Medical Applications

Overview

Vibration motors can be used in a variety of medical applications. In handheld devices or instruments with touchscreen interfaces, they can enable Vibration Alerting or Haptic Feedback features. These have a wide range of practical uses, from taking patients temperature to diabetes screening. Also, vibrations are a discreet method of alerting the user to events in potentially noisy environments, or on wards where other patients may be asleep.

There are also applications within specific medical fields. For example, in neuropathy it is possible to use vibrations to test a patient’s response to varying levels of touch. This can lead to diagnosis of damaged nerve endings, or further understanding of symptoms such as localisation.

Similar to the field of Massaging, vibration motors can also be used to facilitate pain relief. Applying vibrations to areas of pain or muscle tension can alleviate stress and discomfort for long term chronic pain sufferers. Athletes or patients undergoing physiotherapy may also benefit from vibration massagers, and physiotherapists can work for longer with less fatigue.

Non-Disclosures and Design Help

Unfortunately, many of the projects we are involved in are covered under non-disclosure agreements, so we can't talk about them. However, hopefully we’ve been able to demonstrate our technical competence in other market areas, and our knowledge of vibrating motors can help the generation of reliable and precise vibrations, making for some very useful medical applications.

If you have an unusual application or require help with your design and would like to get some advice about the addition of vibration mechanisms to your products, please give us a call. One of our experienced applications engineers will be happy to help.