Medical Design Briefs - May 2021 - 28

materials and technology. The company's expertise in implantable silicone
components and assemblies enables it
to help OEMs incorporate the latest
medical-grade silicone formulations into their designs to deliver rapid silicone
prototypes.

Materials include LSR from 5 to 80
durometer, HCR from 20 to 80 durometer, and room temperature vulcanizing silicone (RTV). An expert assists
OEMs in material selection to help
ensure that all design requirements are
met. The company's manufacturing

facilities and equipment are designed
for specifically for molding medical
and implantable silicone, combination
components, and biomaterial grade
plastics.
For more information, visit http://info.
hotims.com/79413-346.

Micromotor Winding Technology Uses AI to Improve
Motor Performance
Achievable coils increase
the capabilities of the
micromotors.
Mirmex Motor
Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium
Industrial start-up and mechatronic
pioneer Mirmex Motor has developed a
new method of manufacturing highpower density electric micromotor windings. Constructed from flexible printed
circuits and developed using artificial
intelligence (AI), the micromotors can
be up to 50 percent more compact and
70 percent more dynamic than traditional micromotors. They have three
times fewer heat losses and are assembled 10 times faster than most existing
motors that use conventional windings
made from copper wire.
Designed for use in high-performance
industrial and surgical precision powered tools and active prostheses, the
motors are fully customizable using a
proprietary software. According to the
company, motor production is greatly
simplified, resulting in a quicker manufacturing time with reduced tooling
costs not possible process using traditional copper coils.
" These days, micromotors are everywhere, from drones to surgical devices
and robots. The demand for micromotors continues to grow, " says Prof. Bruno
Dehez, chief scientific advisor at Mirmex
Motor. " The performance of such
motors depends entirely on their copper
coils. Their windings are particularly
long and tedious to wind in order to
obtain the best possible result. Many
coils are still assembled by hand in the
prototyping phase. "
The technology is primarily applicable to slotless permanent magnet motors, whether used as synchronous machines or as slotless brushless direct current (SBLDC) machines. These devices

The custom motors can be smaller in size and lighter in weight for a given torque. (Credit: Mirmex
Motor)

have existed for 40 years but have not
seen significant innovation since their
inception. While traditional highperformance coils are extremely complex to design, manipulate, and manufacture, the company's innovation meets
the demands of users looking for increased performance and the convenience of compactness.
" The production machines used historically are designed for a particular
type of coil or for a single application, "
says Dr. François Baudart, chief technology officer at Mirmex. " This complex
process slows down prototyping and
manufacturing, making it expensive and
inflexible. Since micromotors are mainly
intended for areas where innovation
and progress are essential, we had to
find a better solution. "
The technology is the result of several years of research, which began in
2013 at Université Catholique de
Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium. In
2017, the research team founded Mirmex Motor to continue the development of the technology and closed
fundraising and subsidies of several million euros from local investors and the
European Commission.

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ToC

■ How It Works
Instead of winding the yarns individually, the winding topologies are created
and printed on strips of flexible printed
circuit board (PCB) material. The proprietary patterns are designed using AI algorithms and, once wound, the overlapping
layers form an electric motor winding.
As a result of its research, the company has been able to implement an automated process for the creation of winding topologies and validate the printing
on flexible materials of winding patterns
that are impossible to reproduce traditionally. The coils made on these flexible
circuits provide greatly improved performance to the motors.
By varying the size, patterns, thickness, or interconnections of the conductors, the achievable coils increase the
capabilities of the micromotors. The
design of the ideal motor depends on its
use, its environment, and its constraints.
The software develops the best composition on a case-by-case basis and is easily
adaptable to a variety of situations due to
the flexibility and high degree of design
freedom offered.
For more information, visit http://info.
hotims.com/79413-347.
Medical Design Briefs, May 2021

http://info.hotims.com/79413-346 http://info.hotims.com/79413-347 http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com

Medical Design Briefs - May 2021

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