Front-edge technology and the human body
This year, a woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer every
third minutes. A woman will die from breast cancer every 13
minutes. An early and proper discovery still remains the single
and most important factor in long-term survival.
It's almost 3 p. m. on a January Friday after-noon in a cold and snowy
Stockholm, but inside the Siemens building, at the development
department for mammography it is steaming with activity.
Göran Gåsebrant, project leader, receives us and we walk almost
immediately over to the demo center where he and his colleague
Lennart Zetterlund, product manager, with lots of enthusiasm start to
tell us about mammo-graphy and x-rays and their current project, the
next generation mammography system.
Advanced technology saving lives
Mammography is an advanced technology that demands the greatest
precision of all X-ray technologies. It uses a low-powered technique
and is used to examine changes in the breasts that either the doctor or
the patient has felt.
Mammography can also detect tumors and cysts not felt yet and
help differentiate benign (noncancerous) and malignant (cancerous)
disease. Any suspected changes in a breast are biopsed. (Biopsy –
a small piece of tissue is removed for microscopic examination or
testing).
Screening mammograms are important for early breast cancer
detection, even when a woman doesn't have symptoms. In many
countries, such as the USA and Sweden, there are general
recommendations of mammogram screening every 1-2 years for all
women age 40 and older.
Three criterion
Siemens has been working with medical technology developments
and products, such as x-rays, since the 1940's and has been active in
mammography developments for more than ten years.
However, this is the first time that Siemens is outsourcing the
development of such a vital component in the mammography system
as the generator.
The main reason is a need to focus on the company's core business,
which is system technology.
But cost effectiveness alone is not the only reason for outsourcing –
Siemens also wants to make sure that the latest and most
modern components is used for the mammography generator.
And last but not least, the new mammography generator needs to
be easy to install, which calls for new and innovative ideas of the
design. Classic mammography systems have the generator as a standalone
unit, but not this one.
How it all started
At the time when discussions were going on internally about outsourcing
the generator development, Powerbox became aware of the
new mammography project that Siemens was working on.
Since Powerbox has been active in the medical area in the past, it
was natural for Kalle Strandberg and his team to start thinking about
how they would like to solve the power supply in this specific
application. When Powerbox approached Siemens with their
proposal the timing couldn't be more perfect.
After the first meeting with Powerbox however, Siemens
decided to send out a request for proposal to a number of suppliers,
just to ensure that they really got the best and most cost effective
solution.
Göran Gåsebrant and Lennart Zetterlund were familiar with Powerbox,
but had never worked with them before. “We had heard about
Powerbox, but mainly in connection to small lab units”, says Mr.
Gåsebrant.
Both of them stress that the vast experience and competence that
Powerbox and Kalle Strandberg have shown in the field of power
supply and generators were crucial for their final decision.
“We are impressed by Powerbox's proactive approach and the
professionalism they show. And not least by how competent and
engaged they are presenting their ideas and proposals” says Lennart
Zetterlund.
Eventually, Powerbox got the order in fierce competition with quite a
few well-known suppliers, and the development project got started.
A close cooperation
Since the beginning of the project, there are and have been daily
contacts between Siemens and Powerbox. That is a way to
catch the flow of new concepts and ideas, which is something all team
members agree is important in the development process.
“I think Powerbox is quite unique to have this kind of close cooperation
with its customers”, says Lennart Zetterlund.
And Kalle Strandberg from Powerbox really is part of the Siemens-
Elema development department – he even has his own Siemens
badge, and is literally able to walk in and out as “a kid in the house”
when needed. He too, is very excited about the project, and thinks it is
a great honour for Powerbox to be entrusted the responsibility of
developing the mammography generator.
“The co-operation with Powerbox has been working very smoothly, I
think one main reason is the close distance geographically between our
offices” says Göran Gåsebrant. “If I call Kalle and ask him to come by,
he's here within 15 minutes”.
Tough requirements
In medical technology, health and medical authorities such as FDA in
the USA, puts lot of demanding requirements not only on the system
itself but also on each included component. The new mammography
system needs to undergo a number of crucial tests before it will be
approved.
For this reason the generator equipment is tested constantly, both by
Powerbox in their own lab as well as by Siemens, to make sure
the generator will meet all test- and requirement- specifications.
Lennart Zetterlund says that he in the beginning was worried about
the performance in the high voltage power area; “The mammo-graphy
system uses high voltage, and not many power suppliers can manage
to perform in this area. However, Powerbox has done that with excellence.”
A new design
The idea of having the generator mounted as a door on the backside of
the mammography unit, was not an obvious choice when it first came
up. To understand the design of the new mammography system, we
have to go back to some of the main reasons for outsourcing in the first
place, cost effectiveness and easy installation. With the mammography
system designed in one piece the system is:
- more cost effective as it means less floor space needed to install it in
a doctors practice, as well as during the transportation.
- easier to install, since there is no need for extra cables between the
classic design of two units.
- easier to maintain in case of service, since all generator components
are accessed at one place.
The new mammography system will save lives, when it will be available
on the market during last quarter 2003 – and it's guaranteed to include
the latest and most modern generator technology there is.
We have only positive experiences from
the co-operation with Powerbox in this
project, and I'm very satisfied with the result,
concludes Göran Gåsebrant
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