicle (EV) adoption and greenhouse gas emissions reduction more feasible.



 

 

Editors Note: We would like to feature your company in a future issue of the Update. Please contact the Association Office for information about how to submit an article for consideration.


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Welcome to PSMA
  
 
   We are pleased to welcome three new member companies this quarter. If your company is interested in becoming a member you can learn about the benefits of membership by visiting our website www.psma.com.
  
 
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Ducati Engineering SpA
Nicola Gallazzi
Via M. E. Lepido
Bologna, Emilia Romagna 40182
Italy
Telephone: +393-666-713-878
E-mail: n.gallazzi@ducatienergia.com
Website: https://www.ducatienergia.com/index.php?lang=en


Ducati Engineering SpA owns its fame to the Ducati brothers who established DUCATI company in 1926; 22 years later, DUCATI was split in two other companies, DUCATI Elettrotecnica and DUCATI Meccanica (today DUCATI Motor).

DUCATI Energia was founded in 1985 due to the merge of DUCATI Elettrotecnica and Zanussi Elettromeccanica and nowadays it's considered one of the most important company in the Bologna area.

DUCATI Energia Group assets a staff list of about 1250 employees working in its 9 worldwide plants. The main fields of activities are the following: capacitors, power factor correction and power electronics, wind power generators, alternators and ignition systems, electrical vehicles and charging stations, energy analysers, electric network tele-control systems, railway signalling systems, ticket issuing and transport automation systems.

 


KU Leuven
Wilmar Martinez
Kasteelpark Arenberg
10 bus 2445 B-3001
Leuven, Flanders 3001
Belgium
Telephone: +324-8789-8661
E-mail: wilmar.martinez@kuleuven.be
Website: https://www.kuleuven.be


KU Leuven is an international community where innovative research is the basis of all courses. Driven researchers and curious students constantly gain new insights and use their knowledge to address the challenges of our time.

Wilmar Martinez received his B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering and the M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 2011 and 2013, and the Ph.D. degree in Electronic Function and System Engineering from Shimane University, Japan in 2016. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Toyota Technological Institute, Japan in 2016, and at Aalto University, Finland in 2017. From 2018, he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT) at KU Leuven, Belgium.

His current research interests include multi objective optimization of power converters, evaluation of iron losses of magnetic materials, and study of SiC and GaN Switches for Electric Vehicles and Renewable Energy Systems.

 


Princeton University
Nena Golubovic
34 Chambers Street
Room 111
Princeton, NJ 08542
Telephone: 516-849-3969
E-mail: nena@princeton.edu
Website: https://kellercenter.princeton.edu


The Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education equips undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty with the knowledge, mentoring and resources needed to conceive and execute projects of personal and societal impact.

Keller does so by offering educational opportunities that bridge engineering and the liberal arts and help shape rewarding career paths. This includes curricular and co-curricular programs organized around design, design thinking, entrepreneurship and innovative teaching, at the intersection of technology and society.

The Keller Center is based in Princeton University's School of Engineering and Applied Science and shares the school's vision for bridging disciplines to ensure that all students are prepared to put science and technology to use in solving critical societal challenges. The Keller Center thus serves as a hub, connecting students, in engineering, the humanities, arts, social sciences and natural sciences with each other, as well as connecting them with the broader campus community and beyond.


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EnerHarv 2024 in Perugia Italy

Technical program completed!

EnerHarv 2024 will bring together experts from around the world, in its third installment of working on all technical areas relevant to energy harvesting, power management and its IoT applications (www.EnerHarv.com). This non-profit workshop, organized and sponsored by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA, www.psma.com/), will be held at Hotel Giò Congress Center in majestic city of Perugia, Italy from June 26 to 28. The event shall be hosted by the Noise in Physical Systems (NiPS Lab), Dept. of Physics & Geology, University of Perugia (UNIPG, www.unipg.it/en/).


