PPO-Elektroniikka protects patients and stops forest fires

Text Patrik Saarto  Photos PPO-Elektroniikka

I arrive at Maununneva in Helsinki, covered with a light layer of snow, on a bright early spring morning. Here, in the middle of a peaceful residential area, in the former premises of an architectural office, operates PPO-Elektroniikka. Founded in 1981, the company consists of a five-person team and a tight-knit network of partners honed over decades.

It is in such small and agile companies in Finland that inspiring engineering expertise lies, the fruits of which too few recognize in their daily lives, even though the solutions have actually addressed essential questions around us.

I am welcomed by the founder and CEO of the company Timo Ohtonen, along with Tiina Ohtonen, who is responsible for communications and administration. Based on the company’s website, the range of products and services is extensive – solutions can be found from hospitals to logistics and from video surveillance to extinguishing forest fires. Timo Ohtonen and I take cups of coffee and delve into the story of PPO-Elektroniikka.

Like all good success stories, this one also starts in a garage. Three young friends, Parikka, Patrikka, and Ohtonen, whose names form the acronym PPO, began in the early 1980s to manufacture a small-volume electronic product alongside their main jobs, for which Ohtonen’s employer had originally asked to find a subcontractor. Soon, volumes, orders, and the product repertoire began to grow unexpectedly.

Like all good success stories, this one also starts in a garage.

– I just planned to pay off some student loans, I never intended to start an electronics company as my main job. But then it just took off, more and more work came in, and it just carried me along, Ohtonen recalls the early days of his company.

In that garage, the idea that grew into PPO-Elektroniikka’s key product was born. One of the devices the trio manufactured was related to operating rooms, and Ohtonen began to ponder what actually happens in operating rooms. He wasn’t thinking about surgical operations, but rather the electrical current of the devices used in the operations.

It turned out that no one in hospitals had studied the behavior of electrical currents in detail, even though operating rooms are full of valuable devices connected to patients who might be fighting for their lives. Even a small electrical fault can be fatal for a patient or at least damage the device – even ten milliamperes can be a fatal shock for an open-heart patient.

The trio developed a monitoring device and installed the first devices in Meilahti in 1983. They detected up to 21 faulty healthcare devices per day. Hospitals were alarmed, and soon wanted monitoring devices everywhere.

– In December 1983, the authorities decided that this was such a big problem that the monitoring must be made mandatory. We have delivered 35,000 of these systems. In larger hospitals about 250 systems are needed, Ohtonen says.

Now, over 40 years later, the fifth generation of this MEV system is on the market. It has been developed for global markets, as the rest of the world is only now waking up to what has been mandatory in Finland since 1983. In the EU, the system only became mandatory in 2015.

There are only eight companies worldwide that manufacture similar monitoring systems, with another top company coming from Germany. PPO-Elektroniikka is a leading pioneer in the hospital sector.

The team of PPO-Elektroniikka. Timo Ohtonen in the middle with Tiina Ohtonen to his right.

Isolation level monitoring gives an early warning

PPO-Elektroniikka’s solution involves monitoring the isolation level and medical isolation transformer of critical G2 areas in hospitals. G2 areas include operating rooms and intensive care units, where procedures are performed particularly close to the heart. In such areas, the electrical network is floating, meaning it is isolated from the national grid with its own transformer, and the power supply is ensured by the hospital’s backup power.

Other classifications are G0 and G1, which are, for example, general areas or treatment areas in hospitals where electrical disturbances do not pose a life-threatening risk to patients.

Ohtonen explains the principle of isolation level monitoring in the simplest terms using a regular electrical cable. PPO-Elektroniikka’s system monitors the isolation level between the phase conductor and the grounding conductor. If the insulation of the conductors in devices, components, or the room’s electrical wiring starts to leak due to cable aging or poor connections, the system immediately detects the hazardous situation.

– Hospitals requested that this isolation level be monitored around the clock. The team had a breakthrough and we figured out how to monitor and even pinpoint where the cable is broken. No one else in the world has figured that out, Ohtonen praises his team.

“No one else in the world has figured that out.”

So, as in the early stages the system’s alarm only indicated that one of the dozens of devices in the operating room was faulty, nowadays the system also pinpoints where the emerging fault is. Thanks to the early warning, the lives of patients and staff are saved, and a device worth hundreds of thousands of euros can be serviced for just a few hundred euros before it breaks down completely.

– This is the fundamental idea we’re aiming for, Ohtonen explains.

According to Ohtonen, the system does not significantly increase the costs of the operating room. Operating rooms usually cost 8-12 million euros, and the monitoring system can be added for 4000-6000 euros. The typical lifespan of an operating room is at most 15 years, so when the costs are spread over the entire lifespan, it amounts to cents per day. It is a very cheap life insurance for patients and staff and also saves on equipment costs. According to Ohtonen, it has been calculated in Finland that the system has already saved at least 2500-3000 lives.

