Medical Connectors and Feedthroughs

In medical technology, the dependability of all components is a crucial factor. Sensitive electronic components require reliable encapsulation that can withstand difficult environmental conditions on a long-term basis.

Building on more than 75 years of experience in manufacturing hermetically-sealed housings and feedthroughs, SCHOTT Electronic Packaging offers custom-made, autoclavable connectors for medical equipment that are manufactured with purely inorganic, non-aging materials with glass or ceramic as the insulator.

The use of proven glass-to-metal-sealing (GTMS) or ceramic-to-metal sealing (CerTMS) technologies can consistently prevent the permeation of moisture or gases, which could cause internal corrosion, degradation of the electronic components and even malfunction of the equipment. Our tightly sealed medical connectors are resistant to high temperatures and shock and can reliably withstand the typical steam sterilization conditions in autoclaves. At the same time, they provide continuous power supply, or transmission of data from the components.

All of our autoclavable medical connectors and feedthroughs are custom made and can be entirely modified to suit your specific application.

Custom-designed autoclavable medical connectors and feedthroughs from SCHOTT are particularly suitable for medical equipment such as:
 

• Endoscopy: multi-pin connectors or high speed data ports, for example, allow high definition (HD) video port connections in video endoscopes
• Surgical instruments: sterilizable connectors with high power pins

Technology

• SCHOTT offers glass-to-metal and ceramic-to-metal sealed medical connectors. A large variety of material compositions, designs and dimensions are possible
• Medical-grade connectors and feedthroughs can be fully customized:
  • Contact configuration (e.g. high power pins, small signal contacts)
  • RF ports: Multi-pin connectors or high speed data ports allow for example high definition (HD) video port connections
  • Keys and/or locking features, e.g. Bayonet or threads
  • Male/female contacts
  • Multilayer-ceramic sealed feedthroughs are available for high density, miniaturized applications
  • Connectors can also incorporate optical feedthroughs, such as windows or lenses

Features / Specifications

• Hermeticity: 1 x 10–8 mbar x l/s
• Autoclavability: Successfully tested after > 3,500 steam sterilization cycles (2 bar, 273 °F)
• Electric insulation: Typically > 1GΩ
• Size (diameter): From ~ 2 mm to 30 mm (other sizes upon request)
• Material options: Inorganic, non-aging materials, e.g. stainless steel, Inconel, hard Au-plated contacts

Forms of Supply and Product Packaging
The products are individually packed according to customer specifications to protect the products during the shipping and transportation process.