Improving water-based graphite colloidal system for a pressure-sensing fabric application

Vista Medical自1992年以来一直在生产用于医疗设备和消费产品的压力传感面料。这项技术由导电织物基材组成，在基材上应用碳胶体系。然后将涂层织物烘干并进行进一步加工。成品是一个织物系统，可以将施加在它身上的压力转换为电信号，处理后可以提供压力图。Vista Medical产品用于医疗器械和消费品。目前，Vista Medical从外部来源购买制造其产品所需的两个组件，即导电织物和石墨胶体。Vista Medical的生产流程包括将石墨胶体涂抹到织物上，烘干涂层织物，然后根据客户的规格将其转换为成品。产品的质量控制包括验证压力读数和其他适合使用的测试。由此可见，Vista医疗产品的性能取决于所购买组件的质量和一致性。有时，人们已经注意到，购买的石墨胶体的特性不一致会对成品的质量产生不利影响。胶体石墨供应商提供的分析证书中的测试结果和规格也过于宽泛，无法确保产品质量。这导致了生产力的损失和潜在的产品质量问题。为了克服这一挑战，Vista Medical一直在研究石墨胶体的内部制造。

Vista medical has been producing pressure-sensing fabric for use in medical devices and consumer products since 1992. The technology consists of a conductive fabric substrate to which a carbon colloidal system is applied. The coated fabric is then dried and further processed. The finished product is a fabric system that can convert pressure applied to it to an electrical signal, which upon processing can provide a pressure map. Vista Medical product is used in medical devices and consumer products.Currently, Vista Medical purchases both components needed to manufacture their product, namely the conductive fabric and the graphite colloid, from external sources. The manufacturing process at Vista Medical consists of applying the graphite colloid to the fabric, drying the coated fabric and converting it to the finished product as per customer specifications. Quality control for the product consists of verification of pressure readings and other fit-for-use tests.As evident from the above, the performance of Vista Medical products depends on the quality and consistency of the components purchased. For sometimes, it has been noticed that inconsistencies in characteristics of the purchased graphite colloid adversely affect the quality of the finished product. Test results and specifications in the Certificate of Analysis provided by the supplier of the colloidal graphite are also too broad to ensure product quality. This has resulted into loss of productivity and potential product quality issues. In order to overcome this challenge, Vista Medical has been looking into in-house manufacturing of the graphite colloid.