News

Analog Devices, Inc. has announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance and the commercial launch of the Sensinel™ Cardiopulmonary Management (CPM) System. The compact wearable device is a non-invasive, remote management system that captures cardiopulmonary measurements for chronic disease management such as heart failure. It is the first FDA clearance the company has received in its 59-year history.

“Since our founding, ADI has focused on accelerating breakthroughs that enrich lives through innovative products,” said Patrick O’Doherty, Senior Vice President of Digital Healthcare at ADI. “By combining our wearable vital signs sensing and signal processing technology with cardiologist-inspired algorithms to precisely determine a congestive heart failure patient’s daily state of health, we developed the Sensinel CPM System. This innovative service-based product has the potential to open up several billion dollars of green-field market opportunity for ADI while improving patient care, streamlining clinician workflows, and reducing healthcare cost.”

More than 6 million Americans are living with heart failure today, and this number is estimated to rise to nearly 8 million by 2030.¹ Heart failure currently costs Americans approximately $30 billion each year, and this is expected to rise to almost $70 billion by 2030.¹ Approximately 80% of those costs are due to hospitalisation.¹ Other prior solutions measuring similar parameters have shown the ability to reduce hospital admissions. However, oftentimes these solutions are either invasive and/or do not provide sensitive and specific enough data to make a meaningful clinical impact. This data is critical to allow the care team to predict an event early enough in advance to potentially avoid a costly hospitalisation for the patient.

The Sensinel CPM System is the next-generation solution for management of cardiopulmonary diseases like heart failure. It is equipped with a set of physiological indicators to help care teams better manage chronic conditions early and remotely, as well as in a precise manner. Patients self-apply ADI’s Sensinel CPM Wearable which they only wear for three to five minutes in a home care setting.

The device then captures data about their cardiopulmonary health. This data is automatically uploaded to ADI’s Sensinel CPM Cloud Platform using a cellular link (without the need for a patient-supplied Internet connection) and is then further analysed using ADI’s Sensinel CPM Intelligent Algorithms in the cloud.

“Early detection of physiological changes is critical for clinicians to prevent a heart failure hospitalisation,” said Dr. Sean Pinney, Chief of Cardiology at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York City. “ADI’s Sensinel CPM System is a highly accurate, reproducible, and reliable solution to help improve predictive care.”

“When managing chronic conditions like heart failure, it is critical to adjust treatment early to get the condition under control without the need for hospitalisation. Other existing non-invasive solutions are not specific enough to provide the data a clinician needs to be effective for early intervention,” said Dr. Venu Gopinathan, ADI Fellow and Managing Director of Medical Products at ADI. “Our new cardiopulmonary system is designed to fit seamlessly into the workflow of care and perform a variety of physiological measurements that allow care teams to make early clinical decisions, without subjecting them to information overload.”

ADI’s Sensinel CPM System is now commercially available. For more information, visit https://sensinel.analog.com.

Danisense, the leader in high-accuracy current sense transducers for demanding applications, has officially opened the new 800 square meter extension of its headquarters in Taastrup, Denmark. This now gives Danisense a lot more office space (20+ new desks / workstations plus two new meeting rooms), a new production facility plus a 15x increase of storage space in the new high storage. 106 solar panels on the roof make the new building very energy efficient and environmentally friendly and four EV charging points in the car park allow employees to conveniently charge their EVs while at work.

The existing headquarters building has also been renovated. New improved insulation and new outdoor blinds make it more energy efficient. The parking area has been extended and the entrance area, the canteen plus the meeting rooms have all received a complete new look and feel. Furthermore an automatic fire alarm system that directly notifies the local fire department in case of a fire has been installed in both buildings.

 Comments Loic Moreau, Sales & Marketing Director at Danisense: “The extension of our headquarters now gives us much needed additional space for our growing workforce as well as our production and storage facilities.” Moreau continues: “Already over the last couple of months we have added several new members of staff to our Engineering and R&D teams and we are very much looking forward to extending our product range in the very near future and to the future growth of Danisense.” 

Learn more about Danisense here.

Earlier this month, a recycling center in Hitchin announced it would no longer be accepting goods containing lithium-ion batteries after a devastating fire broke out in an on-site storage area.

The fire began in a storage space for domestic appliances, with the company which runs the facility blaming the blaze on a lithium-ion battery, which are commonly found in vacuum cleaners and other household devices.

The move follows similar efforts to curtail the use of lithium-ion battery powered goods nationwide, with Bournemouth University recently announcing a ban on the charging of e-bikes and scooters indoors over the fears surrounding the combustibility of the batteries.

But are these bans justified? Neil Harper is the UK sales manager for leading storage solutions specialist ZARGES, which offers a range of specialist cases designed to facilitate the safe transportation and storage of lithium-ion batteries.

