Medical device battery repair in Riga — SATER

Rebuilding medical device batteries demands higher precision than standard consumer electronics battery repair. Portable oxygen concentrators — for example, the Inogen One G3 with an 8-cell Li-Ion pack or the Philips SimplyGo with a 14.4V lithium block — are devices on which a patient may be vitally dependent. Cell selection is therefore especially strict: we use only high-quality SONY, SAMSUNG or PANASONIC cells from verified suppliers, and every cell is individually tested before assembly.

The assembly process includes precise cell matching by internal resistance (within ±5 mΩ) and capacity (within ±30 mAh), spot welding with pure nickel strip, BMS board connection, and full capacity verification using a calibrated electronic load. For infusion pump and patient monitor batteries we also verify the communication interface between the battery and the device — many medical instruments use the SMBus or I²C protocol to read battery status. After assembly we run three full charge-discharge cycles to verify capacity stability and BMS protection functions. All work is performed at our service centre at Silmaču iela 6, Riga.

The medical device market is fragmented — dozens of manufacturers with unique battery pack configurations, many of which are no longer available for purchase. SATER offers custom battery pack fabrication that replaces original batteries with modern cells and an improved BMS. A typical example is upgrading NiMH batteries to Li-Ion technology for older medical devices. NiMH batteries, widely used in early-2000s portable medical equipment, are now outdated — their energy density is two to three times lower than Li-Ion cells, and they suffer from a pronounced memory effect.

Moving from NiMH to Li-Ion requires careful voltage and current analysis. A Li-Ion cell has a nominal voltage of 3.6–3.7V compared with 1.2V for NiMH, so the cell count and configuration differ. We design the new pack to deliver exactly the same output voltage as the original and fit a BMS board with medical-grade protection features — overheat protection, overcurrent protection, cell balancing and precise capacity monitoring. The result is a battery that is lighter, holds more energy and lasts longer than the original NiMH pack. Every custom solution is developed on the basis of a thorough analysis of the device specifications.