Just like it is a challenge to people, high altitude is also a challenge to most medical power supply and equipment.But In Quankang, all of our medical power supplies are available in high altitude areas.Today let’s find out why 5000 meters is a challenge.
The difference in instrument performance at high and low altitudes.
For most medical power supplies and equipment that meet the certification of IEC 60601-1,they can be operated stably and perform flawlessly at low altitudes. But once they are equipped at higher altitude, problems turn out and will eventually break the machines.
The power supply inexplicably restarts, the output is unstable, and occasional arcing occurs; in severe cases, there’s even a burning smell and smoke. These phenomena are not new, but they have been underestimated for a long time. Many engineering teams only realize that the problem is not in the “workmanship” or “batch,” but in a more fundamental and unforgiving variable—altitude—when the equipment actually reaches Tibet, Qinghai, the Andes, or high-altitude border outposts.
Although there are many unstable factors for power supplies or machines to work at high altitude, “medical” still need to be stable, precise, and professional.
What really affects the performance of the medical power supplies and devices at high altitudes?
We all know that air is not free at high altitude areas, and unfortunately air itself is an outstanding insulator.Under standard atmospheric pressure, air molecules are tightly packed, forming a dense defensive network that makes it difficult for free electrons to penetrate. Typically, the dielectric strength of air is approximately 3 kV/mm, meaning that in a dry, flat environment, you would need to apply a high voltage of 3000 volts to break down a 1 mm layer of air.
The problem is that, at high altitude areas like Tibet, the air becomes thinner as the altitude increases.Similarly, atmospheric pressure will also decrease.And now the dense defensive network becomes weak and can be easily penetrated by electrons causing electric arc then destroy the power supply.What a faulty power adapter means for medical equipment and patients, I bet we all know.
Just as a bag of potato chips will bulge at high altitudes, the internal pressure of the adapter will also increase at high altitudes.
At an altitude of 5000 meters, the internal pressure of electrolytic capacitors is significantly higher than the external pressure. If the sealing process is not robust enough, the electrolyte may slowly leak through the sealing ring (i.e., “electrolyte leakage”), leading to a shortened lifespan or even failure of the power supply. Therefore, power adapters designed for use at 5000 meters must use capacitors with extremely high pressure resistance and sealing reliability.
Paschen’s Law
Understanding all of this is impossible without understanding Paschen’s Law. It describes the relationship between gas breakdown voltage, the distance between electrodes, and gas pressure, and is one of the fundamental formulas in electrical engineering for determining the safety of gas gap insulation.
Here is how the formula looks like:
In the picture you could see the comparison of breakdown voltage at sea level versus at an altitude of 5000 meters.
Simply put, at an altitude of around 5000 meters, the electrical clearance needs to be 1.48 times greater than at sea level.And that’s how our engineers solve the problems.
Three Derating Strategies Our Engineers Use
Spatial derating (electrical clearance and creepage distance):
By introducing PCB slotting under high-voltage nodes, or by adding physical isolation barriers between primary and secondary domains, the effective discharge path is deliberately lengthened. The arc is forced to take a longer, less favorable route, which directly suppresses high-voltage arcing in thin air. These are not cosmetic layout tricks; they are structural countermeasures against Paschen-driven breakdown.
Thermal derating：
As for the temperature,people may consider that cold weather will bring better cooling,which is untrue. At high altitudes, just as we mentioned before, the air is thinner than in normal conditions, and thin air cannot effectively dissipate heat.
Our designers mitigate temperature rise by reducing power density. Using MOSFETs with lower on-resistance (Rds(on)) reduces losses and thus heat generation. Even in compact adapters, carefully designed airflow paths help limited convection carry heat away, cooling the hottest components. Our goal is not maximum output power, but maintaining a stable junction temperature under the most challenging altitude conditions.
Component selection derating:
Component-level derating decides long-term reliability. At high altitude, high-voltage capacitors, transformer insulation, enamel-coated wire, and interwinding insulation all experience higher electrical stress because air no longer insulates as well. Parts that look “safe enough” on paper may be operating uncomfortably close to their limits once pressure drops.
High-altitude design treats voltage ratings as a baseline, not a target. Extra margin is built in on purpose, keeping components well below their maximum ratings. This prevents gradual insulation damage, partial discharge, and early aging. It is not something you see highlighted in datasheets, but it is exactly what keeps a medical power supply stable, quiet, and reliable after years of operation in thin air.
Industry application scenarios
Based on experience,high-altitude medical power supplies are commonly used in emergency rescue, remote diagnostics, and special working conditions.For example,
vehicle-mounted medical equipment and mobile oxygen generators in the Tibet region can’t bear any of the electric failure from power adapters, otherwise some life will pass away.
About remote diagnostics, doctors at high altitudes use portable ultrasound and electrocardiogram monitoring equipment to diagnose and treat patients. Any electric shocks will lead to incorrect readings and misjudgment,which is unacceptable to doctors or patients.
Under special operating conditions, such as with the supporting equipment surrounding a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, these systems inherently require repeated switching between high and low-pressure environments. The power supply must not only adapt to the insulation and heat dissipation challenges posed by low pressure but also withstand the additional stress caused by rapid environmental changes. In this context, high-altitude design is no longer a “bonus feature” but a prerequisite for the equipment to be allowed into the system.
Conclusion: Safety is about restraint regardless of cost
High-altitude design is not about simply stacking parameters, but rather about respecting the laws of physics, and proactively building in margins in uncontrollable environments to ensure the system never fails.
Contact us to get reliable high-altitude medical power supply solutions.
