![Heatron logo](/images/18.4500e2c217dc273a7c57da/1644519031878/HeatronColorLOGO%20new.svg")
News & Events
Thick Film Heating: Introduction
When considering a surface heating solution for your project or process, how about a heater that can be described as lighter, thinner, smaller, and faster? Well, if this is music to your application designers or project engineers, Heatron makes it possible by providing a wide range of highly customizable Thick Film Heaters (TFH) ideal for heating applications which are a game changer in obtaining these desires!Heatron offers four major categories of a variety of unique TFH products: Ceramic Core Alumina (Al2O3), Ceramic Core Aluminum Nitride (AlN), Thick Film Aluminum (Al), and Thick Film Stainless Steel. Each of these can be customized to suit projects in the industries of Medical & Life Sciences, Aviation and Transportation, Security, Food Service, Printing, Industrial, and Semiconductors, to name a few.Thick Film Heaters are built using a deposition process by screen printing resistive or conductor traces on top of a substrate. The deposition process allows for close control of the thickness and width of the resistor, thus, accurately controlling the heater’s resistance, wattage, watt density, and uniformity of the heated part.The nomenclature for a Thick Film Heater is determined by the substrate used. For example, “Ceramic Thick Film Heater” gets its name from ceramic being used as the substrate. Heatron’s ceramic TFHs are Ceramic Core Alumina (Al2O3) and Ceramic Core Aluminum Nitride (AlN). Moreover, Thick Film Aluminum (Al) and Thick Film Stainless Steel are made with substrates of Aluminum and Stainless Steel, respectively. To see pictures and specifications of the Thick Film products offered at Heatron, visit Thick Film Products and Services.For more information about the structure of Thick Film Heaters, the fabrication process, advantages of TFHs, applications in the industry, and what Heatron's Thick Film Heaters have to offer to you, download our full TFH guide. This full guide provided by Heatron will allow you to develop a better understanding about TFHs so you can find the right one for your project(s).
Complete form below and download our complete guide to Thick Film Heaters
Application Spotlight: PCR Testing
PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing is a phrase you may have come across often in 2020. Most of us have never heard it before. What is it?The good people at genome.gov External link. refer to this process as “molecular photocopying” in laymen terms. The general idea is to create more DNA samples from a smaller sampling pool in order to make detectable all the DNA present in a given sample.It has gained prominence in our daily lives thanks to COVID-19. This process is considered to be the gold standard by which the most accurate COVID-19 test results are achieved. This style of test looks for the virus sars-cov-2 itself.This test is supplemented by other testing such as antigen and antibody testing. Those tests utilize a different process as they are blood tests that are searching our blood for evidence of immune system reaction to the virus.The process of PCR testing is complicated. It is better to provide an exact quote from genome.gov External link. than trying to paraphrase.“To amplify a segment of DNA using PCR, the sample is first heated, so the DNA denatures, or separates into two pieces of single-stranded DNA. Next, an enzyme called ‘Taq polymerase’ synthesizes - builds - two new strands of DNA, using the original strands as templates. This process results in the duplication of the original DNA, with each of the new molecules containing one old and one new strand of DNA. Then each of these strands can be used to create two new copies, and so on, and so on. The cycle of denaturing and synthesizing new DNA is repeated as many as 30 or 40 times, leading to more than one billion exact copies of the original DNA segment.The entire cycling process of PCR is automated and can be completed in just a few hours. It is directed by a machine called a thermocycler, which is programmed to alter the temperature of the reaction every few minutes to allow DNA denaturing and synthesis.”There are many ways different medical equipment OEMs try to automate the process. For 20 years, Heatron has partnered with OEMs to manufacture heating elements designed to meet PCR test equipment standards. At the time of publishing this post, Heatron produces heating elements for many different OEMs that make PCR testing devices. These OEMs are a mix of established, perhaps even household, names as well as those in the start-up stage. The equipment itself varies from high volume lab equipment to attempts at point of care (the doctor’s office or hospital) devices. The heating elements supplied are as varied as can be. No two OEMs we work with are developing anything that can be reasonably viewed as the same heating platform.Manufacturing for medical OEMs requires certain levels of diligence, process controls, quality standards and traceability. Heatron excels at all of these and our long track record of being a trusted collaboration partner for medical OEMs is the testimony. Heatron is capable of manufacturing discrete elements as well as complex assemblies.
Contact us today for help with your project!
