Ohaus Adventurer Pro balances are customised to help a biomedical instruments company ensure the accuracy of sensitive ultrasound probes
Ultrasound devices are now an integral part of American medicine, with these tools used for therapeutic treatments, such as muscle rehabilitation, and tests to assess bone, tissue, skeletal, and fetal health.
The accuracy of ultrasound equipment - particularly the power levels - are critically important for a patient's diagnosis and treatment.
Ohmic Instruments, with the help of Ohaus, is ensuring the reliability and accuracy of ultrasound power heads, contributing to patient safety and well being.
Ohmic manufactures ultrasound power meters (UPMs) that test the total power output levels of therapeutic and diagnostic ultrasound power heads, or probes.
These meters help to ensure the safety and function of ultrasound machines.
A widely used method to test average power-output levels of therapeutic and diagnostic transducers - the device that converts electrical energy into sound waves and back - is the radiation force balance (RFB) method.
The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine chose the RFB method because it is conceptually simple, relatively easy to build and use, and provides a measurement that is acceptable to the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Ohmic's ultrasound power meters are built around Ohaus balances.
The power meter includes a target - an aluminum cone - suspended in a water bath.
The target is connected to a very sensitive balance - the Ohaus Adventurer Pro - with the ultrasound transducer that will be calibrated mounted in the water bath directly above the target.
When the ultrasound is switched on, the aluminum cone target experiences a force proportional to the total power of the ultrasonic wave.
This force changes the apparent weight of the target in the water bath, and the change in weight is measured by the Ohaus balance.
To measure the force exerted on the target to the nearest 100mW, scale sensitivity better than 0.01g is required.
The gram readings are converted by the scale, through custom Ohaus software, to read out directly in watts.
The user can then calibrate the ultrasound appropriately using this wattage reading.
"We use the Ohaus scale because of its programmability," said Ed Donovan, technical and sales representative at Ohmic.
"Another important feature of the Ohaus scales is their sensitivity.
"That allows us to get an extremely accurate reading".
Ohmic's first ultrasound power meter was made using the Ohaus three beam mechanical scale long before the advent of the Adventurer Pro, Donovan noted.
In these early Ohaus balance-based devices, users would take a reading in grams and then multiply by a factor of 14.65 for the total power reading.
With the Adventurer Pro series's sensitivity, a direct readout can be taken with no need for conversion.
The Ohaus Adventurer Pro family of top-loading analytical balances offers more standard features and options than any other balance in its class.
Their ability for customisation, by value-added resellers including Ohmic, is a key feature of their popularity.
Other notable features include:.
* Frameless draftshield - the flip-top, removable draftshield is designed without a top rail for side panels, allowing for unencumbered access into the weighing chamber and eliminating spillage.
* Easy to remove and replace, the draftshield is ideal for fast and easy cleaning.
* Simplicity - the Adventurer Pro's design simplicity enables easy portability with a straight-forward user interface.
* Performance - improved stabilisation enables faster and more accurate results, including 0.1mg readability.
* Applications and options - with a variety of models, users can customize their needs by selecting only those options and features they want.
