Home medical equipment refers to medical equipment used in other environments outside of professional medical institutions. The configuration of medical equipment at home is challenging. Its environment is different from that of a hospital, and there are often additional risks for patients or caregivers. For example, the age and structure of the house may affect the quality of care, especially when using medical equipment. For example, an old house may not have a suitable power socket for medical equipment, which means that it does not have a well-grounded power socket.
        

Houses built in the 1970s or 1980s may not be equipped with grounded power sockets. Even if the power sockets are connected to ground, their conductive quality and circuit conditions are also worrying. A ground line with poor conductivity may cause higher leakage current (or contact current). In some applications, such leakage current (contact current) not only reduces the performance of medical equipment, but also affects the personal safety of patients in severe cases, and even has a fatal danger. Figure 3 shows a typical wire connection in a North American residential structure. The wires are all twisted together and locked in a nut. Of course, the connection quality of such wiring depends on the skill level of the electrician.

Therefore, home medical equipment usually prefers to use Class II electrical equipment (without FG grounding), and the manufacturer will eliminate (or reduce) the related risks to ensure the safety of patient operation. MEAN WELL participated in the research and development of a new home-use hemodialysis instrument for a top private label medical equipment manufacturer. From design concept to plan execution, MEAN WELL actively participated in the whole process. The final equipment adopts MEAN WELL modified product ~ Class II level RPD-160B power supply (3" x 5", medical grade, dual output, substrate type). It satisfies all needs and also successfully provides OEM manufacturers with Class II power supply solutions for medical use.

Many countries today are facing the problem of an aging population. In order to provide convenient and real-time medical care, the more elderly people, the higher the requirements for home medical equipment. From the objective conditions, we expect that Class II medical power supply products will become the mainstream demand in the future medical equipment market.