Rather than announcing outright bans on the handling of lithium-ion batteries, Neil instead believes recycling centres could give more thought as to how they store goods that contain these batteries.

“It’s no secret that lithium-ion batteries are an increasingly common facet of our everyday lives, powering everything from power tools to cars. And while they provide a cleaner and more energy efficient means of powering goods or machinery, they can also pose a significant fire risk if they are damaged or stored incorrectly.

“In environments where they are situated near other flammable products, such as in storage spaces at recycling facilities, it is absolutely imperative that they are housed safely anywhere when they are faulty.

“The safest thing a waste management specialist can do is ensure that the damaged or defective battery is held in a UN approved case. Typically, these will contain chemically inert materials designed to contain a fire within the case before it can spread, should one break out.”

One such solution is ZARGES’S K470 storage box, which is compliant to UN 3480 and class 9 and is available in 25 standard sizes, offering a standard capacity range from 13 – 829 litres. The cases are also available with a choice of flame-retardant foam or protective cushioning, designed specifically for the transportation and protection of lithium-ion batteries.

Stringently tested to ensure maximum safety, the ZARGES K470 Battery Safe version has been designed to eliminate the risk of explosion and the spread of flames in accordance with ADR P908 and SV 376, making it one of the most popular case solutions available on the market.

Neil continues: “The fire at the recycling plant in Hitchin shows us just how dangerous lithium-ion batteries can be. With the market for lithium-ion batteries set to grow by 30% across the next six years, goods powered by them will be an increasingly standard fixture in recycling centers nationwide. An outright ban on the handling of such products is, clearly, unsustainable long term, so waste management companies should ensure they are investing in compliant storage solutions now, to help them meet anticipated demand without compromising on safety.” 

To find out more about the ZARGES K470 cases or for more information on the full range of products and services offered by ZARGES, please visit: https://www.zarges.com/uk/products/k-470-universal-container

Farnell has announced that it has added the full range of precision signal chains from Analog Devices, inc. (ADI), to help users create the optimum end-solution for multiple applications. From sensors to bits, customers can find and tailor solutions that are optimised for demanding applications. The signal chains are available to order directly from the Farnell website.

Jose Lok, Product Category Director, Semiconductors from Farnell, said, “Farnell is positioned to enable developers to integrate ADI technology into their designs, which greatly accelerates time to market. Development engineers can use ADI’s high-precision signal chains to optimise their solutions for demanding electrification, automotive, digital health, instrumentation, smart industry, energy and sustainability applications.”

Precision signal chains now available from Farnell include:

1. Precision Current Sensing: These signal chains can be used to tackle challenging current measurement tasks in applications.
2. Precision High Voltage: ADI’s precision high voltage signal chains combine precision high voltage amplifiers, high voltage digital-to-analogue converters (DACs), difference amplifiers and matched resistor networks.
3. Isolated Gate Drive and Sense: These sense signal chains combine robust switch control and scalable multichannel monitoring into a flexible solution covering a range of AC/DC and DC/AC applications.
4. Precision Low Power: ADI’s precision low power signal chains are designed and optimised for small-size battery-powered or power sensitive applications.
5. Precision Narrow Bandwidth: ADI offers precision narrow bandwidth signal chains that focus on optimising the performance of systems where the signals of interest are in the range of DC to approximately 10 kHz.
6. Precision Medium Bandwidth: Precision medium bandwidth signal chains cover a large range of applications that demand accuracy across signal bandwidths from DC to 500 kHz, with sampling rates up to 4 MSPS.
7. Precision Wide Bandwidth: The precision wide bandwidth signal chains bring the insight and flexibility needed to optimise application specific parameters for measurement and drive solutions.

Sabine Colen, Director, Global ecommerce Channel from Analog Devices adds, “The benefits from ADI’s precision technology signal chains stem from the fact that these signal chains come complete with customisable solutions, purpose-developed knowledge bases that have been developed from more than 50 years of experience and expertise.”

Precision technology signal chains are now available from Farnell in EMEA, Newark in North America and element14 in APAC.

Ankush Malhotra, President of Fluke Reliability, has welcomed the £360 million pound funding package to boost innovation in UK manufacturing announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt as part of his Spring Budget.

Addressing the updates from the UK Spring Budget, he said “New technologies like artificial intelligence can help businesses save money and make informed decisions about capital expenditure by providing better information about the condition of their existing assets.

Manufacturing has been overshadowed by other highly polarising topics in the run up to this Budget, but we mustn’t forget that sectors like life sciences, automotive and aerospace which are the focus of this investment will play a key part in reviving the UK economy.

