Safe, Reliable & Compact Power Supplies for Increasingly Portable Medical Equipment

Safety and reliability are a must in medical equipment, and with advancements in technology, miniaturization is also achievable. Many medical electronics are increasingly portable and accessible. They are small and lightweight but still robust enough to be loaded into wheeled carts for greater mobility and efficiency, used in ambulances, mobile clinics and homes, carried by traveling medical professionals, or worn by patients.

The same trends apply to power supplies, especially because they ensure proper and safe operation of medical equipment used in diagnosis, treatment and monitoring in and outside hospital facilities.

Globally, the medical equipment and instruments market reached $405 billion in 2021, according to Statista, and will post higher gains in the coming years. In power solutions, this translated to a total value of $1.47 billion in 2021, with a projected $2.18 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 6.3 percent from 2022 based on IMARC Group’s estimate. In China, the power supplies market is expected to hit $801.46 million by 2027 from $267.67 million in 2020, according to QY Research.

Manufacturers offering power solutions will thus strive to meet the evolving standards in this expanding application market. In China, the majority of companies cater to the entry-level and midrange segments, nonetheless putting a premium on product quality and aiming for a healthy price-performance ratio to boost competitiveness. They provide power supplies mostly for diagnostic, emergency and monitoring equipment, which in 2020 collectively accounted for about 85 percent of shipments based on statistics from QY Research.

China-made power supplies

Chinese manufacturers of power supplies have wall-mount, desktop and open-frame types for hospital- and home-use medical equipment. Wall-mount AC/DC adapters dominate their shipments, with a share exceeding two-thirds of the total, according to suppliers interviewed by Global Sources.

These power supplies are available in variants with a rated voltage of 3.3 to 48V, rated current of 0.01 to 20A and rated power of 1 to 1,000W. They have built-in safety features, protected from overload, -current, -voltage, -temperature and short circuits. Options extend to regular and water-resistant versions, with the latter having an IP65 to IP67 rating.

Companies also welcome requests for custom-made power supplies and will continue to improve their technology to be able to follow any design specification in the future.

China-made power supplies generally meet UL, CE, CCC, FCC, TUV, CQC, CB, GS, CSA, RoHS, IEC 60601, EN 60601, IEC 60065 and DOE Level V or VI requirements. And in compliance with specific standards in this application, they also have an MOPP or 2xMOPP rating.

Suppliers generally source chips from TI and Fairchild to ensure the quality of their products, and use passive components, coils, PCBs, wires and cases that are domestically made or from foreign providers.