With the continuous advancement of medical technology, medical testing equipment is evolving toward higher performance, greater integration, and smaller size.

For medical equipment manufacturers, reducing equipment size is not only important for improving product competitiveness but also for enhancing installation flexibility and usability.

However, as medical equipment becomes more compact, a new challenge emerges:

The available internal space becomes smaller, while cooling requirements remain unchanged.

How to achieve reliable thermal management within limited space has become a key issue during the development of next-generation medical equipment.

A medical testing equipment manufacturer, Company K, faced this challenge during the development of a new model. Through SANYO DENKI San Ace fan selection support and airflow testing, the company successfully reduced fan thickness by 60% while maintaining the required cooling performance, enabling further miniaturization of the equipment.

Thermal Challenges Caused by Medical Equipment Miniaturization

In recent years, medical testing equipment has incorporated more advanced functions, including:

• Higher-performance electronic components;
• More complex control systems;
• Increased integration density.

Although these improvements enhance equipment capabilities, they also make internal structures more compact.

For medical testing equipment, continuous operation of:

• Control circuits;
• Power modules;
• High-density electronic components;

generates heat that must be efficiently removed.

Therefore, cooling systems for compact medical equipment must achieve multiple goals simultaneously:

• Smaller installation space;
• Stable cooling performance;
• Reliable long-term operation.

Customer Challenge: Existing Cooling Fans Could No Longer Fit in the New Equipment Design

Company K is a manufacturer of medical testing equipment that was developing a new model.

To improve product competitiveness, the new equipment required a smaller overall design.

However, the development team discovered that the existing cooling fan could no longer be installed due to the reduced internal space.

The previous fan specifications were:

As the equipment structure became more compact, there was no longer enough space to install the existing 25 mm thick fan.

Therefore, Company K needed a new cooling fan that could provide:

• A smaller installation footprint;
• Reduced thickness;
• The same cooling capability as the existing fan.

Why Catalog-Based Fan Selection Was Not Enough

During the initial search, Company K reviewed product catalogs and websites to find a smaller replacement fan.

However, the development team found that reducing fan thickness often resulted in:

• Lower airflow;
• Reduced static pressure;
• Insufficient cooling performance.

In actual equipment applications, fan performance is affected by many factors, including:

• Internal airflow resistance;
• Component layout;
• Air inlet and outlet structures;
• Equipment assembly density.

Therefore, selecting a fan only by comparing catalog specifications cannot accurately determine actual cooling performance after installation.

SANYO DENKI Solution: Selecting the Optimal Fan Through Airflow Testing

At an industrial equipment exhibition, Company K discussed its cooling challenges with SANYO DENKI engineers.

To solve the issue of reducing fan thickness while maintaining cooling performance, SANYO DENKI conducted measurements using:

Airflow Tester

The prototype equipment was measured to analyze:

• System airflow resistance;
• Fan operating point;
• Actual cooling requirements.

Based on the measurement results, SANYO DENKI engineers identified the most suitable fan solution for the equipment.

The testing revealed that a compact fan model, which had initially been excluded during catalog selection, could actually provide sufficient cooling performance when installed in the equipment.

60 mm × 60 mm × 10 mm San Ace Fan Enables Compact Design

Company K ultimately adopted a:

60 mm × 60 mm, 10 mm thick San Ace cooling fan

to replace the previous:

60 mm × 60 mm, 25 mm thick fan.

The improvement results are shown below:

By reducing fan thickness while maintaining cooling performance, the new fan solution created additional internal space and supported further miniaturization of the medical testing equipment.

Medical Equipment Cooling Design Requires More Than Just Fan Size Comparison

During medical equipment development, it is easy to assume:

“A larger fan always provides better cooling performance.”

However, actual thermal performance depends on:

Fan characteristics + Equipment airflow resistance + Installation conditions

Even the same fan model may deliver different cooling results depending on:

• Equipment structure;
• Airflow path;
• Internal pressure loss.

For compact, high-density medical equipment, determining the actual operating point through measurement is often more effective than selecting a fan based only on catalog specifications.

SANYO DENKI San Ace Supports High-Performance and Compact Medical Equipment Design

As medical equipment continues to become smaller and more sophisticated, cooling systems must provide:

• High reliability;
• Stable thermal performance;
• Long service life;
• Flexible installation options.

SANYO DENKI San Ace cooling fans support medical equipment manufacturers through:

• Airflow and pressure measurement;
• Professional fan selection assistance;
• Rapid sample delivery;
• Application-specific thermal solutions.

By combining advanced fan technology with engineering support, San Ace helps manufacturers overcome cooling challenges and achieve the balance between compact design and reliable thermal management.

As medical equipment continues to evolve toward smaller and more powerful designs, optimized cooling solutions will become increasingly important for product development and competitiveness.