At a time of economic uncertainty, when businesses are understandably cautious about investing in new equipment, it’s good to see the emergence of a strategy that builds on commitments set out in the Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan.

Extending the Made Smarter Adoption programme, which supports SMEs who are using advanced digital technologies, alongside the new Industry Innovation Accelerator will help companies identify how they can speed up the use of transformative technologies like artificial intelligence.

An important part of this digital transition is that it makes it easier for businesses to take a more joined-up approach to maintaining their existing assets. By thinking in terms of connected reliability, they can bring hardware, services and software from across the enterprise together into a single maintenance ecosystem.

Using predictive technologies like artificial intelligence to analyse data not only helps to avoid breakdowns that can cause costly disruption to operations, it also provides the basis for better informed planning of where investment in new equipment will be required. This means the £520 million allocated to support life sciences manufacturing can go that much further for enterprises, with the visibility of those at the top.

Although some adoption of artificial intelligence is being driven in part by a shortage of skilled labour, these tools work best when they are incorporated in workflows alongside human experts.

We need to invest in emerging talent and reinforce the manufacturing industry as a valuable and attractive market to work in – experimenting with new technology is one way to do this. But it’s also good to see that the Budget included investment in apprenticeships that will help to foster and grow younger talent to help fill the roles of the future.”

Fluke Networks, a worldwide leader in certification, troubleshooting and installation tools for professionals who install and maintain critical network cabling infrastructure, has launched a new digital pocket guide for cloud-based certification project management.

The guide identifies key pain points based on industry research and provides best practice tips to enable network cabling installers, network engineers and technicians in the Enterprise to resolve critical issues faster while improving the efficiency of managing network certification tasks.

Fluke Networks seeks to support professionals installing network cabling – whether in Smart Buildings, on the factory floor or in sophisticated data centres – to optimise their workflows by unlocking the full potential of the LinkWare™ Live Cloud-Based Certification Project Management Service.

Research-based guidance  

A recent survey of cabling installers, conducted by Fluke Networks, uncovered the most common problems associated with installing network projects, including how many working hours per 1000 links installed are wasted troubleshooting and problem solving.

The survey findings revealed that installers were wasting more than four hours per 1000 links installed due to testing the wrong copper limit. The accurate setup of testing equipment, difficulties with correctly labelling cable IDs and the time required to consolidate data from multiple testers to produce a single project certification report, were also cited as key challenges.

By providing best practice advice, Fluke Network’s digital pocket guide is designed to help network professionals enhance their performance by leveraging the fact that the measurement data as well as tester setups can be regularly synchronized between the Cloud and the testers in the field. This allows accurate project management from any location, prevents tester setup errors and avoids data loss as well. The best practice recommendations include:

• Uploading results to the cloud multiple times a day
• Setting up the tester remotely with a project manager
• Regular project management checks
• ‘Right first time’ label printing
• Reporting management
• Developing a comprehensive asset management programme

Integrated hardware and software solutions

The digital pocket guide features valuable information about Fluke Networks’ market leading Versiv™ modular cabling certification platform, which integrates seamlessly with LinkWare Live to provide a complete solution for certifying installed cabling. Key benefits include faster reporting and generation of certificates, visibility of every project from any smart device, and the flexibility to share results easily with customers or vendors.

Robert Luijten, Test and Measurement Instrumentation Expert at Fluke Networks, says the adoption of cloud-based certification techniques is critical for networking professionals seeking to optimise their workflow and increase profitability.

“Our best practice tips are indispensable and will enable readers to unlock the full potential of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) using Fluke Networks market leading Versiv cabling certification product family and LinkWare Live software solution,” he said.

“Free to download and easy to use, the digital pocket guide addresses all the major pain points associated with network cable certification – it’s a fundamental addition to the toolbox of every cabling professional.”

Exclusive savings on copper and fibre testers

Fluke Networks is offering major discounts on some of the best-selling copper and fibre testers for a limited time. Customers can save up to 28% on selected products from the Versiv range, including the DSX CableAnalyzer™ cable testers, CertiFiber™ Pro and the OptiFiber™ Pro range of optical time-domain reflectometers (OTDRs). All products sold in the promotion include a year of Fluke Premium Care – Gold support.

To download the LinkWare Live Best Practices Digital Pocket Guide, go to: https://rb.gy/xu6ejw.

Process heating is vital in hydrocarbon processing. While conventional methods involve burning fossil fuels, an increasing number of plants are transitioning to electric process heaters. One of the key advantages of this shift is the capability to achieve highly precise control over both the heating element surface temperature and the power consumption of the system. This level of control now extends to predictive control, made achievable through actionable insights derived from data. In this article, Chelsea Hogard, engineering team leader at thermal systems provider Watlow, explores the role that data plays in predictive maintenance.

