Texas Instruments (TI) India is working on feature-rich and programmable devices that will help customization at a fast pace. Its Wolverine platform is the latest in low power which combines FRAM (ferroelectric random access memory), a new universal memory type with a new 130 nanometer ultra-low leakage (ULL) process technology and advanced MSP430 DNA.

The first devices based on this platform will be the MSP430FR58xx microcontroller series with expected availability in third quarter of 2012.

Semiconductors play a pivotal role in revolutionizing the medical electronics market. “We have seen semiconductors change the paradigm in the area of communications. The ‘Wolverine’ low-power architecture from TI is setting a new industry standard and will enable a proliferation of ultra-low-power products. Engineers from TI India have a significant role in design and development of many innovative applications in medical products,” Shailesh Thakurdesai, business development manager, Microcontrollers, Texas Instruments India told Pharmabiz.

The company is providing a broad portfolio of ultra low-power microcontrollers (MCUs)to address memory, peripheral and packaging configuration needs. These cover Value Line MSP430 MCUs, Stellaris Cortex-M MCUs real-time control C2000 MCUs, and Hercules safety MCUs.

Key trends in the medical electronics market are miniaturization, portability, and wireless functionality. Wolverine with its FRAM memory and design architecture is strategically designed to positively impact the key trends mentioned above. Further, these imply a need for longer battery life - a core Wolverine Ultra Low Power advantage.

In the case of glucose meters Wolverine increases the battery life by 10-20 years of battery longevity, and this trend is trickling into a myriad of other medical applications.

Wolverine is highly integrated and the FRAM as a universal memory can be partitioned to handle the customer’s application, wireless stacks and data collection in a flexible yet secure way, thus positively impacting the miniaturization and wireless vectors, he said.

Designers can accelerate time to market by tapping into TI’s complete software and hardware tools, extensive third-party offerings and technical support.

The company sees an important growth opportunity in the medical electronics market and is gearing up to increase opportunities for the innovation of medical electronics and helping shape technology to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare.

Home, clinical, and imaging end-equipment segments require increased and more advanced component support, as technologies for medical applications continue to evolve. Compared to the overall industrial market, the medical electronics market is small, but attractive and growing.

MCUs can help revolutionize the medical electronics market. With advances in medical sciences the role of technology is becoming increasingly important to provide diagnosis and treatment to patients. The market for companies dealing with high technology medical equipment is expected to grow rapidly in developing countries like India where there is a gap between demand and supply of quality healthcare facilities. MCUs accelerate preventive health care and early detection of diseases that will lead to quick and affordable treatment.

“We are positioned to address the Indian manufacturers’ needs with the industry’s diverse product portfolio. Some of the areas that are being addressed by technology are preventive healthcare, technology solutions for disability and high quality healthcare for diseases. Therefore we do foresee many customization challenges,” he added.