Project Types
Medical Devices
In 1985-1986 Controlsoft designed and developed firmware for a medical thermometer (and pulse-rate timer) made by Ivac Corporation. This was a 8-bit 7503 microprocessor, driving an LCD screen with several push-buttons and 2 thermal probes. The design used a proprietary (to Ivac) algorithm to predict the probe's final temperature based upon the rate-of-rise in temperature early in the temperature-taking cycle. In this way, a person's temperature could be taken within just a few seconds, rather than having to wait for the probe's temperature to stabilize, which could take several minutes. Controlsoft was responsible for the entire software development process for this device
Starting From 1994, and continuing to the present, Controlsoft has be developing the firmware that controls a BCC (Blood Cardioplegia Console). This is a Dual-Headed Pinch Roller pump that is used to supply the heart with blood and Cardioplegia solution (basically potassium, used to keep the heart from beating) during open heart surgery.
This is the engineering prototype for the BCC
The BCC's Control Panel, the Remote Panel
can be seen on top.
A close-up of the pump head.
No, it hasn't taken 7 years to develop the firmware, but we developed it originally back in 1994-1996, and then have been involved in modifications as desired since that time. Recently, for business reasons having nothing to do with the products operation, the original company (Sorin Biomedical) decided to drop the product line. However, their sister company (Dideco SpA in Italy) has picked up the product and is currently making modifications for a study for the Italian government.
This device takes blood from the patient through one pump head, and mixes it at a specified ratio with cardioplegia solution from the other pump head. It can then either heat or cool the mixture, before it is returned to the patient's heart. It is controlled by a front panel containing an LCD display screen, and various buttons, 7-segment displays, and control knobs. There is also another panel called the "remote" panel which allows for the display and control of a subset of the functions on the front panel, from a remote location.
This device contains five separate 80196 family microprocessors. One controls each individual pump head (for a total of 2), one controls the collection of pressure and temperature readings, one controls the remote panel, and the last is the master processor controlling the other four. These processors talk to one another through either a serial bus or through a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus connection.
Dideco is adapting the product to work with some other medical devices, under coordinated control from a central PC. For this part of the project, it was necessary for Controlsoft to design and develop a serial communications protocol to allow complete control of the BCC through a spare serial port.
