Ruggedized Enclosure VAVE for Portable MRI
30% Cost Reduction
[ BUSINESS CONTEXT ]
A medical device startup developed a revolutionary portable MRI machine for emergency responders. However, the initial enclosure design was too heavy, too expensive to manufacture at scale, and failed physical drop tests.
[ PROJECT CHALLENGE ]
The enclosure had to protect highly sensitive superconducting magnets from a 1.5-meter drop onto concrete, pass stringent EMI/RFI shielding requirements, and meet rigorous medical device regulations, all while cutting unit costs.
[ STRATEGIC SOLUTION ]
We performed a complete VAVE redesign, transitioning from a heavy multi-part machined assembly to an advanced injection-molded structural foam polymer with internal shock-absorbing elastomer ribs.
Engineering Methodology
Material Selection
Identified a high-impact polycarbonate/ABS blend capable of surviving the drop tests while meeting medical flammability standards.
Shock Dynamics Simulation
Used Explicit FEA to simulate the 1.5m drop, tuning the internal elastomer ribs to absorb 80% of the kinetic energy.
EMI Shielding
Designed the mold to accommodate a conductive copper paint process on the interior surfaces to block electromagnetic interference.
DFM Optimization
Reduced the total part count from 24 to 6 by consolidating features into the injection molded parts.
Quantified Engineering Impact
Consolidating parts and switching to injection molding drastically reduced assembly time and material costs.
The new shock-absorbing design prevented any damage to the internal MRI components during physical validation.
Structural foam molding provided high rigidity with a cellular core, significantly reducing the device weight.
Passed all required IEC 60601-1 mechanical safety and EMI shielding tests on the first attempt.