The ElectroForce Systems Group of Bose Corporation provides materials testing and durability simulation instruments to research institutions, universities, medical device companies and engineering organizations worldwide. It is also a new venture for Bose that builds upon and transcends its forty year history of audio innovation.
ElectroForce® test instruments from Bose are superior test systems for mechanical fatigue and dynamic characterization. By incorporating proprietary Bose® motor technologies and WinTest® controls, ElectroForce instruments provide exceptional fidelity, precision and versatility for a variety of test applications.
The ElectroForce linear motor utilizes a simple and durable moving-magnet design that provides excellent dynamic performance and years of reliable operation for researchers and test engineers. As a result, ElectroForce test instruments have set a new standard for performance, simplicity and elegance in a single test system. For more on the ElectroForce System Advantage please contact us at Tetra Sense
or also via BOSE web site www.bose-electroforce.com
ElectroForce® Cardiovascular Test Instruments
Capabilities
ElectroForce® stent/graft test (SGT) instruments have set the standard of performance for the fatigue testing of a variety of stents and endovascular grafts. Ten-year FDA in vitro tests take only weeks with ElectroForce instruments due to their reliable, accelerated dynamic performance. Specific SGT instrument designs are available for coronary and neural stents, abdominal stents, AAA bifurcations, and thoracic stents.
For multi-mode peripheral and coronary stent fatigue testing, ElectroForce multiaxial test instruments provide realistic motion simulation to effectively reproduce in vivo conditions for multiple stents. The instruments are capable
of testing an accelerated 10 year simulated
life, performing fatigue to fracture studies,
or evaluating worst case conditions for a
stent design.
For the fatigue and durability testing of coated and bioabsorbable stents, Bose has introduced the ElectroForce 9210 drug-eluting stent test instrument. This system provides a new standard of performance resulting in expedited time to market and improved testing accuracy. Through a combination of new and existing proprietary Bose technologies, the 9210 instrument allows a user to test twelve specimens simultaneously, provides increased distention uniformity along the stent profile and combines high-frequency performance with the necessary precision for particle capture.
ElectroForce multi-specimen fatigue testing systems can be used for high cycle fatigue life characterization of coronary and vascular device structures, and evaluation of device materials for s/n curve development. The test systems provide displacement controlled loading for small soft structures and devices such as stents, stent segments, vena cava filters, septal closure structures and annuloplasty devices.
Technology
By incorporating proprietary Bose motor technologies and WinTest® controls, ElectroForce instruments provide exceptional fidelity, precision and versatility for a variety of test applications. The ElectroForce linear motor utilizes a simple and durable moving-magnet design that provides excellent dynamic performance and years of reliable operation for researchers and test engineers. WinTest controls provide data acquisition, waveform generation and instrument control in one comprehensive package. As a result, ElectroForce test instruments have set a new standard for performance, simplicity and elegance in a single test system.
2. HOTDISK - Thermal Conductivity Analyzer
The Transient Plane Source (TPS) technique is designed for convenient thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity measurements on various sample types.
With the TPS technique, the probe comprises a flat sensor with a continuous double-spiral of electrically-conducting Nickel (Ni) metal etched out of thin foil and sandwiched between two layers of Kapton. Although only 0.013 to 0.025 mm thick, the Kapton provides both electrical insulation from the sample and mechanical stability for the probe. The sensor is normally placed between the surfaces of two pieces of the sample to be measured. Different sizes and formats of sensor are available to accommodate a large variety of samples.
During measurement, a current passes through the Nickel spiral and creates an increase in temperature. The heat generated dissipates through the sample on either side at a rate dependent on the thermal transport characteristics of the material. By recording the temperature versus time response in the sensor, these characteristics can accurately be calculated
As the Hot Disk probe constitutes both heat source and temperature sensor, it allows at once for quick, convenient, and exceptionally reliable experimental results - in effect revolutionizing the way laboratories around the world measure thermal transport properties. The Hot Disk method supersedes older, traditional measurement techniques by its comprehensiveness, precision and ease of application. As noted above, measurement with the Hot Disk method typically requires only two sample pieces prepared with a section of plane surface each. Samples may otherwise be of practically any size (notably small!), shape or general configuration. In addition to these practical benefits, a noteworthy aspect of the Hot Disk technique is that it constitutes an absolute method. This means that it is not dependent on calibration against materials with known thermal transport properties.
With the special TPS-sensors it has lately become possible to measure samples with as low conductivity as 0.005 W/(mK) and as high as 500 W/(mK) with extreme sensitivity in a wide range of temperatures and in many different environments. The flexibility of the TPS technique makes it an exceptional research tool with which to study liquids, pastes, solids and powders (electrically conducting or insulating). Hot Disk sensor 5501
As new types of materials are continuously developed, the demand for accurate and fast thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity measurements becomes ever more important, and it is not always easy to find correct values in the literature. The TPS technique will provide the values you need, without the influence of thermal contact resistance, without extensive sample preparation and without prolonged measurement times.
Selected References (in chronological order):
S E Gustafsson: Transient plane source techniques for thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity measurements of solid materials. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62(3), 797 (1991).
B M Suleiman, I Ul-Haq, E Karawacki, A Maqsood and S E Gustafsson: Thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity of the Y- and Er-substituted 1:2:3 superconducting compounds in the vicinity of the transition temperature. Physical Review B, 48(6), 4095 (1993)
M Gustavsson, E Karawacki and S E Gustafsson: Thermal conductivity, thermal diffusitvity and specific heat of thin samples from transient measurement with Hot Disk sensors. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 65 (12), 3856 (1994)
T Log and S E Gustafsson: Transient Plane Source (TPS) Technique for Measuring Thermal Transport Properties of Building Materials. Fire and Materials 19, 43 (1995)
M Gustavsson, N S Saxena, E Karawacki and S E Gustafsson: Specific Heat Measurements with the Hot Disk Thermal Constants Analyser. Thermal Conductivity 23, 56-65 (1996).
J S Gustavsson, M Gustavsson and S E Gustafsson: On the Use of the Hot Disk Thermal Constants Analyser for Measuring the Thermal Conductivity of Thin Samples of Electrically Insulating Materials. Proceedings of the 24 th International Thermal Conductivity Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. October 26-29, 1997.
Video-supported contact angle measuring instrument OCA are the top instrument from the comprehensive modular "OCA construction kit". It is characterized by a multitude of technical detail solutions in mechanical, optical and electronical components and by its powerful software modules.
