Application of Medical PCBs in Medical Sterilization Equipment

Medical sterilization equipment, as a key infrastructure to ensure medical environment safety and prevent cross-infection, relies heavily on stable operation and precise control of core electronic components. Medical PCBs play a critical role by supporting signal transmission, power distribution, and component integration, directly influencing the performance, reliability, and safety of sterilization devices. HOYOGO’s PCB products have been widely applied in medical sterilization equipment. With medical-grade quality, they provide the essential electronic foundation for precise sterilization and stable operation.

 

 

 

Unlike “universal” PCBs, medical PCBs must be customized according to the technical principles and functional requirements of sterilization equipment. Below, we break down their application logic across typical types of devices:

 

 

1. Ultraviolet (UV) Sterilization Equipment

The key requirements of UV sterilization equipment are stable UV output and precise exposure time control. If the UV intensity is insufficient or the exposure time is too short, sterilization will be incomplete; if the intensity is too high or the exposure time is too long, it may accelerate lamp aging. The role of medical PCBs in this process is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

 

1) Lamp Driving Module: Responsible for providing a stable high-frequency, high-voltage power supply for UV lamps (such as constant-current driving for UV LED lamps, and ballast control for traditional mercury lamps). The medical PCB needs to integrate high-voltage driver chips, filter capacitors, inductors, and other components, and must also feature overcurrent and overvoltage protection to prevent lamp damage caused by voltage fluctuations.

 

 

2) Light Intensity Monitoring: The medical PCB integrates a UV sensor to continuously collect real-time data on the lamp’s UV intensity and transmit the signals to the main control PCB. If the intensity falls below the threshold, the PCB triggers an alarm function to prompt lamp replacement.

 

 

3) Motion Control (for Disinfection Robots): For UV disinfection robots, this type of medical PCB needs to integrate motor driver chips and encoder interfaces to enable path planning and mobile disinfection, while also coordinating the switching of UV lamps (e.g., automatically turning them off when entering human-occupied areas).

 

 

2. High-Temperature, High-Pressure Sterilization Equipment

Medical steam sterilizers (such as pulse vacuum autoclaves) operate under extreme environments: internal temperatures can reach up to 132℃, and pressure can reach up to 0.21 MPa. They must also frequently withstand rapid thermal cycling (quick cooling and depressurization after sterilization), while ensuring precise control of the entire process, vacuuming, heating, holding, and exhausting. Such equipment places extremely high demands on the heat resistance, anti-interference capability, and stability of medical PCBs. Their specific applications include:

 

 

1) Pressure & Temperature Control: Medical PCBs integrate high-precision pressure sensors, temperature sensors, and PID control chips to continuously collect real-time parameters inside the sterilization chamber, and by controlling the switching of heating tubes, vacuum pumps, and solenoid valves, it ensures that all parameters remain stable within the set range.

 

 

2) Safety Protection: As a redundant safeguard, a secondary PCB module integrates pressure relief valve circuits and thermal fuse monitoring. If the main PCB fails and pressure/temperature exceeds limits, the circuit triggers emergency venting or power cut-off to prevent explosions or equipment damage.

 

 

3) Data Storage & Communication: The medical PCB integrates an EEPROM chip and an Ethernet modules to record the parameters of sterilization cycle (time, temperature and pressure) and upload them to hospital’s HIS systems, fulfilling medical traceability requirements.

 

 

Technical Highlights: Such medical PCBs must use high-temperature resistant substrates, apply lead-free high-temperature solder for solder joints, and ensure PCB layout design avoids signal interference between high-temperature sensors and heater drive circuits.

 

 

3. Low-Temperature Plasma Sterilization Equipment

Low-temperature plasma sterilization equipment (such as hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilizers) is mainly used for heat-sensitive precision medical instruments such as endoscopes and cardiac stents. Its core requirements are precise control of plasma generation parameters and low-power operation (to avoid affecting the performance of medical instruments). The application of medical PCBs in this context focuses on:

 

 

1) Plasma Generation Control: The medical PCB integrates a high-frequency high-voltage generator and a vacuum sensor. By controlling the RF power and the vacuum level inside the chamber, it ensures that hydrogen peroxide vapor is fully ionized into plasma, while preventing excessive power that could lead to oxidation of medical instruments.

 

 

2) Disinfectant Concentration Control: The medical PCB integrates a hydrogen peroxide concentration sensor and a micro-pump drive circuit to precisely control the injection volume of hydrogen peroxide (typically a few milliliters). Excessive concentration may cause residue on instruments, while insufficient concentration results in ineffective sterilization.

 

 

3) Low-Power Master Control: The medical PCB adopts a low-power MCU combined with a sleep-wake circuit, reducing standby power consumption to below 10 mA, while still ensuring real-time parameter acquisition during the sterilization process (sampling frequency ≥10 Hz).

 

 

HoYoGo is an international, professional, and reliable medical PCB manufacturer, certified with ISO13485. We consistently operate our production, engineering, and procurement teams in strict accordance with the highest industry certification standards. We have long-term experience and professional process knowledge in medical PCB production and assembly. If you have related needs, we welcome your inquiries.