Take an electric motor. Place it in an autoclave sterilising system; subject it to saturated water vapour at a temperature of 134°C, under a pressure of 2.3bar, for at least four minutes. The result? A motor that no longer works. Unless, that is, you are using one of the latest sterilisable drive units from maxon motor, which now survive even longer than their predecessors.
What’s more, these 6, 16 and 22 mm diameter electronically commutated (brushless) motors can now be coupled with a sterilisable maxon GP 22M gearhead for applications requiring greater torque and lower speed. The gearhead offers 55 different reduction ratios, from 3.8:1 to 4592:1, and gives a maximum torque of up to 2Nm. In combination with the sterilisable EC 22 motor, it delivers a 50W unit suitable for a variety of medical devices. The motors can be supplied with internal Hall sensors to create dynamic servo drives when linked via appropriate electronics.
These components are proving to be particularly attractive to designers of hand tools for dentistry and bone surgery. High-powered, but small and light, they can be incorporated easily into compact tool designs, and compared with traditional compressed air driven hand tools, they are more flexible in use, quieter in operation, easier to regulate and more hygienic.