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24 The PCB Design Magazine • January 2016 Medical electronics is one of the fastest growing segments of our industry. Almost week- ly, we hear about another cool lifesaving device or piece of medical monitoring equipment. Al- pharetta, Georgia-based Innovative Circuits is at the forefront of fabricating medical PCBs, both flex and rigid. I asked Innovative Business Development Manager Amir Davoud to give us a solid diagnosis of the world of medical PCBs. Andy Shaughnessy: Amir, why don't you start off by giving us a quick background on innovative cir- cuits? Amir Davoud: Innovative Circuits is a fabrica- tor of multilayer rigid PCBs, rigid-flex and flex circuits. Since our inception in 1998, we have remained dedicated to pairing comprehensive engineering support with quickturn and small- to mid-level production solutions. Our clients rely on ICI's extensive knowledge base and highly skilled technicians to assist with their most challenging projects. Shaughnessy: innovative circuits serves a number of medical customers. What sort of devices do these customers create? Davoud: Our medical clients range from the neurosciences to cardiac care. Most of the proj- Innovative Circuits Sees Healthy Medical Market ects we work on involve ex- ternal devices that are either standalone for monitor- ing or communicate with implants. Our customer's products include the first FDA-approved heart failure monitoring system, model- ing tools for complex brain activity, CPAP machines and flexible endoscopes. A specific area of focus for us is in robotics, specifically prosthetics. We have been involved in a number of projects that developed fully functionally partial and com- plete prosthesis for amputees. Shaughnessy: how is fabricating a medical pcB different than building any other high-reliability board? Davoud: At Innovative, high reliability is a req- uisite for the majority of our customers. In ad- dition to the medical industry we service others with challenging high end needs. These include defense and aerospace, and needless to say no one wants a failure at 35,000 feet, let alone on the operating table. In order to meet the de- mands of our clients, we are required to make a full commitment that ensures repeatability and reliability by maintaining operational excel- feature interview Amir Davoud