08 July 2026

Most printed circuit boards (PCBs) begin life as neat rectangles. Medical devices rarely give designers that luxury.

Whether developing a force-sensing surgical instrument, a wearable monitoring device, or a handheld surgical tool, electronics engineers are frequently asked to fit increasingly sophisticated functionality into spaces that seem impossibly small. This is an even greater challenge when those devices must operate safely and reliably in clinical or surgical environments where performance, robustness, and regulatory compliance are non-negotiable.

Designing electronics for these applications often means abandoning conventional PCB layouts and embracing highly customized board shapes that follow the contours of the product itself.

The Growing Demand for Miniaturized Medical Electronics

Modern medical devices are expected to do more than ever before. They must collect accurate data, communicate wirelessly, process signals in real time, and operate on minimal power budgets, all while remaining lightweight, ergonomic, and comfortable for users. For surgical and clinical devices, physical constraints are particularly demanding and may need to fit inside surgical tools, force sensing devices and catheter-based systems to name a few.

In many cases, the industrial design is driven by the clinician's workflow or the patient's anatomy, leaving engineers to create electronics that fit within highly irregular spaces rather than designing the enclosure around the electronics.

Why Medical PCB Design Is Different

Creating an oddly shaped circuit board is not simply a mechanical exercise. Every unusual contour introduces new engineering considerations:

Signal Integrity

As boards become smaller and more densely populated, routing sensitive analogue signals alongside digital interfaces becomes increasingly challenging. Sensor outputs, wireless communications, and processor circuits must coexist without introducing noise or compromising measurement accuracy.

Mechanical Reliability

Medical devices are frequently handled, sterilized, transported, or subjected to repeated loading cycles. Narrow PCB sections, unusual cut-outs, and complex outlines can create mechanical stress concentrations that require careful analysis and reinforcement.

Thermal Management

Even low-power electronics generate heat. In compact medical devices there is often little room for traditional cooling methods, requiring careful component placement and thermal modelling.

Manufacturability

A board that looks impressive in CAD software may prove difficult or expensive to manufacture. Designers must consider panelisation, assembly tolerances, test access, and production yield from the earliest stages of development.

Case Study: A Force-Sensing Device Designed for Clinical Use

A good example of these challenges can be seen in the development of a force-sensing medical device developed with ArtioSense.

The project involved the design and development of a highly sensitive force-sensing system intended for use in surgical settings when surgeons replace hip joints. The device required accurate force measurement whilst exactly matching the external form factor of existing trial hip liners. These are only a few milimeters thick and hemispherical in shape, leaving no flat surfaces and only microns of internal space to play with. As well as the analogue sensing electronics, signal processing, Bluetooth wireless capability, and batteries needed to fit within this space for the device to function.

ArtioSense hip replacement sensor tool.