Assistant computer program for adequate disposal of medical devices

Abstract

In developing countries, up to 80% of medical equipment comes from donation. The World Health Organization (WHO) has made recommendations on desirable factors that should be taken into consideration when donating medical technology. We included these recommendations while building the Assistant Program for Adequate Disposal of Medical Devices (APAD) using the application generator App Building by MATLAB. We evaluated thirty units of medical equipment from different areas of a secondary health care level hospital. The Instrumentation Technician (IT) (expert) previously defined if the medical units were suitable to be donated, could be repaired, could be used as reservoir, or should be completely removed. APAD also made a proposal of the possible use of this technology. In 23 out of 30 medical units, the decision made by the APAD matched with that of the expert: seven for donation, eight to be repaired, two to serve as reservoir and six for disposal. Our results suggest that APAD could serve as a support tool for the IT and for the Biomedical Engineering Department in a hospital, to determine the possible use of medical equipment that has been discarded.