NEURO OMEGA // ALON RAZGOUR WITH GEOMATRIX // FOR ALPHA OMEGA //

Neuro Omega is the world's most advanced Microelectrode Recording (MER) system for intra-operational functional neurosurgery. This system provides real time feedback on the surgical targets during the procedure for the treatment of movement disorders and is ideal for all medical institutions that offer functional neurosurgery. Neuro Omega provides electrophysiological recording and stimulation capabilities to aid the surgical team in locating the precise target and provides integration and flexibility for research during the surgical procedure. Neuro Omega offers a wide range of functions and tools for documenting and analyzing crucial data during each procedure. Neuro Omega is manufactured for the best hospitals around the world, in order to serve physicians and leading researchers in achieving maximum efficiency in their research goals without compromising clinical efficacy.

About Design challenges:

Neuro Omega's design derives from our research process. Initially, the focus was to achieve a basic useful design, allowing all the necessary technology to be used in hospital operation rooms – both sterile and non-sterile areas (different defined ranges from the patient's bed). The design had to address the routing of the systems many cable's inputs and outputs and various components, different probes attached, as well as ease of use for the doctors operating it. During this course of action, something gave our design team the haunting feeling that there is an aspect of this design that we were missing.

At that point - Neuro Omega's design took up a large footprint in the OR space due to the systems components: the communication unit, speakers, two computers and the systems electric core. When beginning to break it down to the different segments, all the different key stakeholders in the factory were interviewed – the engineering team, medical personnel, marketing and sales group. Through this process it came to attention that the sales method for the Neuro Omega until this point was sending a demo unit to be presented to the hospital to be tested by potential users.

Because of the system’s large size, shipping could take up to 4 days from location to location, for which the company's sales representative had to supervise the loading, receiving, pickup and transport it to the facility where the demonstration takes place, taking up another couple of days. It clearly came to light that the time it took to transport Neuro Omega between two sales points was obstructive to the product's success. This realization led us to re-design the product from its core, the main guidelines deriving from this base-point of the sales system, even preliminary to the changes needed to be made regarding its process of use and other various technical functions.

The team's vision was to re-create the Neuro Omega as a product that can be transformed into a trolley, carried onto a plane by the sales rep., eliminating shipping separately and reducing time between the demos. Keeping in mind that our goal is to have the same product serve both as demo-machine and as the final product to be sold to the hospital – we proceeded by stripping the system from its generic additives (monitors, speakers, computer) and extracting the product's main core. A stand-alone unit emerged – ready to be connected to a generic computer and speakers for the use in sales demonstrations, allowing the mounting of this unit onto a designated cart, that includes all the components necessary for operational use and fully functioning as the final product. When mounted onto this cart - the legs of the stand-alone unit becomes a feature used to display and hold the different probes in use in the Neuro Omega in its complete form.

In the design of the systems fully assembled state there existed a main focus for the design: The multiple probes connecting the patient to the machine, as well as the probes connecting the machine to other implements that process information arriving from the Neuro Omega in real time. The design addressing these two simultaneously existing needs is reflected in the machines diamond-like shape, giving it two front facets, both with screens and plug-in hubs. Each of the surfaces facie the area in the OR that is relevant to their role – one facing  towards the patient's bed and the other away from it, creating a structure that very literally and visually guides the operator of the proper use of the Neuro Omega's various clinical and surgical options.

About Engineering Challenges:

At first, customer demands seemed very distant in terms of practical possibilities, innovation and development, disassembly, presentation purposes, effective containerization, and location of electronic cards inside the product. Also, we had to meet the requirements for the EMC test. The reducing the size of the electronic cards system and components required another thermal testing of the system. “Geomatrix” Engineers, along with the client mapped the system properties and recorded SPEC which allowed the crew to analyze in depth the technological challenges it faced.

The next phase was the most critical one to the developing process: Understanding the needs of the system by engineers and design requirements for innovation. Without this step, we were like a marathon runner who does not know the race track. This step required the development engineers’ vast experience and high analytical ability. The second phase took working each assemblage separately and built for each one a number of concepts schematically, which correspond to the line design and also be functional and usable for production.

The decision to split the box into two "separate" units was received together with the development team and product designer who sat together day and night to solve a variety of engineering problems created by the split. One of the things that made our job together easier was working with SIEMENS’s Solid Edge CAD Software. The ability to change parts relatively quickly in the assembly environment gave us the opportunity to see the results of the product easily without the need of complex and slow editing. Also, design challenges that were required by "Razgour" urged the engineers to stretch almost to the limit of the Sheet metal environment in the software, to build very unique forms, when everything is carried out together in one piece of tin. This was an extraordinary achievement.
 

Challenges of the inner complexes required innovative thinking as well. Very large circuits, power supplies, complicated wiring and RFI Shielding challenged us again. The customer’s demand of easy maintenance (disassembly and assembly) of two internal circuits was also constituted a unique engineering challenge. Exceptional customer’s demands required thinking outside the box and by brainstorming, our team of engineers went above and beyond to solve every problem. Again, using various models of Solid Edge software and especially synchronous tools, Allowed us to work much faster than before.

Another significant issue that the software helped us with was the ability to plan and adjust the complex design for the manufacturer. After we found a manufacturer who agreed to meet the conditions of the work, we were asked to make additional adjustments and changes. Here, too, the ability to make quick changes so no damage and impact on the hierarchy of parts and other the feature of the part we have significantly shortened the development process.

Finally - we passed mechanical and electronic laboratory tests and successfully helped the customer to provide a very innovative and a real life saver advanced Neurosurgery product.

The client - Alpha Omega – from their web link:

http://www.alphaomega-eng.com/category.aspx?catid=1