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16 PCB007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2018 Medical applications must be made by the book with strict standards and can vary in size and technology—from large advanced X- ray machines to robotic arms and microscop- ic hearing devices or sensors. Applications can also be made for both the exterior and inte- rior of the human body. When you think of the variety of environments medical devices must tolerate, it is not hard to understand that finding one standard to embrace them all is a challenge. Two years ago, Elmatica initiated a task group for medical applications. IPC accepted the challenge and founded the IPC-6012 and IPC-6013 medical device addendums with me as the chair. With experience from similarities in the automotive addendum, the task group quickly discovered the need for a different ap- proach to the medical addendum. The purpose of the medical device adden- dum working group is to determine enhanced IPC standards, such as 6012 and 6013, for fab- rication beyond IPC Class III to demonstrate suitability for medical devices and provide a high degree of assurance of the reliability and durability of the PCB. Reaching Consensus in the Jungle The task group, which consists of several mem- bers from the entire industry, first met at elec- tronica in 2016 and has continuously developed the standardized PCB requirements for medical device applications since then. Is the work excit- ing? Yes! And is it challenging? Absolutely. PCB Standards for Medical Device Applications: A Hard Nut to Crack! The PCB Norsemen Feature Column by Jan Pedersen, ELMATICA