Demonstration of MEV system in India.

A new philosophy for forest fire fighting

PPO-Elektroniikka’s extensive range includes lighting solutions for hospitals, location services, video surveillance, and electrical contracting. Operating in various fields has brought resilience to the ups and downs of economic cycles over the years. Another key product is found in forest fire fighting.

The solution has been sought outside the box, or in this case, outside the forest fire. The traditional solution for extinguishing a forest fire is to drop water directly onto the fire from the air. Most of the water evaporates immediately due to the heat, meaning it goes to waste. A typical problem worldwide is that if extinguishing chemicals are added to the water, they make the substance so thick that it cannot be sprayed. After extinguishing efforts, the forest is often left contaminated with chemicals, and the flight hours accumulate a hefty bill.

According to Ohtonen, the first idea was to investigate whether it was possible to develop a completely non-toxic substance that would be as fluid as water. PPO-Elektroniikka, in collaboration with the Finnish company Kiilto, developed the ForExt extinguishing agent, which is mixed with water at a ratio of 1:100. The second idea was to focus on containing the fire area rather than extinguishing the burning forest.

– We developed a completely new philosophy. With ForExt, we create a firebreak area, meaning we don’t throw anything into the burning forest, but instead create an area 500 meters or even a kilometer wide to stop the fire at the treated area, Ohtonen explains.

“We developed a completely new philosophy.”

The application of the extinguishing agent can be done with various equipment. Finnish company Ponsse has developed a fire extinguishing system that can be loaded onto a forwarder, known as Mörkö. Another Finnish company, Kesla, has introduced a fire extinguishing trailer that can be attached to a tractor. ForExt was used in action, for example, in the aftermath of the Kalajoki forest fire in 2021. Firebreak areas were effectively created with Mörkö and ForExt.

At the beginning of the year, PPO-Elektroniikka celebrated a new emerging partnership. PPO-Elektroniikka has agreed to collaborate with the American aerial firefighting expert Caylym Technologies International. With Caylym’s system, a regular cargo plane can be converted into a firefighting aircraft that drops biodegradable containers of a thousand liters. The drop spreads the extinguishing agent like rain.

Demonstrating ForExt in Poland with Kesla HydraX trailer.

MEV systems for Ukrainian hospitals

Let’s return to the electrical safety of hospitals. While the global awakening to hospital isolation level monitoring has been a slow process, the train now seems to have picked up speed. Ohtonen lists half the planet when talking about where inquiries are now coming from. Exports are being set up to Latin America, China, Southeast Asia, South Korea, and Japan, among others. In total, PPO-Elektroniikka is now in 25 countries.

In Malaysia, PPO-Elektroniikka’s product has become a standard. In India, monitoring will soon become mandatory. Electrical safety is a similar challenge in every country.

Over the past two years, PPO-Elektroniikka has also delivered systems to Ukraine through Kharkiv-based PKF Industrial Technologies. PPO-Elektroniikka initially organized a two to three-week installation training for its partner, and now the partner is responsible for the installations themselves.

During the war, systems have already been delivered to 50 operating rooms in Ukraine. Delivery times to Ukraine have lengthened, but there have been no issues with deliveries or customs.

There are not many electrical contractors capable of demanding hospital installations in any country, so PKF Industrial Technologies is well-positioned in Ukraine, especially when the war eventually ends. The company plans to expand and modernize its operations in the hospital market, with PPO-Elektroniikka’s system as an advantage for the reconstruction.

– They have done enough there that everyone knows them, Ohtonen praises the local partner.

The war has also brought new applications for the monitoring system. Mini-hospitals are now being built in shelters, with small operating rooms and intensive care units. The systems are also used in prosthetics centers and rehabilitation clinics.

Mini-hospitals are now being built in shelters.

Ohtonen’s experiences in the Ukrainian market have been positive. Conversations with Ukrainians are direct and honest, as long as you stand by your words. According to Ohtonen, the key is to believe in what you do and to dare to say out loud if you are the best at something.

Ohtonen also emphasizes the importance of being able to actually deliver the products offered. If a large order comes in, it must also be possible to deliver it. PPO-Elektroniikka has the capability to manufacture hospital systems flexibly from tens to even thousands per month as needed.

The end of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is still uncertain, but according to Ohtonen, delaying is not advisable.

– I absolutely tell everyone that it’s worth going there. There are good partners there, as long as you find the right one. Although the business hasn’t been that big during the war, we have built the foundation. We are fully ready when the reconstruction begins. It’s not worth waiting until a year or two from now to start. Then everyone else will have already done it, Ohtonen sums up.

I return back from the PPO-Elektroniikka impressed. In a way, I have just seen how a surgical patient is saved and a forest fire extinguished. The solutions have clearly impressed PPO-Elektroniikka’s new partners and customers around the world as well.