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Design reuse and medical devices: design reuse is an important factor in consumer electronics, where removing the burden of designing basic functions for each product can realise critical savings in time to market and delivered cost. But designers of medical devices must be more circumspect and selective to gain tangible advantages from design reuse.

Article Excerpt
Reuse in medical design

The reuse of functional blocks and modules is proving to be essential for electronics businesses seeking to compete successfully in markets ranging from small consumer products to enterprise-level systems. With the increasing importance of medical electronic products, it is natural that designers and manufacturers should consider design reuse for this sector, to accelerate development and gain competitive advantage.

However, when designing medical devices the benefits of reusing a particular module must be assessed within a much more stringent risk analysis and design review structure, as mandated by legislation such as the Medical Device Directive (MDD). Modules performing particularly difficult or complex functions, or those already proven within the medical environment, are the most likely to deliver a worthwhile advantage.

Quality of reusable designs

An established design for a given function or module may already exist within the original equipment manufacturer's organisation, it having been developed for a previous product. If the previous product is a medical device, this may strengthen the case for reuse. Conversely, many third parties, including component vendors and dedicated intellectual property (IP) developers, also offer shrink-wrapped...