A few months ago, a client asked about the medical joystick, which should be equipped with their operating room and MRI machine. They expect to get a desktop, with mouse buttons and is easy to operate. The working principle is like a conventional office mouse, and the pointer can be operated by the joystick.
Through these requests, we decided to develop a medical joystick suitable for medical application.
Based on our rich experience in medical keyboards and medical mice, the design concept is as follows:
1. It must be totally waterproof, since the operating room will frequently come into contact with water, disinfectant, blood, etc.
2. Latex gloves free
3. Great tactile feedback of the mouse buttons
4. Sensitive and accurate cursor position via joystick
5. The bottom should be not easy to move, and also to avoid falling during use
6. The overall color can match the color of the medical machine, preferably white, so that blood or stains can be easily found and remind users to disinfect the device in time
7. It is better to have a “right-click” button on the top of the joystick, this will be convenient for users to make confirmation instructions in the operating room
We got started. Mate’s professional engineers drew the drawing for the first time. During the design process, we found some more issues –
1. We decided to put the mouse position under the joystick, hence it won’t interfere with the joystick while using the mouse buttons
2. We determined to add LEDs on PCB, so even if in a dim working environment, users can easily see the position of the buttons
3. Mouse buttons should be made of silicone, which is soft, waterproof, and translucent, soft backlight appearance
4. Considering that if the hardness and weight of the overall case are not sufficient, the joystick will fall when the customer operates it. We use a high-cost aluminum shell with sandblasted oxidation treatment on the outer surface, which looks amazing. We added a sufficient amount of steel plates internally, and load-bearing is no longer a problem
5. Finally, regarding the waterproof, we open a new mold of the membrane sheet that fits the top surface of the case, covering the top panel, all the empty spaces are sealed, and the entire body can reach IP68 Waterproof level
After all the issues have been comprehensively considered, we got the customers’ approval and started to make samples. After a few months including internal testing time, these joysticks are finally delivered to customers and released now.
Below you will see the actual photos and video of this medical joystick.
If you are interested, you can also see the link to this product. It is now mature and available, but the stock is insufficient, first come first served.
If you need further information, click here to contact MATE’s Sales Team. Thanks!