ENERHARV WORKSHOP FOR EXPERTS AND USERS OF ENERGY HARVESTING AND RELATED TECHNOLOGIES

TOPICS
   • ENERGY HARVESTING MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY
   • ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS
   • INNOVATIVE PHOTOVOLTAICS
   • LOW POWER SENSORS AND CIRCUITS
   • IOT APPLICATIONS
   • INTEGRATED SYSTEMS
   • MICRO POWER ELECTRONICS
   • PANEL DISCUSSIONS ON FUTURE PERSPECTIVES ON ENERGY HARVESTING AND IOT ECOSYSTEM

It will be comprised of presentations (invite only), demos, posters, panel sessions and generous amounts of time for networking activities. NEW IN 2024: dedicated booklet (with professional reference, DOI, ISBN, etc.) of proceedings for optional opportunity to include supporting materials optional to those presented live at the workshop.

Keynotes Speakers
Prof. Luca Gammaitoni (Italy)
University of Perugia
Dr. Daniela Iacopino (Ireland)
Tyndall Institute
Joshua Wright (USA)
Ambient Photonics

The event will be held jointly with the NiPS Summer School "Frontiers in Energy Harvesting", taking place from
June 24 to 25 (www.nipslab.org/nips-summer-school-2024) in Perugia at Hotel Giò. This is a fantastic opportunity for early-stage researchers and professionals to connect with the future of energy solutions.

General
Chairs
Roberto La Rosa, PhD
Ultra-low Power Applications Team Manager STMicroelectronics
roberto.larosa@st.com
Mike Hayes
Head of Group, ICT for Energy Efficiency
Tyndall National Institute
michael.hayes@tyndall.ie
Technical
Chairs
Francesco Cottone
Associate Professor
University of Perugia
francesco.cottone@unipg.it
Brian Zahnstecher
Principal
PowerRox
bz@powerrox.com





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PSMA Magnetics Committee and PELS TC2 High Frequency Magnetics Workshop


Power Magnetics @ High Frequency
Saturday March 15 2025
Prior to APEC 2025
Georgia World Congress Center
Atlanta, GA 30313

T he PSMA Magnetics Committee and IEEE PELS is currently planning to conduct the tenth Power Magnetics at High Frequency Workshop on Saturday, March 15, 2025, which is the day before and at the same venue as APEC 2025 in Atlanta, GA. The 2025 workshop builds on the ongoing dialogue of the workshop series over the first nine workshops.

The purpose and focus of this workshop are to identify the latest improvements in magnetic materials, coil (winding) design, construction and fabrication, evaluation and characterization techniques and modelling and simulation tools. This is to target the advancements deemed necessary by the participants for power magnetics to meet the technical expectations and requirements of new market applications for higher operating frequencies and emerging topologies that are driven by continuous advances in circuits topologies and semi-conductor devices.

The target audiences for the 2025 Power Magnetics @ High Frequency workshop include the designers of power magnetic components for use in electronic power converters responsible to implement the most technologically advanced power magnetic components that are necessary to achieve higher power densities, specific physical aspect ratios such as low profile, higher power efficiencies and improved thermal performance. The target audiences also include people involved in the supply chain for the power magnetics industry ranging from manufacturers of magnetic materials and magnetic structures, fabricators of magnetic components, providers of modelling and simulation software as well as manufacturers of test and characterization equipment.

The theme of the 2025 Power Magnetics @ High Frequency workshop will be integrated magnetics. The workshop will address various aspects of integration for both lateral and vertical power delivery. The various levels of integration from integrating magnetic components with silicon in packaged devices, embedding magnetics in substrates and fabricating magnetics as part of the semiconductor wafer process are planned topics. The workshop will also cover integration of magnetic functions for new circuit topologies including coupled inductors, LLC and TLVR. As with past workshops, the morning and afternoon sessions will open with keynote presentations that cover a wider range of topics and issues followed by lecture presentations on specific application areas or technical issues. In addition to the brief Q&A period after each individual lecture presentation there will be a panel of the presenters at the end of the session who will address topics requiring more detail as deemed by the workshop attendees.

During lunch, breakfast, and the networking hour at the end of the workshop there will be an interactive session of tabletop technology demonstrations each addressing specific technical disciplines and capabilities consistent with the workshop agenda. Each technology demonstration station will include a ten-minute presentation at fifteen-minute intervals. Interaction between the attendees and the presenters is highly encouraged during this portion of the agenda as a segue from the opening keynote presentation and the technical issues session.

