Alpha Micro supplies HeartSine Technologies with specialist components from FTDI

Oct. 5, 2011 - PRLog -- Sudden Cardiac Arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. When it happens, HeartSine® Technologies can help make the difference between life and death. Since 1998, HeartSine has been designing, developing and manufacturing Automated External Defibrillators for the lay, minimally trained rescuer who is often first at the scene. Used in over 32 countries, these reliable, easy-to-use devices are the best way to prepare for the worst.

Keen to ensure its product, the samaritan® Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) always remains at the top of its market and incorporates the very latest features, engineers at HeartSine selected the FT245R programmable Serial to USB device as an essential element of the design - allowing them to plug the unit into a computer, download data on patient incidents and upgrade the unit as and when required.  Technically advanced, the FT245R is a single chip USB to parallel FIFO bidirectional data transfer interface. The entire USB protocol is handled on the chip and no USB-specific firmware programming is required.

Supplied  by Alpha Micro, whose expert team of in-house design engineers work with developers to help integrate components from its franchised product lines into board-level designs, the chip is pre-programmed with software developed by HeartSine before being shipped to the circuit board manufacturer.  The FTI245R adds a new function compared with its predecessors, effectively making it a "2-in-1" chip for some application areas.  A unique number (the FTDIChip-ID™) is burnt into the device during manufacture and is readable over USB, thus forming the basis of a security dongle which can be used to protect customer application software from being copied.

Commenting on the development, Allister McIntyre, Senior Design Engineer said, “This programmable USB has enabled us to keep our product 100% up to date with minimal development costs. It was our first foray into USB applications and Alpha Micro’s team of highly trained electronic design engineers were able to give us excellent advice on which component would best meet our design criteria.”

The HeartSine® samaritan® PAD is compact, lightweight and easy to use.  From “Pull the green tab to remove pads” to “Press the orange shock button now” - audio and visual prompts guide the user step-by-step through the rescue process.  HeartSine® samaritan®  PAD uses HeartSine’s innovative PAD-Pak which incorporates the battery and electrodes in a single use cartridge.

The latest HeartSine® samaritan®  PAD with CPR Advisor SAM 500P is the most innovative device available to support users during  Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).  The SAM 500P will reassure the user they are performing “Good Compressions” or advise them to “Push Harder”, “Push Faster”, or “Push Slower”.  

The SAM 500P uses an Impedance Cardiogram (ICG) to guide the user.  An ICG measures changes in blood volume within the chest cavity to determine effective CPR.  Events are recorded, with the time, date, electrocardiograph (ECG) trace and duration, shock delivery information and CPR intervals and data can be downloaded to a PC using the SAVER® EVO software.

Concluding Christos Papakyriacou, Managing Director, Alpha Micro said, “Product development is an expensive and often lengthy process.  Utilising programmable components such as the FT245R USB enables software upgrades to be downloaded to the device in a matter of seconds. This is key when maximising investment in critical medical technology such as HeartSine’s samaritan® PAD.