Zytronic has supplied its ZYTOUCH touchscreen technology to medical devices and software company, K2 Medical Systems, which sought a rugged and cleanable solution for its latest K2MS Platform™ Medical Grade Integrated Panel PC. ZYTOUCH beat competing touchscreen technologies through its enhanced resistance to damage and bacterial contamination, and for its sustained accuracy throughout the service lifetime.

The K2MS Platform is a bedside terminal that allows patient data to be called up quickly and easily across a network. It connects to a conventional foetal monitor and collects and stores both real-time information about the patient during childbirth such as foetal heart rate and contractions during labour, and traditional clinical information. This means that from various points throughout the hospital, doctors and midwives may access and view all the real-time monitoring information about mothers-to-be. Access is gained through fingerprint recognition.

The Platform is particularly advantageous for those hospitals that do not have one-to-one midwifery care. For example, a midwife may be in a room with one patient, and at the same time, be able to view information about two to three other patients.  Similarly, doctors on call may dial up and access the information from a home PC, meaning that if they are called, they can make an on-the-spot decision as to whether or not it is necessary for them to go and visit the patient.

Zytronic’s projected capacitive touchscreen technology delivers the traditional advantages of a capacitive touchscreen but is tougher, has a wipe-clean surface that is impervious to chemicals or cleaning methods, is easier to use, and requires no re-calibration.

The K2 Medical Stout touch screen is a custom design that utilises a 0.5mm polycarbonate sheet laminated to the rear of the sensor instead of glass, in order to meet the weight and impact requirements set by Medical Devices Directive.  “Touchscreens make advanced technology easy to use and accessible to all staff, even those with little or no PC training, which is essential in modern healthcare, ” explained Dr. Robert Keith, technical director at K2 Medical Systems. “But this environment imposes very specific demands. Touchscreens must be easy to keep clinically clean, offer good light transmission with no glare, and must be strong enough to pass medical device standards, which include a 2-inch steel ball drop test. Zytronic’s stout touch technology delivered and surpassed all of these criteria”.

ZYTOUCH is constructed by embedding micro-wires in a glass laminate that offers extremely high resistance to damage. The 10 microns diameter micro-wires are almost completely invisible to the user, allowing maximum light transmission. The screen design prevents damage by detergents or other cleaning compounds without the need for any protective film or coating.

An additional benefit of ZYTOUCH’s laminated construction is that there is no drift, which makes re-calibration unnecessary. This is a significant benefit to healthcare centres and many other user groups for whom downtime, whether planned or unplanned, is a significant inconvenience. In fact, the sensor has no known wear out mechanism, and meantime before failure (MTBF) for the controller is in excess of 1 million hours.  The K2MS Platform is not limited to use just with foetal monitors. It could also be used for neo-natal intensive care, cardiology and anaesthesiology.