If anyone would like to participate as a presenter for the technical demonstration session, please contact the organizing committee through PSMA via e-mail to power@psma.com with a description of your proposed technical capabilities topic. We are limited to ten technology demonstration sessions.

The specifics for the workshop structure and the presentations for the workshop are currently in progress and are not finalized. If anyone is interested in presenting on the impact of magnetic core geometry, physical dimensions, manufacturability, reliability and safety agency requirements on magnetic component design, characteristics, and parameters, please contact the organizing committee through PSMA via e-mail to power@psma.com.

More details regarding the agenda for the workshop as well as registration for the workshop will become available on the PSMA website (www.psma.com/technical-forums/magnetics/workshop) over the coming months.

The 2024 Power Magnetics at High frequency Workshop was held on Saturday February 24 in Long Beach California. The 2024 workshop marked the return of the workshop to location of the inaugural workshop in 2016.

The morning technical lecture session focused on opportunities for new magnetic designs for emerging applications. The morning session consisted of presentations by Johan Kolar and Jannik Schafer of ETH Zentrum, Jonas Muehlethaler of Frenetic, Qiang Li of CPES, Lukas Mueller of Micrometals and David Zawacki of Cornell Dubilier.

The afternoon technical lecture session addressed special design issues such as thermal, dielectric and insulation design for different applications. The afternoon session consisted of presentations by Charles Sullivan of Dartmouth, Roman Jamy of Yageo, Zhicheng Guo of Arizona State University and Subhashish Bhattacharya of North Carolina University.

Student poster presentations by Adhistira Naradhipa of CPES, Daifei Zhang of ETHZ, Shubham Rawat of North Carolina State University and Shubham Dhiman of North Carolina State University, Hoaran Li of Princeton and Shukai Wang of Princeton were available during the breakfast and lunch sessions.

Technology demonstrations by JC Sun of Bs&T, Bharadwaj Reddy Andapally of CBMM, Mike Arasim of Fair Rite, Arturo Mediano of HF Magic Labs, Ryu Nagahama of Iwatsu, Lukas Mueller of Micrometals, Chuck Wild of Miles Platt, Andrija Stupar of Simplis Technologies, Slobodan Cuk of Teslaco, Juris Vencels of Trafolo and Jon Izuke Rodriguez of Wurth Elektronik were available during the breakfast and lunch sessions. The technical program closed with a summary overview "Best of the Best" challenging the magnetics industry to continue its history of innovations and quality improvements to address new markets by Alex Gerfer of Wurth Elektronik.

The dynamics of the 2024 workshop provides the enthusiasm and momentum for a successful 2025 workshop.



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The 11th IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices & Applications November 4 – 6, 2024, Dayton, OH

T he Eleventh IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA 2024) is a premier technical conference focusing on the latest developments in wide bandgap (WBG), and Ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor technology. Hosted annually, WiPDA brings together experts from industry and academia to explore advancements, share insights, and discuss the future of WBG power devices and applications. WiPDA helps to bridge the gap between academia and industry, fostering collaboration, innovation, and advancements in the field of power electronics.

The workshop will take place from November 4th to 6th, 2024 at the Marriott at the University of Dayton in Dayton, OH.

WiPDA is brought to you by the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), the Power Supply Manufacturer's Association (PSMA), and the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS) and will feature a wide range of technical sessions, keynote speeches, tutorials, and poster presentations. The technical sessions will cover various topics, including the latest developments in wide bandgap materials, device structures, packaging, and thermal management.

The keynote speeches will be delivered by leading experts in the field of wide bandgap power devices, providing valuable insights into the latest advancements and future trends. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in lively discussions with the speakers and other attendees, exchanging ideas and gaining new perspectives on the latest research and developments.

