Heaters for Medical Devices: Common Uses and Applications
Hi-Heat Industries
The medical industry relies on a suite of solutions to diagnose and treat patients. From surgical tools to lab equipment, safety is top priority at each step. Many processes need a precise temperature to protect patients, specimens, and equipment. That’s where a flexible heater comes in.
You’ll find a wide variety of heaters for medical devices, each with its own unique purpose. Heaters can be fit for specific equipment or to maintain a specific temperature. It’s important to understand every option to get the right heater for your application.
Why are flex heaters ideal for the medical industry?
Unlike the heaters found in stores, a custom flexible heater fits any equipment. Medical device heaters can be custom fit to exact specifications.
Flex heaters are in the equipment and devices used throughout each day. Here are some common uses of flex heaters for the medical industry:
- Heating and maintaining the temperature of fluids
- Temperature maintenance for laboratory specimens
- Temperature maintenance for microscope bases
- Maintaining instrument sterilization on storage trays during surgeries
- Heating and maintaining incubator temperatures
- Warming patients during and after surgical operations
Flex heaters provide many heating apparatus for the laboratory.
One place you’ll find custom medical device heaters is in the specimen-testing lab. Diagnosing patients often mean sending samples off for closer examination. This may be to look for signs of disease or to check the progression of an existing disease.
Laboratories are also used for research. Scientists look at samples to learn more about the human body. Heating apparatus in laboratories aim to maintain equipment temperatures. Testing and research devices can be susceptible to temperature fluctuations and moisture.
With the right flexible heater, equipment doesn’t only maintain the right temperature. Heaters keep condensation at bay. When the temperature of the equipment doesn’t match the room, condensation can result. That moisture can damage equipment parts, shortening its life and making results unreliable.
Some heaters warm specimens. Liquid, in particular, may need to at specific temperature for testing purposes. These types of heaters need to reach and maintain that temperature. They may even have built-in thermostats to test and diagnose equipment issues.
Flex heaters for heating specimens
When a professional takes a sample to send off for testing, preservation is essential. It’s stored to ensure no contamination takes place, avoiding extreme temperatures. If the specimen needs to remain cool, it’s stored at the exact temperature to maintain its integrity.
For lab specimens, medical device heaters keep the sample at a specific temperature. Labs aren’t kept at the ideal temperature for every sample. Flex heaters allow technicians to keep each sample at its own required temperature. This helps avoid degradation of the sample, which can affect test results.
There’s more than one type of heating apparatus in laboratory environments, though. Blood analysis machines keep liquids heated to a certain temperature. Warming plates keep specimens warm before, during, and after testing. Microscope bases absorb the temperature in the room, affecting the temperature of items. Heaters can protect the internal components and warm the tested items.
Flex heaters for heating test tubes
Test tubes play an important role, both in research and patient diagnosis. But, test tube glass can be chilly, particularly if it’s been in a cold room. Additionally, some liquids need to be at a specific temperature for testing purposes. Dedicated test tube heaters can come in the form of small trays, or block heaters. Block heaters have temperature settings, so they can achieve and maintain specific temperatures.
Flex heaters for heating instrument storage trays
During procedures, surgeons keep a variety of instruments on a tray within reach. Each instrument has to remain sterile and at a fixed temperature.
Many trays are fit with custom heaters to keep instruments at this temperature. The heaters need to distribute even heat so that surgeons can set instruments down between uses. Keeping tools at a stable temperature allows surgeons to provide effective patient care.
Flex heaters for heating IV solution/blood
IVs are an important part of patient care. Dehydrated patients may need them to bring the body back to balance. Patients who lose significant blood may need an IV to treat them after an accident. IVs are also common in operating rooms as a way to keep patients stable throughout a procedure.
Often, IV warming equipment contains flex heaters. They warm the liquid to a temperature compatible with the patient’s body temperature. If patients have lost blood, heat is essential. Blood infusions can cause hypothermia. But, fluids at the right temperature are less likely to be rejected.
In emergency situations, it may be necessary to introduce a large amount of fluid to a patient. For this reason, flexible heaters must be able to heat liquid quick and even.
Flex heaters for heating microscope bases
Since labs may vary in temperature, microscope bases often contain heating apparatuses. Flexible heaters can fit different types of microscopes, including upright, inverted, and stereo.
Reliable temperature control is important in any medical heating system. The heater also needs to be moisture- and impact-resistant.
As with other medical equipment, microscopes can be sensitive to moisture. A flexible heater can not only warm the base, but also keep internal components safe. This can extend the life of the microscope and ensure it works each time.
Hi-Heat’s Custom Medical Heaters
Medical devices need custom heaters to fit each use. Hi-Heat Industries supplies heaters in a variety of materials, shapes, and sizes. When OEMs reach out to Hi-Heat with what they need, the team creates a solution to match.
There are several types of medical heaters, so the first thing we do is determine your needs. After choosing the right material, we’ll recommend the best solution and fulfillment schedule.
What are Hi-Heat’s custom medical heaters used for?
Hi-Heat clients use flexible heaters in operating rooms, labs, and other medical areas. Our custom heaters are versatile enough to work in a wide range of applications. Manufacturers can choose from polyester, silicone rubber, or polyimide film.
Custom medical heater for DNA analysis
Advancements in DNA have led to its use in a wide range of applications. To test DNA, technicians collect and transfer samples to testing labs. Any changes can cause contamination, so technicians must be careful when conducting transfers.
As with other types of lab specimens, DNA samples can’t be in extreme temperatures. This starts with storage. Before and after analyzing the DNA, it must maintain its temperature in storage. Custom heaters may be fit into cabinetry that holds DNA specimens.
But, temperature is especially important when technicians analyze DNA strands. Hi-Heat provides custom heaters for the thermal cyclers used to test DNA. Cyclers apply heat in pre-programmed steps to help with DNA sequencing. So, it’s important to find a custom heater that can heat to precise temperatures, as well as cooling as needed.
Custom medical heater for Covid testing
During the COVID-19 pandemic, laboratories started to analyze large numbers of samples. Medical professionals collect swabs, which are then sealed in tubes for analysis. Then, they’re processed by technicians. These samples must remain at a stable temperature until testing.
Custom, flexible heaters protect specimens from extreme temperatures. Contamination can lead to a false negative or false positive.
Custom medical heater for surgical tables
In recent years, surgeons have realized the value of body temperature during procedures. This has caused a demand for heated surgical tables. These heaters need to distribute warmth across the patient’s entire body. Since some procedures take time, it needs to maintain that temperature.
Custom medical heater for beaker heaters
Pharmaceuticals are often prepared in labs through the use of beakers. When working with chemicals, technicians sometimes need to maintain fluids at precise temperatures. Hi-Heat Industries creates flexible beaker heaters. These heaters need specialized sizing to fit.
Hi-Heat’s custom medical heaters will rise to your life-saving needs. Our custom design and prototyping allows you to put the heat on exactly where and how you need it. Contact us to talk with our team about how we help keep the medical industry safe, accurate, and effective.
