[Sponsored] Company Showcase: Bird Technologies

Bird Technologies is a global provider of radio frequency measurement and management solutions. The company was founded in 1942 as Bird Electronic Corporation by J. Raymond Bird in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a pioneer in the field of radio frequency (RF) power measurements, and his innovative work laid the foundation for the company’s success. 

In the 1940s, RF power measurements were in their infancy, and there was a lack of accurate and reliable instrumentation available. Bird recognized this need and began to develop a new type of power meter that was more accurate, reliable and versatile than any existing instrument.

One of Bird’s first products was the Model 43 Wattmeter, which was introduced in 1952. The Model 43 was the world’s first portable, dual-range RF wattmeter and became the de facto standard worldwide. Still used today, the instrument helps engineers and technicians measure forward and reflected RF power in a coaxial transmission line. 

Bird continued to innovate in the field of RF power measurement, developing new instruments and techniques that helped to establish the company as a leading provider of high-quality RF measurement solutions. 

Today, Bird continues to innovate and develop new products and technologies that help customers manage, calibrate and optimize their RF systems, test, measure, monitor and invent on a broader and deeper scale. Its newest products have been developed with ingenuity, precision and simplicity in mind to meet the emerging challenges for a wide range of industries, including medical. 

Bird Technologies Director of Strategic Development Katie Wright recently shared more information about the company.

Q: What are some advantages that your company has over the competition?

Wright: Unlike competing products, Bird has built our reputation on impeccable accuracy and simplicity for making RF power measurements. Radio frequency (RF) power measurements can be challenging to make because RF signals are complex and have many different parameters that need to be accurately measured. RF signals can be affected by a variety of factors such as interference, reflections and other environmental factors, which can make accurate power measurements more difficult.

Thru-line radio frequency (RF) power meters offer several advantages, including:

Accuracy: Thru-line RF power meters provide highly accurate measurements of RF power, allowing for precise power measurement in an MRI system. 

High power handling capacity: Thru-line RF power meters are capable of measuring high power levels without being damaged or affecting the performance of the RF MRI system. This is especially important when measuring MRI pulse signals.

Wide frequency range: Thru-line RF power meters can measure RF power across a wide frequency range, making them suitable for use in many different types of RF systems. 

Low insertion loss: Thru-line RF power meters have very low insertion loss, which means that they do not significantly impact the performance of the RF system they are measuring. 

Low VSWR: Thru-line RF power meters have a low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), which means that they do not introduce significant reflections into the RF system they are measuring. 

Q: What are some challenges that your company faced last year?

Wright: Bird designs and manufactures our products in the United States. This was a significant advantage during COVID as our business was deemed essential to remain open to produce products for mission-critical markets such as medical, public safety and semiconductor. The challenges, however, surrounded the ability to receive raw material. Being a small company, Bird was able to be extremely flexible and pivot with our manufacturing by prioritizing critical products, rethinking logistics and diversifying suppliers.

Q: Can you explain your company’s core competencies?

Wright: Bird’s core competence is the ability to measure in-line, continuous or pulsed, RF energy with precision and simplicity. Bird is able to calibrate the MRI RF power to ensure the best diagnostic image without causing harm to the patient.

Bird’s solution would benefit MRI equipment that does not have the calibration procedure built into the unit. We have an easy-to-read display that will plug into the directional power sensor through a USB cable and our sensor that uses an element with a frequency range of 10MHz to 130MHz and load with peak power of 37kW and pulse width, max. of 10ms. This kit also is carefully calibrated at our factory to support the accuracy for MRI calibration.

 Simple and quick way to measure pulse power during MRI testing and calibration.

 Does not require a technician to use an oscilloscope.

 The sensor package is calibrated using the same pulse amplifiers used for the MRI machine.

 RF power and all the additional sources of uncertainty are eliminated.

Q: What product or service that your company offers are you most excited about right now?

Wright: We are excited to expand our RF power measurement capabilities into the medical market, capitalizing on years of RF experience and our portable test equipment products. Bird’s new MRI kit is specially designed for MRI testing that directly samples and measures the RF power during MRI calibration. It is perfect for MRI equipment resellers, MRI and imaging service providers, field service managers and engineers. 

These kits are deployed to hospitals all over the globe where technicians will disconnect the RF cabling connected to the MRI machine and use our test kit to determine the power output. Technologists, radiologists and facility staff all work hard to ensure MRI safety for every patient they treat and rely on service technicians, MRI providers and maintenance teams to have the proper test equipment to make sure their MR equipment is calibrated and safe.  

Q: What is on the horizon for your company?

Wright: Data harnessing in RF products will make possible actionable insights that can inform decision-making and drive better performance outcomes. One example of how data harnessing in RF MRI sensors can lead to actionable insights is in the area of predictive maintenance. By collecting data from sensors embedded in RF products, it is possible to monitor performance and detect potential issues before they become major problems. This can help companies schedule maintenance activities proactively, reducing downtime and saving money on repairs. 

Q: Can you tell TechNation readers more about your on-site test equipment for MRI calibration?

Wright: RF power plays an important role in the medical industry that requires high precision RF power measurement. Most major manufacturers of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines purchase Bird equipment for the research and development and field calibration of their MRIs.

Bird’s new MRI test kit provides a complete set of equipment to carry out precise and independent measurements of RF power encountered. It also determines if the equipment is not in the appropriate exposure limits during device or pulse sequencing test. 

Our goal is to provide companies with an easier way to test MRI safety for RF exposure levels and to make independent RF power measurements to test the accuracy of the specific absorption rate over the range of operating conditions encountered in MRI. 

For more information, visit birdrf.com.