Conference Highlights

  • Tutorial Sessions: One day training opportunities on a wide range of topics with invited world-renowned experts from devices to applications.
  • Technical Sessions: Engage with experts in the field through a series of technical sessions covering a wide range of topics related to WBG power devices and applications.
  • Poster Sessions: Explore cutting-edge research and network with researchers and industry professionals during the poster sessions.
  • Exhibitor Showcase: Discover the latest products and technologies in the exhibitor showcase, featuring leading companies in the power electronics industry.
  • Networking Opportunities: Connect with peers, researchers, and industry leaders during networking breaks and social events.
  • Women in Engineering Event: The IEEE PELS Women in Engineering (WiE) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) Committee is hosting a WiE Breakfast Event on November 5th and offering a travel reimbursement program, reimbursing up to $750 of conference-related travel expenses.
  • Social Event: Join us for an evening at the Heritage Center of Manufacturing & Entrepreneurship. Explore the many exhibits that focus on the rich technology of Dayton including: the Carousel of Dayton Innovation; the collection of antique NCR cash registers; a 4-D animatronic theatre; and the original Deeds Barn where Charles Kettering and the Barn Gang built the first automobile self-starter, transforming the automobile industry.

Sponsorship Opportunities

WiPDA offers various sponsorship levels to suit your organization's needs. From exclusive sponsorships to branding opportunities, showcase your company's commitment to advancing power electronics technology. For more information contact renee.yawger@epc-co.com

The organizing committee is excited to provide our sponsors and valued audience members with an opportunity to learn from leading experts, network with peers, and stay up-to-date with the latest developments in wide bandgap power devices and their applications.

We look forward to seeing everyone in Dayton!

Please subscribe to our mailing list to stay informed of the latest news and receive deadline reminders for WiPDA 2024. Also, join the conversation with the WiPDA group on LinkedIn.

Provided by Renee Yawger
WiPDA 2024 Publicity Chair

 

 


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EMC coexistence in medical environments and power supplies – where are we?

Introduction
From gadget to vital, Connected Devices and Internet of Things (IoT) are everywhere, and we see them gradually filtering through, changing our lives in many ways. The exponential development of small to large products embedding radio-transmitters is driving forwards, albeit not without some concern in terms of interference and equipment disturbance, especially in the case of medical applications where the consequences could be severe!

With the plethora of products transmitting radio signals it becomes very difficult and complex for medical equipment manufacturers to ensure that their equipment is secure when using either published international standards or proprietary protocols of which many are operating at unlicensed frequencies in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) or MICS (Medical Implant Communication Service) bands to properly operate without interfering in, or being interfered with by other equipment. Consequently, in ensuring wireless coexistence in medicals applications, regulatory bodies the world over have focused their efforts to standardize protocols and processes that require power supplies manufacturers to include "Wireless Coexistence" testing and verification when designing power sources for medical equipment.

When the "unpredictable" could happen!
As the world would literally stop without reliable power, thankfully the power industry has a long history in building robust power systems. Industry is perpetually innovating new technologies, improving energy efficiency, reliability and safety throughout. With the rapid development of multiple Connected Devices in medical applications, some of them may be powered by harvesting energy, making them very sensitive to radio interference whilst others might even get their power from radio waves. The subject of power supplies' coexistence with radio signals needs to be considered differently from previous efforts and experiences, and this is especially so with medical equipment that is installed outside professional healthcare-controlled environments, such as in the home.

As the number of Connected Devices and radio transmissions within medical environments has increased, the number of cases of medical equipment reporting false alarms, random failures or malfunctioning, has grown significantly, warning the medical community about the coexistence of multiple radio transmitting equipments that patients' lives might depend upon.

In many cases of reported faults it was very difficult to pinpoint the exact cause, until in-depth investigations revealed radio interferences were the root cause of the problem. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) records malfunctions in a central database called "MAUDE", which includes a growing number of EMC problems. Amongst many such cases we have selected one example that clearly illustrates the complexity of identifying the root cause of electro-magnetic interferences (EMI), especially when not in a controlled environment such as in the case of home healthcare.

