CatalogXpress® Reduces Sourcing Time From Hours to Minutes
The CatalogXpress® online electronic components database reduces the average time needed to source components for perfusion systems used in bypass surgery from hours to a matter of minutes.
Terumo Cardiovascular Systems, Ann Arbor, Michigan, a leading manufacturer of these critical medical devices, frequently reconditions systems that may be as much as 30 years old. Usually this involves replacing motor control circuit boards, most of whose original components have become obsolete. In the past, it took an average of four hours to locate components or functional replacements by calling around to manufacturers and distributors. With the new online database, engineers can type in the manufacturer's name or a generic product description and find, in almost every case, either the original component or a pin-compatible replacement. "The online database saves me several hours every day that I used to have to spend tracking down suppliers and can now devote to engineering work," said Wade Segrest, project specialist for Terumo.
Terumo produces medical products including intravenous infusion pumps, syringe pumps, perfusion pumps, disposable administration sets, myocardial protection infusion sets, blood gas monitoring systems, coolers and heaters for blood, blood pumps, oxygenators, cardiotomy reservoirs, hemoconcentrators, catheters, cannulae, open heart surgery products and heart-lung machines. Many of these products are used in artificial blood pumps used by perfusionists to propel open-heart surgery patients' blood through their body tissue, replacing the function of the heart while the cardiac surgeon operates.
Taking Over for the Heart During a Bypass
Perfusionists construct extracorporeal circuits using Terumo components to allow the cardiothoracic surgeon to connect the heart-lung machine to an open-heart surgery patient. Whether the patient is older or newborn, whether receiving coronary artery bypass grafting, cardiac valve replacement, or surgical correction of a cardiac birth defect, the perfusionist operates the heart-lung machine to bypass the patient's heart and lungs. The heart-lung machine replaces the function of the heart and lungs to provide a bloodless, motionless surgical field for the surgeon. The perfusionist ventilates the patient's blood to control the level of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The perfusionist propels the patient's blood back into the arterial system to provide nutrient blood flow to all the patient's vital organs and tissues during heart surgery.
The company that is now Terumo Cardiovascular Systems has been a pioneer in this field since 1967 when Dr. Christian Barnard performed the first human heart transplant using its model 2000 heart-lung machine. Many of the heart-lung machines that the company produced during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s are still in operation.
In order to assure the performance of these machines, their owners regularly return them to Terumo for reconditioning and maintenance. One of the most challenging aspects of this maintenance process is rebuilding the control circuits for the pump modules contained on these machines. Each machine has a number of pump heads: the main arterial pump that provides blood flow to the patient; one or two suction pumps that pull blood back from the patient to the pump; one used to deliver pharmaceuticals to the patient's heart to reduce its activity in order to make it possible to perform the operation; and a backup for the main arterial pump.
Replacing obsolete components
Each of these pumps has its own motor and control circuits that occupy a single printed circuit board. A few years after each of the boards are produced, the components become obsolete due to rapid advances in the electronics industry. In most cases, the companies that originally produced the devices move on to other product lines or, in some cases, go out of business. In many cases, other manufacturers produce these products, but they are often very difficult to locate. In other cases, the products are totally out of production, but it may be possible to find different products that are so similar that they can simply be plugged into the original socket. This type of device, called a pin-compatible replacement, provides the ideal solution in cases where the exact part is not available since it eliminates the need for any redesign.
Segrest has the primary responsibility for locating difficult-to-find components, such as programmable array logic devices, required to recondition older control circuits. "I used to start by calling the original manufacturer to see if they still built the part or if they knew of another company that made a replacement," he said. "Of course, I usually had to leave messages or transfer between several people before I could even find someone who could answer the question. In many cases, they didn't have an answer so I checked catalogs, Web sites, and called around to contacts that I have in the industry. Then, once I found someone who ostensibly made the part, I needed to get the product datasheet from the manufacturer or distributor. I had to compare the datasheet against the original component specifications and, if it wasn't up to snuff, start all over. This entire process took an average of about four hours per component, although the actual time spent was often spread over several days because of the need to wait for people to get back to me."
Online database saves time
Then Segrest heard about an online database designed to help engineers and purchasing professionals quickly locate electronic components. The database, CatalogXpress® from IHS Engineering, Englewood, Colorado, is a comprehensive collection of electronics component information sources that allows engineers to find complete information on products and components in a single search. The product contains information on the parts produced by thousands of the world's top manufacturers, making it easy to find almost any part requirements. It also includes complete catalog pages and datasheets giving users access to all of the information required to specify a component.
With the powerful search engine, the entire database can be referenced quickly, using either simple queries or comprehensive search criteria based on physical and performance parameters. The database can be full-text searched by keyword or manufacturers name and its search engine uses a proprietary 840,000-term technical thesaurus that enables precise searches without using exact terms. Manufacturers do not have to pay to be included in CatalogXpress®, so it is far more comprehensive than similar services that charge for listings.
"I had long been on the lookout for a database like this so I was anxious to give it a try," Segrest said. "The first question on my mind was whether or not it was really comprehensive enough to find the older and sometimes pretty obscure components that we used in our products 20 years ago or more. From the beginning, it was clear that the answer was yes. I have found that I can pull up the correct part 9 times out of 10 based on the manufacturer's name. If I don't know the manufacturer's name, I search on a keyword and come up with a list of everyone that makes that particular part. The big advantage of using this product is that it saves me so much time. If the search gives me a hit, which nearly always happens, then the search results consist purely of companies that produce the original part. The results are marked historical or active so I can easily tell which ones are still making it."
"Opening up the individual records gives me contact information for the company, a link to their Web site, and a list of their distributors," Segrest continued. "One of the nicest things about the database is that it contains datasheets with complete specifications on nearly every part. I usually go down the list to find one that we are used to dealing with, pick up the phone, call my rep and within a few minutes I have sourced the part. If I have to search by manufacturer or a generic description to find the part, it takes a little longer but I still have all the information I need at my fingertips so I don't have to call around or wait for people to fax me things. CatalogXpress® saves me time that I can now devote to engineering as opposed to playing phone tag."
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