Imagine an instrument that can peer into the human throat and capture every movement of the vocal cords in surprising detail. The Czech company Kettex is developing just such a camera for ENT doctors.
The original KX-01 model has served doctors reliably for many years, but medicine is moving forward and better quality images are now needed to accurately diagnose vocal cord disease.
The new version of KX-02 was supposed to be a revolution in the diagnosis of voice problems. But every revolution has its obstacles. During the development of the new generation of this device, Kettex encountered a seemingly unsolvable problem – the high power consumption of the device.
New camera problem: power tuning for USB 3.0
We first communicated with Kettex in 2023. They approached us because they knew we had experience in special electronics for medicine.
“You were the only one who could make a USB 3.0 hub, companies before you couldn’t do it.” Said RNDr. Filip Krolupper Ph.D., CEO of Kettex Development s.r.o.
But it wasn’t entirely easy. “When we launched the first prototype camera, we were thrilled with the image quality. But that enthusiasm was quickly replaced by apprehension,” recalls the head of development.
It was clear that the power consumption of the device was higher than the limits for USB 3.0, and our research began. Different design options were tried and in the end a combined solution of USB 3.0 for video and USB 2.0 for control won out.
Design in Altium Designer and cooling simulation
The new USB 3.0 communication solution had to be developed with careful adherence to all design rules. In this we are assisted (in addition to a lot of non-transferable experience) by the top software Altium Designer.
We draw all the designs in it, and for this project it allowed us to simulate how the signals would behave on the miniature connections inside the camera. Of course, we also monitor the signal integrity on the PCB (i.e. that the signal does not get corrupted, distorted or noisy).
Today, after months of development, the KX-02 is awaiting final certification. Once it passes, we will begin production here. For doctors, this will mean access to equipment that will allow them to diagnose voice problems even more accurately. And for us? More proof that even seemingly intractable problems have solutions – you just need to know how to solve them.