When welding turns alarm ON
A patient with respiratory and heart problems was connected to a very advanced ventilator at home, coupled to a wireless cardio-monitoring unit. The patient's health was being monitored from a remote healthcare center, which received a series of alarms. After calling the patient, who fortunately was doing very well, all alarms were classified as false, motivating the replacement of the monitoring units. Despite replacing the system, randomly it was still signaling warnings! Equipment manufacturers conducted thorough analysis without finding either hardware or software issues. By coincidence a nurse visiting the patient noticed a strange noise coming from the radio and at the same time the monitoring alarm came on. Further investigations identified that a nearby industrial company was using high energy welding equipment that had, after a maintenance, a default shielding. Radiating radio waves were interacting with the control loop of sensors, trigging alarms. This example is probably anecdotal but reflects the complexity of the coexistence of vital medical equipment and radio interference.

With the multiplication of the incidents, in the case of homecare but also in hospitals it is obvious that thorough procedures guaranteeing Electromagnetic Compatibility and immunity to Radio Interference is a must, motivating the medical industry and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to rethink Electromagnetic Interference within the medical arena, ensuring that everything works smoothly and safely.

IEC 60601-1 and IEC 60601-1-2
To guarantee the highest level of safety, the medical industry follows several international standards. For Medical Electrical Equipment (MEE), in 1977 the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) developed and published 60601-1 that specifies safety and performance requirements for MEE and is widely recognized as the benchmark for medical device safety. As the number and variety of applications in the medical industry has grown throughout the years, the general standard was complemented with collateral standards, and particular ones have been through several editions (Figure 01).


Figure 01 – IEC 60601-1 standard structure with collateral and particular to applications (Source: PRBX)

In the case of Electromagnetic Compatibility and Immunity to Radio Interference, the collateral standard that applies is IEC 60601-1-2, addressing how medical devices should resist and limit their own electromagnetic emissions to ensure device safety and performance. The fourth edition of this standard was published 10 years ago in 2014 but taking into consideration the growing number of Connected Devices, new operational radio frequency bands, and the risk of interference between the different pieces of medical equipment, the IEC subcommittee 62 (SC-62) considered the importance of amending the collateral before the next major revision (Edition-5), instead amending edition 4 with important updates. The amendment was ratified and published in 2020. After a transitional period, the latest edition of IEC 60601-1-2:2014 Amendment 1:2020 (referenced as Edition 4.1), reached the date of application, and regional standards organizations to state the withdrawal (DOW) point e.g., in Europe the DOW date for the EN 60601-1-2:2015/A1:2021 is set for 2024-March-19.

Without going too deep into the latest edition, at a glance in comparison to Edition-4, Edition-4.1 addresses a number of items but considering the example we presented in the introduction, we could list four major areas as the core of the amendment: (1) Testing at both minimum and maximum input voltage levels at any one frequency for conducted emissions, voltage dips, and short interruptions; (2) Required power frequency magnetic field at either 50 or 60 Hz as long as the frequency is the same as what is used to power the medical equipment or medical system ; (3) Conducted Immunity I/O cables less than 1 meter are required for all patient cables and (4) A new test specification for Enclosure Port Immunity to Proximity Magnetic Fields has been added under Table 11 of the medical standard – using IEC 61000-4-39 test and measurement techniques that requires Magnetic field testing in three spot frequencies (30KHz, 134.2KHz, and 13.56MHz) (Figure 02).


Figure 02 - Magnetic field testing in three spot frequencies added to the IEC 60601-1-2 Edition 4.1 (Source PRBX/IEC)

Something interesting and worth mentioning is that this new table is a compromise between the FDA requirement for medical equipments such as In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) which they used to request those products to meet the AIM 7351731 RFID immunity testing at eight different conditions from 134.2 kHz to 2.45 GHz. Regarding IVD and implanted equipment, it is important to know that the IEC 60601-1-2 does not apply to implants (implants have their own standards, e.g., ISO 14117), but it does apply to accessories that monitor or control an implant from outside the body.

When designing a power supply for medical equipment, because not all tests are applied for all products, it is important to consider all aspects of the IEC 60601-1-2 (or regional version) and all applicable EMC tests for each type of medical device/system and their power supplies. The standard requires some tests for specific products and immunity levels depending on building practices, the type of magnetics, and switching frequency. In the test plan and report the manufacturer must specify and document any areas exposed to external interference and to take into consideration the final application and environmental aspects.