Electrification

Process heating is a significant source of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial sector, and so replacing fossil-fuel based heaters with electric ones running on green energy should yield significant progress towards decarbonisation goals. Adopting solutions for the first time will naturally bring about questions for process end user engineers regarding process variation, network loads, as well as component failure. Modern data collection technology, along with sophisticated data analysis, can monitor processes and allow these kinds of questions to be answered in real time.

Common challenges

Petrochemical refining operations often use heat exchangers in processes that are conducive to coking and fouling. Fouled heaters can contaminate or disrupt processing, and must be cleaned and/ or replaced when issues arise.

Another challenge is that heater elements can occasionally fail. Continued failure of an element eventually leads to an inability to produce enough heat to reach the intended outlet temperature. This can cause further issues with the process in question, including incomplete processing, fouling or film boiling. Being able to detect when an element has failed can avoid more serious problems that lead to unscheduled maintenance.

The right data, in real time

Having accurate data concerning the operation and health of systems and components is crucial in reducing the risks associated with new technology. For example, identifying temperature fluctuations in a process can serve as an early indication of potential coking or fouling, which could lead to maintenance issues in the future. By enabling process end users to recognise patterns of drift that signal impending problems, unplanned downtime can be averted through timely planned maintenance cycles.

Watlow’s new WATCONNECT panels, integrated with Data Insights, continually gather a wide range of data including system power, process values, set points, panel environment and wiring terminal temperatures. This comprehensive data allows the panel to perform the following key functions. This includes monitoring power and temperature controller health to prevent unplanned downtime to enable maintenance, detecting failed elements, facilitating pre-ordering of replacements and scheduling maintenance activities. Additionally, Data Insights also enhances system reliability and prompts maintenance activities to avoid unplanned downtime, while monitoring panel environmental data and providing alerts for changes in environmental conditions that could lead to system failure.

These panels afford an integrated solution that includes heaters, sensors, temperature controllers and power controller products, all in a complete thermal loop solution. The WATCONNECT L and XL sizes are particularly suitable for large industrial applications, specifically in the petrochemical industry.

Implementing predictive control in process heating can effectively address common challenges in petrochemical processing such as coking and fouling, heater failure and the gradual pace of electrification. This approach necessitates the integration of cutting-edge technology, alongside expertise in thermal systems and data analysis. When both elements are combined, they facilitate the development of environmentally friendly and more efficient systems and processes.

To learn more about WATCONNECT integrated with Data Insights, visit watlow.com

Fluke, a global technology leader in the manufacture of compact, professional electronic test and measurement tools and software has announced two portable and lightweight (1.3 kg) Insulation Resistance Testers for fast, accurate and reliable testing up to 2500 V (DC).

The high-voltage 1535 and 1537 Insulation Resistance Testers are ideal for industrial electricians, maintenance technicians, electrical engineers and field service engineers looking to simplify frontline troubleshooting and improve productivity. Whether used on the factory floor or in the field at a solar PV installation, for maintenance work on such equipment as motors, transformers or power cabinets, the insulation testers deliver equally rapid and stable resistance measurements and enable users to cover greater workloads with a single tool.

A full portfolio

Completing the tester range from Fluke in this sector, the 1535 and 1537 Insulation Resistance Testers are capable of taking up to 6500 measurements at 250 V or 1300 measurements at 2500 V with one set of batteries, giving the user complete control. For greater flexibility, test voltages are user selectable and adjustable, and a ramp function is available, which is ideal for industrial or solar PV applications. Resistance measurements can also be taken up to 500 GΩ, whether working on small circuits or high-voltage systems, while the 1537 Insulation Resistance Tester enables measurements to be stored for later review or PC transfer using the Fluke software provided.

Both testers are user-friendly with intuitive user interfaces. The Fluke 1537 has a high short circuit current of up to 5 mA and both testers have enhanced safety rating through CAT IV 600 V and built-in voltage alarm function. At the same time, both units comply with the standard series IEC 61557 and IEC 61010 for safety and IEC 61326-1 for electromagnetic compatibility. Furthermore, Automatic Polarization Index (PI) and Dielectric Absorption Ratio (DAR) calculation means influence of environmental factors on insulation performance can be minimised without the need for additional set-up.

Says Hans-Dieter Schuessele, Application & Technology Expert and Standardization Manager EMEA, Fluke: “With these high-voltage 1535 and 1537 Insulation Resistance Testers, operators now only need to use a single device to test a wider range of applications than before in the knowledge that they will always get rapid, stable and reliable results. The new testers put the user in control when carrying out vital maintenance work, whether in industrial and solar PV applications, and help to improve the productivity of electricians and contractors through a range of valuable features.”

To find out more about these lightweight and compact Insulation Resistance Testers please the Fluke website today.