Electrodes and other parts of the sensor are an important part of picking up the patient’s vital signs. For example, in a patient monitor, no matter how good the arrhythmia analysis software is, analysis is impossible if the input signal is noisy. For that reason, Nihon Kohden develops and manufactures its own electrodes, reagents and other items which directly affect the measurement accuracy of our medical equipment.
Nihon Kohden’s main medical supplies including Vitrode disposable electrodes are designed and manufactured at its Kawamoto factory in Saitama, Japan. Vitrode is designed and manufactured according to three key concepts: gentle on the patient, reliable monitoring, and an abundant line-up.
Because disposable electrodes directly contact the patient’s skin, we perform repeated testing to investigate any possible allergy or skin irritation. In this way we will continue to develop electrodes that are gentle on the patient. Also, by designing electrodes that take into consideration its compatibility with both the lead wire that connects to the electrode and the main unit, false alarms caused by noisy waveforms can be reduced so that reliable monitoring is possible.
Nihon Kohden makes many different kinds of electrodes and production volume is large so production at the Kawamoto factory is based around automated manufacturing machines. Previously, these machines were ordered from an outside vendor but now we make them in-house. By building our own automated manufacturing machines to match our electrode specifications, we can produce our varied line-up of electrodes with great efficiency. It also allows flexible electrode production to match our own order forecasts.