As IEC 60601-1-2 Edition 4.1 becomes the norm, the technical committee is already working on the future and to take into consideration new constraints and requirements for electromagnetic compatibility. More immunity tests might be added from the AIM 7351731 to cover sensitive equipments such as Magnetic Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

A bit of fun designing power supplies for high EMC compliance
Taking into consideration that EMC is very important when supplying power to medical applications, power supply manufacturers have developed new technologies to reduce EMI by using new switching topologies and advanced shielding. Yet in some extreme applications such as MRI, conventional technologies are not enough.

The Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system employs an extreme static magnetic field (B0), magnetic field gradients (B1), and the fast evolution of radio frequency pulses (RF Field) (Figure 03). The MRI system is very sensitive to electromagnetic noise and to the presence of magnetic or conductive materials that can cause image deterioration from which could result artifacts, with the risk of faults in the diagnostic. To avoid interference the best practice in powering MRI is to avoid alternative voltage/current (AC) and to only use continuous voltage/current (DC) even for lighting. Master power supplies are traditionally positioned outside the shielded operation room, and the DC voltage is distributed to the electronic equipment via shielded cables, but some MRI equipments require the power supply to be installed within the machine and exposed to very high magnetic field in a range of 3 to 5 Tesla, without interfering with sensitive equipments.


Figure 03 - Simplified representation of an MRI equipment and the different fields
contributing to create the final image (Source: PRBX/Shutterstock/Pattarawit)

Because conventional magnetic cores saturate when exposed to the B0 field energy, having no ferromagnetic core material, air-core inductors should be considered. One downside of air-cored inductors is their low inductance values, which can be compensated for by designing a multi air-cored power stage operating in parallel. Controlling multi-parallel air-cored power supplies requires implementation of the latest digital control technology that offers a high degree of flexibility in how the different power channels operate. Digital control allows designers to adapt the profile of the power supply to specific conditions. Figure 04 is an example of an advanced air-core power supply, the PRBX GB350. To accommodate the specific MRI, B0, B1 and RF specifications that it has been designed for, the power supply has a fundamental switching frequency of 600kHz. With such a switching frequency and its four phases configured in interleave mode, the unit has a resultant output frequency of 2.4MHz. This allows easier filtering, extremely fast regulation response times, and coherence with the MRI equipment radio compatibility.


Figure 04 - Triple outputs, multi-phases, PRBX coreless
power supply sustaining B0 field (Source PRBX)

As mentioned earlier, the IEC 60601 standard is composed of collaterals and specific standards, and MRI basic safety and performance is covered by IEC 60601-2-33. This document mainly focuses on the patient and operator safety but it also provides information on the "Special Environment" specifications in IEC 60601-1-2 and how the special environment is implemented, including information on how integrity should be maintained during operation. Power supplies operating in MRI environments must be tested according to IEC 60601-1-2, but equipment manufacturers may require in-situ qualification prior to final validation and extra immunity tests specific to their environment.

Conclusion
Technologies presented at recent events; Medica, Embedded World and Mobile World congress confirm that society has entered the age of interconnected devices, and the medical industry is rapidly modernizing to improve patients' comfort and wellbeing. The consequences of this is the risk of multiplication of radio interference, and that is why the IEC committee is collecting feedback in preparation for the next revision of the IEC 60601-1 and collateral standards. Until then power designers are working closely with the medical industry to - even as I write - deliver robust power solutions able to be used safely in complex environments.

About The Author

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Powerbox, Patrick Le Fèvre is an experienced, senior marketer and degree-qualified engineer with a 40-year track record of success in power electronics. He has pioneered the marketing of new technologies such as digital power and technical initiatives to reduce energy consumption. Le Fèvre has written and presented numerous white papers and articles at the world's leading international power electronics conferences. These have been published over 450 times in media throughout the world. He is also involved in several environmental forums, sharing his expertise and knowledge of clean energy.


 


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