Tiny sensor nabs power glitches

Power Standards Laboratory of Emeryville, CA, has released an electronic relay that promises to detect power line disturbances that can damage or disrupt MRI systems and other sensitive medical imaging equipment. The PQ1 Power Quality Relay is less than one-tenth the size (about the size of a human hand) and one-twentieth ($276) the cost of traditional power quality monitors. MRI field service engineers and hospital facility engineers can use it as a diagnostic tool, or it can be built into larger automated systems as part of a remote diagnostic system, according to the company. The relay responds within 500 nanoseconds to impulses and offers built-in standard depth-duration curves to respond to voltage sags and swells. The relay adapts to every standard voltage in the world.