A Single ESD Event Can Cause Fatal Damage During Medical Device Production

It is well known that ESD causes electronic device failure during the production, packaging and testing processes. For medical device products with critical electronic components, damage during manufacturing from electrostatic forces can introduce metrology errors and latent errors where devices fail with customers once the product is in use.

Since many new products use very sensitive electronic assemblies with active sensors, the possibility of latent failures is growing. As the critical dimensions and tolerances of components and circuits become progressively smaller, they become less tolerant to ESD. In circuits designed to operate at lower and lower voltages, minute levels of charge can result in damage or destroy a device.