On Environmental Vibration Power Spectra and Accelerated Testing for Medical Devices

This paper proposes field-testing-based power spectra of vibration in such environments as helicopters and ground vehicles. The spectra could then be used as important input data to guide accelerated testing, quality analysis and design for medical devices (or products) used in the aforementioned transportation means. Specifically, a broad spectrum of environmental vibration is first measured in a series of field vibration tests at various locations inside the transportation means and at different operational conditions (e.g., take-off, cruise, and landing conditions if medical devices are used in helicopters). Consequently, comprehensive field-testing-based power spectra are constructed, in an attempt to catch the inherent nature of random vibration environment in each and every type of the transportation means, which is not adequately specified in standard codes. As one of the applications of the proposed spectra, accelerated random vibration testing for medical devices used in either helicopters or ground vehicles is proposed, which could be used not only for product field life prediction but also for its consequent reliability analysis and design.